most expensive restaurants in the world
 

masa NYC $500
aragawa TYO $375
joel robuchon LAS $350

are there any others > $300 ?

hmm, how to word this. minimum per person is not exactly right. masa is cheaper for lunch, but im not positive you cant order the cheaper one at dinner. and joel robuchon has a cheaper menu.

i guess i am looking for most expensive tasting menus, that are right there on the menu, whether they are the most expensive at that restaurant or not.

i have not heard of any standard tasting menus, other than those 3, that are over $300 without alcohol. am i missing something?

(by standard i mean no temporary menus where they offer heaps of caviar and/or truffles, or some other expensive product to one or all of the dishes. if the product is ALWAYS optional and is written into the menu, then i guess i would be interested in hearing about that.)

(and of course aragawa wouldnt be a tasting menu, but hopefully you get my point)

obviously you can buy a $1M bottle of champagne in a restaurant. thats not my question.

final edit >
http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/24/foo..._0827food.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308342

In the world????
Are you are asking about personal experiences?

Personally I can think of more than thirty in the above range and higher right of the top of my head:rolleyes:

mike

Per Se NYC - approx $1000. per couple

All tofu restaurant in Tokyo (forget name) - approx. $700. per couple

I guess you don't read NY Magazine http://nymag.com/nymetro/food/features/11044/ (albeit from 2005)

Otherwise, it is trivial to spend >USD 500 at any reasonably good restaurant in the world, just order a few ounces of beluga caviar (that covers about 4 oz. at retail, so not a huge amount!). There are thousands of restaurants world-wide that will special order it for you, though few keep it in stock.

As for prix fixe menus, their price point really varies by market more than by restaurant quality. Also some chefs prefer to keep their best dishes a al carte. Sadly it is hard to find good meals in much of Europe for under USD 200 per person these days, at least in this type of restaurant. Of course some of the best food is found elsewhere, often dirt cheap (as in under USD 10). But your question had nothing to do with food quality.

Outback Steakhouse, $50 per couple. Works for me. ^

I managed to spend over 500 euros at La Pergola in Rome 2 summers ago. This was on a dinner for 2.
The meal was incredible....but we both agreed, never, ever again...

Try one of the big name restaurants in Paris for New Year's Eve if you're looking to bust the budget.

We ended up doing Lasserre on New Year's Eve a couple years back and Taillevent the night before (New Year's Eve Eve) While Lasserre was not inexpensive, Taillevent was 150 Euro per person more on New Year's Eve than Lasserre and more than twice the price of eating there the night before New Years Eve.

Cheers,
Jeff

A few years ago The NY Times restaurant review said Alain Ducasse NY was the most expensive restaurant in the US. Per Se is probably more now but wasnt open then. I think both are more than Masa. Both Jean George and Le Bernardin in NY are probably more than Robuchon. Kyubei in Tokyo is probably that much or more for a dinner. Any three star restaurant in Europe and a fair amount of two stars will likely be in the over $300 range and a some in the $500 range. A friend bought me lunch at Pierre Gagnaire a couple years ago and against my advice didnt get the 90 euro special lunch but bought the 7 course tasting lunch and it was a shade over 1000 euros for two, not counting cognac and cigars after lunch. Also, there are things like keiseki places in Japan that will certainly go into that range. The Taillevant-Robuchon place in Tokyo is also quite expensive.

thanks for the helpful info ^

the top two sushi in tokyo are more like $200. kyubei and something jiro i never remember.

what restaurants other than Pierre Gagnaire in europe? aha, its about $300 225€ ($295) dinner ^ so i guess a fair number actually, anything about 200 euros would be just under $300..

whereas london tops out with ramsay at about 100 pounds doesnt it?

robuchon is flat out cheap in tokyo compared to vegas and new york.

masa is only > $300 in NY, i checked ducasse and per se..

looks like ill go with robuchon. being in a hotel is a plus, probably better "value" than masa to a certain degree. especially the amount of food, 16 courses :D

aragawa and kyubei ill hit when im in japan next year.

thanks again gadget for giving me a few more directions to look in / double check ^

