Vendôme in Bergish Gladbach near Cologne and Aqua in Wolfsburg were both named in the World's 50 Best Restaurant awards in London on Monday.
Led by the "highly respected" Joachim Wissler, Vendôme placed number 30 on the list - a slip from last year's 12 - and was touted for the cuisine's ability to "redefine" German dishes.
"A leading light of the so-called ‘new German school’ of cooking, the highly respected Joachim Wissler breathes new life into traditional German recipes and ingredients while drawing on international culinary thinking," said the awards review, run by trade magazine Restaurant.
Diners at Vendôme can expect to be served such indulgences as sucking pig, grilled green bananas and bean stew.
A salted brine with pickled rose petals, created by Vendôme chef Joachim Wissler. Photo: DPA.
The Lower Saxony-based Aqua placed at number 33 for its "technical modern German cooking in a suitably industrial location", leaving it five places short of last year's ranking.
"Locations for a world-class restaurant don’t come much more unlikely than a motoring theme park adjoining Volkswagen’s car factory, but that’s exactly where you’ll find Sven Elverfeld’s inimitable Aqua," the reviews states.
"In Wolfsburg, a somewhat bland modern town between Berlin and Hanover, this former pastry chef cooks some of Germany’s most ambitious food in a strikingly contemporary dining room that references the Ritz-Carlton’s industrial location."
The creations of chef Sven Elverfeld range from a dish of cod, brown butter and silverskin onions to a yellow fin mackerel served with guacamole and smoked corn foam.
Herring in elderflower marinade with pumpernickel cream, made by Aqua chef Sven Elverfeld. Photo: DPA.
Though none of the capital city's Michelin-star restaurants made it into the top 50, one of them did make it into the top 100 list at number 52: Tim Raue.
While Berlin chef Raue is now known for his fine cuisine and two Michelin stars, his past paints a different picture, formerly running with the same Kreuzberg 36 Boys gang as rapper-turned-jihadist Deso Dogg.
The title of best restaurant worldwide went to El Celler de Can Roca, a Catalan restaurant in Girona, Spain.
The top 10 was rounded out by restaurants in Denmark, Italy, Peru, the United States, Spain, Britain, Japan, Brazil and Thailand.
The awards have been criticized as being biased because judges do not have to prove that they have eaten at the restaurants. Many of the complaints have come from France, where restaurants have failed to make it into the top ten for the past two years and no French restaurant has ever taken top prize.
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