And it's sold out!

If you can please post any details about the actual food at the "rarities" - they only way I'll get to experience this is vicariously :o

Just out of interest, how do they present the caviar? On ice, with red onion , sliced eggs and sour cream? I am very fond of different kinds of fish eggs and quite strict on how to have them. What kind of vodka selection do they have? The Almas is the grey colored caviar?

It may vary I guess, but basically out of the tin on chilled ice, especially when you order by the tin, rather than by the spoon, which is possible. I asked for creme fraiche. I don't know about other condiments. I like caviar directly out of the tin, but when on toast points of blinis, nothing more than creme fraiche and unsalted butter.

I forgot the vodka, I myself didn't have any, my parents had it.

The Almas caviar is basically white Beluga I'm told. In the tin, it looks like shimmering white pearls. I was told they recieve less than 5 1.8kg tins of the stuff every year. It is absolutely the best caviar I have ever had. It is well worth it if you have 600 pounds to burn. The XXL Reserve Beluga was also fantastic. The berries were incredibly large, and had a rich buttery favour, that I never had before.

For now, when I'm back in Toronto, a nice tin of Rommens and Heydary Black Label Beluga or Imperial will do it for me.........

There are very interesting accounts on caviar in Russian literature. In Czarist times the Royals and wealthy businessmen used to order buckets of the precious fish eggs and later in the drab Soviet reality most train station restaurants still served caviar on traditional Russian "grey" bread with Vodka shots measured in grams. I remember reading about an eye-witness account of an Orthodox priest getting his fill of Vodka while wolfing down caviar sandwiches during the Stalin era.

I believe the Caviar House uses exclusively Iranian sources, which I hope are more aware of the need to preserve the sturgeon population than the Azeri and Russian black market fishermen.

Creme Fraiche is nice, but I prefer the orginal Russian Smetana which takes the sour taste up a notch. The red onion is also essential for my fish egg experience with it's mild taste that adds to the overall flavour.

For drinks, many Vodkas taste too "hard" for me and the only one I have liked so far is the Russian Cristal and some St.Petersburg local brand I cannot remember. Would actually opt for a Chablis if there is a decent one available.

Lunch at Delano, Miami - 6 of us; USD11,000 :cool:


Must have been the longest lunch I have experienced in my life, starting at 1pm and leaving at 8pm...... after 8 magnum bottles of Cristal and ALL the caviar they could find..... stupid but A LOT of fun!

Sorry Duplicate

Wow, I sound like a hobo compared to all of you :p $240 CDN for a beautiful french dinner in Quebec City for our party of 4. Entrees of soup and bread with escargots, main entree of Lobster, Veal, Steak, and Chicken with a desert of mixed berries and cheese cake with ice cream finishing it off with coffee and tea for the family. I actually saved some money with getting beer and not the expensive red wine :) Getting 240 miles paying with my Aerogold helped ease the pain :)

Caviar House uses Iranian sources for sure. The tin on the Almas said "Iranian Almas Caviar". Iranian caviar is in my opinion, far superior to Russian, and I like the consistency of the product, since it is government controlled rather than individualized in Russia. Another reason Iranian is better, since the Caspian Sea is more polluted on the Russian side, and the Iranian side is cleaner, the roe is a direct reflection of what the sturgron eats, and the Iranian tastes cleaner, in my opinion.

A few kinds of caviar can be enhanced with a drop of lemon for me at most. I leave the onion off, since it distracts the flavour in my opinion.

Sevruga has a bit too strong of a taste for me, and I don't fancy it very much. Beluga is my favourite, but I try not to eat too much of it, since it is a endangered species, and I feel guilty sometimes opening that tin.

Also one thing, Iranian caviar I notice is a lot more expensive than Russian. 50gms of Beluga from Iran in the stores in Toronto is $275 CAD($230 US) while the Russian is around $175 CAD (US$145)

I tried vodka to go with caviar, it never works for me. I had a few shots of the basic liquor store stuff, and its awful, it burns when it goes down. I once had Krug to go with it, and it was great.

Last night. Dinner for two at Per Se in NYC. $1,000.

Did that include the MFT (mint flavored toothpicks)?

Le Mer Restaurant
 

Hi all,

This seemed as good as any other thread to bust my cherry on. My most expensive meal happened in 1990 in Waikiki. My hubby, boss and his girl (and me), had dinner, without wines (but with a cocktail or two), for a total of $830.00 without tip! I remember promising my boss that I would take him out for dinner, if he could arrange for me to go on the trip; when the bill arrived, I bravely took out the charge card...luckily my boss picked up the check. What I remember most about the meal was that my hubby had something called the chocalate dream...it was 5 separate plates of the most heavenly chocolate desserts he (which I tasted) have ever had. BTW, the dinner was absolutely fabulous, the service has never been surpassed....and while we have spent more $$$$ on a few meals, it really wasn't considering our income in '90 (and inflation).

~1500$ US For Shabu Shabu and drinks for 4 in Ginza, Tokyo during my internship!

I recall last year a few FT'ers drove with Rudi and Gisela from Basel to a lunch in rural France for his birthday.

There was a small Michelin listed restaurant he wanted to visit

It was a very long lunch ..... 4 hours IIRC? Maybe longer, but it was superb. Punki and Hunki were also there. I think Punki just ate salad. ;)

Lots of courses, and all accompanied by a specific wine the sommelier chose specially. Maybe 7 bottles - I have misplaced the copy of the menu Rudi later kindly mailed me with all the wine labels on it, that the sommelier presented him with.

Restaurant hand-made on site, pate de fois gras ..... the works.

The bill was about 1000 Euros if I recall. Pretty serious lunch money seeing none of us were expensing it. But a VERY memorable way to spend an afternoon. ^

1000/6 = EUR166 per person.... for lunch and 7 bottles of wine that is VERY reasonable. You can drop that kind of money at any decent resturant for lunch and not get a drop of wine...

I have been to lunch at a 2star Michelin restaurant where the bill for the wine alone was over EUR1500, and there were only 3 of us :D Once you start drinking the good stuff it adds up pretty quickly.