Taste Atlas, a global cuisine guide, has named Kochi's Paragon restaurant as one of the world's most iconic restaurants. The restaurant is ranked 11th among the world's 150 most legendary eateries. And their biryani has been declared an iconic dish.
Taste Atlas is a world atlas that maps traditional dishes, local ingredients, and authentic restaurants around the globe. They have catalogued over 10,000 foods and drinks, and dozens of thousands more are yet to be researched and mapped. The popular ones, as well as the forgotten tastes and aromas of every city, region, and village in the world.
The recent list, which was published on June 23, comprises restaurants from all over the world that have weathered the test of time, emphasising traditional and high-quality cuisine. "The emphasis is on real food with robust flavours, often using time-honoured recipes passed down through generations," they state. Paragon, which opened in 1939, has been described as a symbol of the region's rich gastronomic history, renowned for serving excellent Malabar food.
India's Growing Culinary Scene
Several other restaurants from India were also named in the list, including Amrik Sukhdev Dhaba in Murthal, Peter Cat in Kolkata, Mavali Tiffin Rooms in Bangalore, Karim's in Delhi, and Ram Ashraya in Mumbai. They have been ranked 17th, 23rd, 39th, 87th, and 112th, respectively. Lately, India's culinary scene has been making quite an impact in the global arena. In January, award-winning digital media brand Eater, which publishes an annual list of the world's best culinary destinations, featured Kolkata.
Kolkata was the only Indian city to feature in the list of the eleven best food destinations in the world for 2023. The list included a variety of cuisines from around the world, including those from Albuquerque, Cambridge, Dakar, Sardinia, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Tamaki Makaurau, Asheville, Holland and Guatemala City.