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Most Expensive Meal

post #1 of 82
10/16/06 at 5:34pm
Thread Starter 
What's the most expensive restaurant meal you've ever had--and was it worth it?
A few years ago, my brother-in-law treated us to Ruth Chris Steakhouse. There were, I recall, six of us, and the bill came to something like $300. Fortunately, he paid! Was it worth it? Yes, I'd say it was.
Also, my girlfriend and I ate at a restaurant in London. (Forget the name.) That bill came to 60 pounds--about $100 (the exchange rate was better, then). I'd say that was worth it.
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post #2 of 82
10/16/06 at 5:45pm
Hotel Hershey-
Me and my girlfriend and the tab was $180 after her 20% discount (shes the garde manger there) Delicious and perfect in both food and service. The maître d', Sous Chef, and Executive Chef all came to the table to say hello and ask if we are enjoying the meal. The sous chef prepared us a suprise middle course of micro greens and duck proscuitto iirc. Awesome.
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post #3 of 82
10/16/06 at 6:01pm
In general, My wife and I are not expensive restaurant eaters, we're hole in the wall hunters. :D The last kinda expensive restaurant my wife and I sampled was Victoria and Albert's, $300 for the two of us, but, I've been known to eat $150 worth of sushi at one sitting all by myself! Well, sushi and sake, with a couple sakes thrown in for the chefs. :D

All other expensive meals have been paid for by other people, steakhouse meals being the most expensive. Go figure.
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post #4 of 82
10/16/06 at 6:07pm
Back in 92, when I worked in Atlanta, a few of us got together and invaded one of the concepts in the group for a "Last Night" type thing. We each ran a kitchen in the company. One of us was moving and myself and another were leaving the company. If I remember correctly between the 4 of us we destroyed 3 in house charge accounts with a total bill of around $900.00 :eek: :beer::D Gosh I miss those old IHP accounts. :cool:
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post #5 of 82
10/16/06 at 10:06pm
Back in 1990, a party of five of us ate in a nice little ristorante called La Capannina in Torino, Italy.
Numerous courses later, after the grappa, the bill was 250,000 lira...
I've NEVER spent a quarter million on dinner before...
But in USD, that was only about $60 per person.
The big number in lira was what caught my attention.
I might be suffering from CDO.
It is just like OCD, except the letters are in alphabetical order.
Just as they should be...
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post #6 of 82
10/17/06 at 11:49pm

Does 3 weeks of fine dining on a Cruise Ship count?

Seriously we had the best meals 24/7 on the Oriana when we came back to the US from Australia.

The best most expensive meal?

A chinese restaurant "again in Sydney". Salt and Pepper lobster at $100 + plus the most amazing hot sour soup, mu shu pork, potstickers, sw and sour pork, and fried special noodles...worth every penny...(bear in mind this was my 11 yo daughter and me!) I think we got out of there for about 200 aud +/-.

The very best not necessarily the most pricey? A steakhouse just inland from the Gold Coast. I do NOT remember the name but intend to look it up. You pick your steaks from a cold display case, brilliant line cooks, baked potatoes the size of your head, oven roasted vegetables, avocado/smoked salmon/capers/tomato/onion/caviar/toast apps...whole grilled fish of all kinds, calamari...

I'd say under $50 (aud) per person w/o the extensive wine list.

Suprisingly not that "dear" as they call it and always packed.

It's worth booking a flight to Qld just to go there!

April
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post #7 of 82
10/18/06 at 8:35am
12 people, over $2000 bill (I think it was closer to $3000). Vertical food at George's in La Jolla.
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post #8 of 82
10/18/06 at 9:33am
Dinners at Tru and Alinea (both in Chicago) were about the same price: $300 for two including gratuity. My husband uses those meals as a benchmark for "too expensive" now. :rolleyes:

"Expensive" to me means 'out of my budget' or 'an extravagance'. This can change with one's circumstances. When I was a struggling new teacher a $12.50 meal was expensive!
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post #9 of 82
10/18/06 at 9:56am
Thread Starter 
You mean McDonalds was more your style!:)
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post #10 of 82
10/19/06 at 3:41am
So far the most expensive meal for me was during my hospitality class "dine-out". We went to a ski resort in Alaska ("Seven Glaciers" at Alyeska Ski Lodge/Resort) and we all ordered what sounded good to us. If I'm not mistaken each person was given a $1-200 tab (not including alcohol).

