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

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

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.