Im not sure what you basing that number on. Ive eaten at Ducasse somewhere like 4-6 times and the cheapest, drinking wine by the glass, was $500 per person. According to Ducasse he aims for an average of $500 per person. Drinking wine by the bottle, with almost the cheapest wines on the list, so by no means the top is more like $600-$800 per person. Per Se is more. Ive also seen both Jean George and Le Bernardin go $400-$500 per person although that is with a little more expense on the wine than that price at Ducasse. Sushi at the bar with moderate amounts of house sake at Kyubei ran $250 per person. In Paris or London, anything with 3 or some with 2 stars will go over $300 and probably over $500 for dinner. Check the Michelin Guide for names. In addition to Gagnaire and Taillevant mentioned above I know L'Arpege will top that pretty easily. The price runs up pretty quickly when they start putting 200 year old vinegar on peaches for desert ;). Most recent for me was Le Jardin De Sens (probably misspelled, sorry) in Montpelier which was $300-$350 each and that is a two star now.

as i said, standard price fixe tasting menus, without paired wine.

its easy to spend more ANYWHERE. you can buy a $1M(exaggeration, yes i know) bottle of X at any decent restaurant. thats not the point of my question. i tried to explain this in great detail in my OP.

i also updated my last post.

Sorry, I wasnt clear on that. I dont think that is a really good way to measure. As mentioned above, some places have more ala carte stuff than do others. Also, some places have a very low price on their ala carte and many of the dishes have supplements. Also, they may not include as many things.

oh im not arguing its a GOOD measure :) (its obviously NOT)

but there is an ANSWER to my question. there is NOT an answer to "where can you spend the most?" really..

Why beluga? You can order 50 g (< 2 oz) of Iranian oscietra at Le Louis XV in Monaco, and it'll ring in at EUR 420 (USD 550). But you get blini with it!

Charlie Trotter's in Chicago has a $175 prix fixe menu...so $350 for two on just food...throw in a bottle of wine and you're over the $500 mark.

Once I paid $1243.43 (IIRC) at a fast food place in Vegas. It was
lunch for two.

20 minutes later, I got a full refund and an apology... and the lunch
ended up to be free.

The cashier entered the last two digits twice by mistake for the credit card
transaction.. and then freaked out :p
The manager spent 20 minutes on the phone to get the transaction reversed.

:eek: quite an error.

masa, aragawa, joel robuchon are $350-$500 PER PERSON for price fixe dinner

Sorry it seems like nobody understands your question.

Ducasse has standard tasting menus at the Plaza Athenee in Paris at €220 and €320 for winter ´06. (This is $282-416.)

And yes, he charges for wine.

I have to disagree with this. Just in the Netherlands (hardly known for its culinary brilliance) I can think of 10 restaurants that are highly acclaimed and/or have Michelin stars that are under $200/person. One in particular with two stars has a fixed menu for 89 euro per person, which is their "best" and it really is fantastically good (all local ingredients, everything seasonal, everything very very tasy).

If you only eat out in places like London, Paris or Geneva, then I agree, it would be very difficult to find cheap restaurants with decent quality. But there is more to Europe than merely the big, expensive, post city centres.

What does price have to do with food quality anyway? I've had some of the best food for next to nothing (both in terms of quality and presentation), and some of the worst food at ridiculously expensive restaurants, and vica versa. I suppose it all comes down to personal taste and how seriously one takes restaurant critics and rating systems.

Per Se in NYC, as of January, 2007, has gone to a Prix Fixe menu at $250.00 per person. He has 2 different menus: a nine course tasting of vegetables and a nine course chef's tasting menu which changes daily.

Fat Duck is £115 ($225), Gordon Ramsay is £110 ($215), El Bulli is E165 ($215); all prices within the past 12 months, so those are all below your threshhold. (All tasting menus and all without wine)

But again, just the price of the tasting menu is no more reasonable than a cost when you buy a million dollar bottle of wine. The reason is that the tasting menues include different things and at in some cases, but not all, routinely have substitutions which add sginificantly to the price. That is why I am pretty convinced that despite the tasting menu difference both Per Se and Ducasse would likely cost more for an "average" dinner than Masa and Jean George about the same.