The thankful part was that the tips we earned in class paid for it all (we waited tables for the class)
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post #11 of 82
11/28/06 at 10:25pm
I've never exceed $50 per person. Much more of the time it is around $35 per person on the most expensive nights.
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post #12 of 82
11/29/06 at 5:01am
It was our one year after we're married honeymoon (never took the first one). Chicago, little place called Atlantique, five course meal for 2 ran with tip about $200. The kicker, the cab fare to get there and back... $100. Worth it? To see the look on her face when the gay bartender started hitting on me infront of her...yeah, it was worth it. And the food was great too.
"A brave man likes to feel the rain on his face." "Yeah, but a wise man knows when to get in out of the rain."
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post #13 of 82
11/29/06 at 7:01am
Forgive me, but you guys are all pikers. :p How about $1,000 for lunch for three? Yeah, LUNCH. Was it worth it? It should have been, but sadly it wasn't. At that price, I want everything to be perfect, and that was not the case. Artichokes in the veg ragout were tasteless, service was just plain silly and over the top (one person to carry out the plate, another to remove the cover, a third to receive the cover, and a fourth to put the plate on the table -- well, anyway at least 3 people). To their credit, though, they did let us sit at the table until about 5pm (from 1:30), when they had to start setting up for dinner.

Oh, yeah, where was this? Per Se, Thomas Keller's first NYC outpost.
"Notorious stickler" -- The New York Times, January 4, 2004
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post #14 of 82
11/29/06 at 12:42pm
Suzanne, I'm shocked to hear that. I'd never expect mediocrity from Thomas Keller.

Dougiezerts, I'd be more likely to take that $12.50 to the supermarket and buy a nice steak and fixings for a dinner I'd cook myself. Or I'd go to Tenuta's Italian market (I lived in Kenosha, WI) and splurge on prosciutto or the like. McDonald's? Maybe once or twice a year. :rolleyes:
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post #15 of 82
11/29/06 at 6:24pm
I too experienced Ruth's Chris here in Toronto's Shelton Hotel about 10 years ago with 4 of us dining. The tab came to $200(CAN) and we all had a steak and drink but 1 of us had to go and order sides, a downside to a la carte. Personally, not really that worth it since theres another steak house which I regular to called the Keg Steak Mansion that does the best prime rib and garlic mash, $30/plate for a 20oz serving. That restaurant is also on my list of $ dining experiences but considering there were around 6-8 of us, the tab came to $300, and we all had drinks, definatly worth it.
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post #16 of 82
11/30/06 at 11:30am
Most expensive meal (several times actually cause we liked the place so much) was Chouette in Wayzata, MN in 1976-1979 time frame.

Dinner for two with wine came to $375-425. Only one time was the server "snooty". All the rest of the times everything was perfect. The wine steward even recommended a house wine which was the equivalent of the best Poully Fuisse I ever had! He had a little taster's cup on a necklace around his neck and we invited him to share a snort with us!

Pepper crusted filet mignon ala bearnaise. Artichoke bottom medallions with crabmeat sauce. Appetizer plate which was a lazy susan affair half as big as the table!

Chateau Margot at $175 a bottle. Remember this was the 1970's!

Jean Claude Tindillier, one of the best chefs I ever encountered.

doc
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post #17 of 82
12/11/06 at 1:17am

Gotta love the Vegas!

We are not rich, but D@mn will we spend money on dinners...and living in Vegas is dangerous for this attitude :)

Three most expensive meals for us:

1) Craftsteak at the MGM...my first Kobe beef experience. WONDERFUL! Two people $350...no alcohol.

2) SW steakhouse at the Wynn. Nice to find a place that serves classical sauces for your steaks. Three people, $400.

3) Shintaro at the Bellagio. Three people $500. I think I am still paying this one off :lol:

All of these experiences were worth every dollar!

