China’s answer to Michelin Guide, the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide, is seen as a better judge of Chinese cooking
- Launched in 2018, the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide bills itself as representing the taste of Chinese consumers from the Chinese perspective
- One food critic calls the Black Pearl guide a ‘road sign for local epicureans’ whereas the Michelin Guide is ‘more like a universal tourist guide’
People outside China may not have heard of it, but the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide considers itself a worthy rival domestically to the influential Michelin Guide.
The Black Pearl Restaurant Guide was launched in 2018, at a time when the restaurant industry had raised concerns about the credibility of the Michelin Guide’s evaluation of Chinese cuisines. It billed itself as a guide to represent the taste of Chinese consumers from the Chinese perspective.
“The Black Pearl is not only a restaurant guide, but responsible for exploring and promoting the Chinese culinary culture, and propelling the development of China’s dining industry,” it has stated previously.
When the Michelin Guide launched in China with its Shanghai edition in September 2016, it awarded 31 stars. Recipients included the then two-star Ultraviolet, founded by chef Paul Pairet, and the one-star Taian Table.
