Tokyo has more of the world's best restaurants than any other city in the world, according to the latest edition of the prestigious Michelin Guide.

Eleven restaurants in the Japanese capital were awarded the maximum three stars in the 2009 Michelin Guide. Paris, long considered the center stage of gastronomy, has 10 three-star restaurants.

Tokyo garnered a total of 261 stars among 197 restaurants, three times more stars than Paris, effectively establishing itself as the new capital of the gastronomic world. Forty-two Tokyo restaurants were awarded two stars and 144 earned one.

Tokyo has over 160,000 restaurants, four times more than Paris. Two-thirds of the 197 star-winning restaurants specialize in Japanese cuisine.  

However, France remains the country with the most three-star restaurants, 25, well above Japan's 18.

When the Michelin Guide Tokyo, the first to cover beyond Europe and the U.S., debuted in 2007, eight Tokyo restaurants were awarded three stars. At the time many Japanese chefs and food critics resisted the guide, doubting that foreign food reviewers could properly evaluate Japanese cuisine, and some restaurants refused to be listed. The evaluation panel for the 2009 edition was made up entirely of locals.