In the area of $400 for two. It was at the Atlantis in the Bahamas. The thing that stands out in my mind was the appetizer of shellfish for one person, three tiered dish, $55.00. This check was with no wine or beverages except coffee.

Le Cinq at Four Seasons George V Paris
March 2003
one person
Lunch, no wine, one bottle of Perrier
Le menu du Marché, plus a salad with truffle dressing
€105 (US$1.10 = €1)

L'Atelier Joël Robuchon, Paris
May 2004
one person
Dinner, glass of champagne, glass of red wine
four courses from la carte
L'Atelier Joël Robuchon
€85 (US$1.20 = €1)

My next Parisian restaurant splurge:
Lunch at Taillevent
A bargain at €70
(wishful thinking: US$0.80 = €1)

Dinner for two at Citronelle in DC for $650. Alcohol added a bit to the cost. :D Great wine list, excellent food too; the chocolate dessert was absolutely sublime. They'd run out of Tokaji for dessert wine, we had make do with Sauternes. Oh well...

Peter Lugers Brooklyn/Capitol Tokyu Holel
 

We had about 12 people. It was $1500 CASH or Luger charge only.
I think it was called Genji? $600 for two. Ouch. When asked to go I offered to pay. DOH!

$600, lunch for two at The French Laundry last year. Gratuity included. On a friend's tab, a group of 6 of us were there for dinner another time, I suspect the charge per head was close to $500 but didn't see the bill.

twj

My first week with a dot.com company in 1996, we had a large dinner in Alameda at Scott's Seafood and I got left with the $3500 tab. I was quickly reimbursed and thus introduced to the lavish lifestyle of a dot.com'er. Boy have times changed.

Yet recently, the gf and I went to the famous and well worth the reputation, Leon de Lyon. It was just a simple, yet excellent dinner with a not-too-fabulous bottle of Chablis. But the tab was €250.

The most expensive dinner I have heard of(did not attend) was the terminal affair at "Joël Robuchon".

Chow was a grand a head, and the airplane fare was about 7 grand from NYC. Think it was sold as a package for $10,000pp with hotel( single occ. additional $1000).

Savoy London and other expensive (and cheap) meals
 

Have often run up bills well over $600 for two and $1000 for 4-5 people at the Savoy Grill in London, the most wonderful restaurant in the world until it was modernized ! a pox on their house

Often over $1000 at Cité and Sparks in NYC for 4

Somehow managed over $500 at Terminus Nord in Paris which is a great bistro but still a bistro

Similar bills at Prime, Bellagio Vegas and Nero's Caesars Vegas- but they were comped so all pretty painless

Easy to run up a room service bill of $100 or more for dinner in my room alone at Peninsula, NY or HK, Ritz Montreal, Savoy of course...

On the other hand there is a diner here in Toronto called the Tulip where you can eat a delicious dinner including home made chicken parm and pie for under $15 - which just proves that high spending doesnt necessarily equate with good food. The Blue Benn Diner in Bennington VT, the coffee shop in Hanover NH main street and the old Pantry Cafe in LA are all equally fine with absurdly low prices.

$85 for a FT dinner in Dallas. Worth every penney. :)
 

I went to a very nice FT dinner in Dallas. Cost me $85 (w/no wine option). Dined with a group of FTers. Had a very nice time & meal. Was definitely a major splurge for me!

First time I spent more for dinner than the airfare. Worth it IMHO!

Most expensive vs. Best Restaurant
 

In London I paid frequently more than $ 400 for two - and I have to say that I was disappointed most of the time.

We had Dinner at Bocuse´s restaurant in Lyon in March and paid some 300 Euros for two for a 12 course dinner and wine (although my wife was pregnant which limited the bill a bit). This was by far the BEST meal we ever had, I can only recommend it to everybody. Try it on your way to southern France or when in Geneva (90 mins drive).

An also very good and inexpensive Restaurant is Bocuse´s school for waiters and chefs (also in Lyon - Ecully, Chateau du Vivier). They serve dinner for guests only Fridays and Saturdays with the "pupils". The food is excellent and service is great fun if you have a waiter that just started his 3 year course and is completely clueless. This showed me that a world class waiter is actually highly trained... Meals cost around 28 Euros - a steal and you´ll have fun being a guinea pig ;)

Christian

Per Se in NY: $735 for two - $150 for tasting menu + $100 for wine pairing.

Inn at Little Washington in VA: $600 for two.

Meals at Citronelle (DC), Jean Georges (NY), Le Cinq (FS Paris), Gordon Ramsay (London) and the FS in Berlin have come close to $600 for two but the above are the top two.

On expense account, not my nickle $37,000 for pizza and such to keep a crew of engineers working 18-hour days on a bid for a government contract. Lost too.

knowitall wrote:
I hope this doesn't ruin it for you, but a kitchen tour (and a tour of the area where they film his TV show and can have private parties) is standard after dinner at Trotter's. I've ate there a half a dozen times, and they always offer to take us back to the kitchen. If we've brought friends, we usually go back. What I've never done there is dine in the kitchen, and, with all the folks they bring back, I'm not sure I'd want to. Besides, it's so brightly lighted.

blueDC wrote:
You left a $235 tip?

Does an expensive nosh count? My husband and I were in Las Vegas at the Bellagio a couple of years ago. He said:"I'm going to work out in the gym." I said "fine, I think I'll just wander into the casino." I hit a jackpot for $1000.00. Knowing that my dear husband was in the gym, I took that money and ran as fast as I could to Petrossian at the Bellagio, where I ate about $500.00 worth of caviar and drank chilled vodka all by myself. It was a wonderfully, decadent experience.

this is my favourite!
the big question is, did you tell your husband ;)