While Seoul has garnered much attention after Gangnam drew international spotlight thanks to Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” another city is gaining recognition for its food without the help of a celebrity.

Two restaurants in Busan have been ranked among the “101 Best Restaurants in Asia” by the U.S.-based food Web site The Daily Meal, which has previously introduced lists for foodies in the United States and Europe.

Baekdu, a Korean food restaurant in Busan, was listed along with Farmer’s Original Handmade Hamburger.

The former is popular among foreigners in Korea and many have posted reviews online. The restaurant is located within walking distance of Kyungsung University and Pukyong National University. It is housed in its own building with a traditional Korean-style interior with light brown walls and wooden pillars.

The top Korean restaurant was Byeokje Galbi in Seoul, which came in at No. 30. The high-end barbecue place has six branches across Seoul including the one in Dogok, southern Seoul, and another in Sinchon, northwestern Seoul.

For customers looking for cheaper but still tasty meat, the restaurant has a sister brand called Bong Pi Yang with branches all over Seoul.

Prior to the summer season, a restaurant that serves cold noodles, a staple during hot weather, placed 47th. Ojangdong Hamheong Nengmyeon, located in Jung District, central Seoul, was recognized by the American Web site.

“I think South Korea shows great promise, and frankly I’m surprised that more of its top restaurants didn’t place on our list,” said Colman Andrews, editorial director of The Daily Meal.

A Taiwanese eatery famed for its dumplings was crowned Asia’s best restaurant, while restaurants in Beijing claimed the lion’s share of spots in the top 10.

Din Tai Fung in the Taiwanese capital Taipei was ranked No. 1 on the list.

“Ultimately we chose .?.?. a place best-known for doing one thing absolutely perfectly,” said Andrews, adding that they were aware their selection of the restaurant, which has spun off into an international chain, would be controversial.

Half of the top 10 restaurants were in Beijing, with Duck de Chine - noted for its Peking duck - at second place, and the Chinese-style nouvelle cuisine Green T. House at third.

“Our feeling is that Shanghai has had a good reputation as a restaurant city for some time due both to a strong regional cuisine and the early incursions of Western celebrity chefs .?.?. but that Beijing is definitely catching up,” said Andrews. “It’s an imperfect analogy, but in a way the culinary contrast between the two mirrors that between New York City and Washington. The former is more famous as a food city, but Washington increasingly offers serious competition - usually just with a little less fanfare.”

Food critics, writers and long-term foreign residents in Asia among others voted on a list of restaurants pulled together over a six-month nomination period, considering cuisine, style, value and overall buzz, to select the top 101.

Beijing’s Temple Restaurant was fourth and Capital M, a modern Australian restaurant overlooking Tiananmen Square, was fifth. Another Beijing establishment, Dali Court, hit seventh.

Varq, in the Indian capital New Delhi, came in sixth.

By Lee Sun-min, Reuters [summerlee@joongang.co.kr]