I should also say that if someone offered to buy me dinner at 50 restaurants of my choice in NY that Masa would not be on the list.

At many of these places (Tokyo/New York/London/Paris) you are also paying for the real estate (space).

And these fluctuate...I was at Fat Duck less than 12 months ago and the menu was GBP 97.75...

Another thing I neglected to mention in my above post is the wide variation in wine (and other beverage) pricing at these types of places. For example, at The Fat Duck we found it difficult to find many decent choices below GBP 100 (and far too easy to find wonderful choices above that level.) We were also charged GBP 84 for 4 glasses of (ordinary) port after the meal. SO, even though the menu price in Bray was reasonable in the land of 3 Michelin stars, the total bill was borderline obscene.

On the other hand, Michelin starred restaurants in Spain tend to have VERY gentle wine pricing. I have never had the pleasure of El Bulli, but at Zalacain and La Broche in Madrid there are good to great wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero in the €30 range!

France tends to fall somewhere in the middle, as does the USA...

Fat Duck is $225

Gordon Ramsay is $215

El Bulli is $215

Having a home cooked, romantic dinner at home with the one you love... PRICELESS. :)

dankyone and b1513, thanks ^

did you get to keep the miles?
:D

san dominico in imola may be that expensive. the Menù degustazione was over the equivalent of $300 2007 bush bucks the only time I ever ate there(maybe over $500). The reasonably priced wine made up for the expensive menu.

I have cash back.. and no :( I didn't get any cash back for that.
but the lunch ended up being free :)

Four of us shared a $500 Mac/Cheese and Martini lunch at Harry's Bar, Venice.

Dined with the delightful Dr. and Mrs.obscure2k

Not only were the company, food and drinks exquisite but we got Elton John thrown in for free. :)

Would repeat in a heartbeat.

$30,000 per person
 

Some of you may have read this last month...a dinner which cost $30K per person...

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2865908&page=1

Ha you read my mind. Le Bernadin was $ as was Per Se but Pierre Gagnaire was incroyable in every sense of the word.

Hey we're big fans. (and I know there aren't many-- most think overpriced/overhyped) We've always had fun (though no Elton) and wonderful meals (Seppie col nero alla veneziana ummm). Claudio is the Italian Bogart-- (sauve-cool-looks good in a white tux)

I know we're not supposed to count wine pairings but just received these invites-

World-Class Wines at The French Laundry

Yountville, CA

June 6, 2007
$1,475 per person
Lunch
Join Chef Thomas Keller and Master Sommelier Paul Roberts for an extraordinary seven-course tasting menu. Your experience begins with a Champagne and canapé reception in the restaurant garden and continues with an unforgettable feast in the turn of-the-century dining room. You'll enjoy wines from acclaimed vineyards such as Aubert and Colin-Morey, and have the opportunity to try a vertical of Modicum, a single vineyard cabernet that Chef Keller and Paul Roberts blended to accompany the cuisine of The French Laundry.

Paul Roberts will conduct a course by- course narrative about each wine being presented. In addition, guests will have the rare opportunity to purchase bottles of Modicum, which are not available for sale elsewhere. This will be a day to indulge your passion for delicious food and outstanding wines and discover why these spectacular vintages continue to be among Chef Keller's favorites.




Charlie Trotters spa cuisine (no wine) is only $495 ;)

Thanks for the memories, Cholula. It was, indeed a very special experience.I believe it was also the day that Mrs. Cholula and I decided to take the vaporetto back to the hotel and overshot our stop.:) Those Harry's Bar martinis are pretty potent & the mac and cheese is amazing.

Maybe we all need an encore at Harry's??

Works for me. :)

Encore! Encore!^ ^

Sounds like a SoCal party at Harry's-


I'm in!^

There was a shark-fin soup restaurant in TPE, forgot the name of the store but was on Ren-Ai Road close to the Presidential Office that was close to $550 per person. My host tossed in a French bordeaux that made the total probably close to $2,000 for my wife, him and myself.

Lunch at Nadaman's Tokyo flagship cost us approximately $1,000 for the two of us (excluding drinks). This was their 'regular' offering on that day.

(and yes, it was worth it - one of the best meals I have ever had).