And a honorable mention...er, I mean "horrible mention" :

Capital Grille at Fashion show mall. $250 for two people and the service was lacking and the food was served lukewarm and was brought to the table while my date for the evening was in the restroom. They would not keep it in the kitchen for me while she was away. Never, ever again!
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post #18 of 82
1/3/07 at 2:04pm
Once was picked up and flown to Ft. Wayne from Minneapolis and back, for a tour and lunch.
Fantastic ribs, probably pretty cheap, but I know the pilot bought 700 gal. of jet fuel, one way! Twice!:lol:
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post #19 of 82
3/3/07 at 12:06am
I once ate $100 worth of Toro at the Narita Airport in Tokyo which made me sick and caused me to miss a flight and trip which cost around $1K.
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post #20 of 82
3/7/07 at 10:11am
Most expensive to me is a variable term, depending on what you're spending the money on.

When we were in Sweden, before they were accepted into the EC, Stolkholm was the most expensive city in the world. At a squat & gobble hamburger place, little better than a McDonalds, we paid 16 bucks for a cheeseburger & fries.

At a neighborhood Chinese restaurant I dropped a C note for the two of us.

At a fine dining establishment in New York, 50 bucks a plate is nothing. But in a neighborhood Chinese place? I'd call that expensive.
They have taken the oath of the brother in blood, in leavened bread and salt. Rudyard Kipling
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post #21 of 82
3/10/07 at 3:17pm
Probably Aqua in San Francisco. $2400 for 6 people. Chef's tasting menu. I have to admit it was a pretty incredible meal, and the tuna tartare was the best I've ever had (this was Michael Mina's version, it's changed a bit at Aqua now but I hear it can sometimes still be had at his own restaraunts now). Quite a bit of that $2400 was in alcohol though. The table had essentially 2 bottles per course @ 5 courses so it adds up fast.

This was back in my internet venture capital days (i.e. money flowed like water) and was charged to the business, I certainly didn't pick up the bill myself.
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post #22 of 82
4/8/07 at 7:38pm
Most expensive for the wife and I is at Le Francais restaurant in Wheeling. We've been there a couple of times under different Chef's and we have always gotten a superb dinning experience. The price has range from $225-275 with no alcoholic beverages.

This has been our benchmark for food and we've yet to find equal or better. The atmosphere leaves a little to be desired (they're still stuck in the 70's look) but the food is good and well prepared. I'm slowly trying different places with well regarded Chef's in Chicago and have so far been underwhelmed. We always get a good meal...it's just fallen a bit short of my expectations.

I'm certainly not rich or well off. But my wife and I do love food. We've got three lovely kids under four and usually eat at home (where we have some pretty decent meals ;)). Bottom line...we rarely eat out like we have when we were younger. Eating out once or twice a year at a nice restaurant is still MUCH cheaper than when we used to eat out a couple of times a week at lower priced places.

happy eating all!
dan

Enjoy the Food!

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post #23 of 82
4/9/07 at 5:47am

Most Expensive Meal

My teenage son and his girlfriend back in the 1980's had the most expensive meal on Mom once. He took his little girlfriend to a restaurant in St. Louis with $50 in his pocket. The restaurant did not post prices on the menu (should have been his first clue). Of course, they both loved steak and lobster. I got a call around 10 p.m. from him to bring MONEY, lol. I told him that they could offer to wash dishes which he didn't find amusing. I took my time getting there (letting them sweat alittle was kind of funny). I do believe the bill was over $200 if I remember right. Thank goodness they weren't old enough to drink otherwise I think I would have let him wash dishes. Ahh...another lesson of life learned at the tender age of 16, always find out the price before you order. lol.
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post #24 of 82
4/9/07 at 10:32am
Don't you wish as a chef that you could get that kind of money for your food?
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post #25 of 82
4/9/07 at 10:39am
After reading all your posts here, along with the other professionals, I would venture to say most of you could not post prices on your menu's and still have a good following. I am constantly blown away by you professionals on this forum...i.e. what you do...what you know, etc. I remain your humble grasshopper. I just wish I had the money not to care about prices.
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post #26 of 82
4/9/07 at 10:54am
Hi

I was invited last year at the Montréal Delta, the restaurant turns 360 degres, wonderfull view of the city, gosh just two people & 2 btles of wine, the bill was over 350 Can funds.

What a meal and ambiance, I would go back anytime :)


[code]http://www.deltahotels.com/hotels/hotelinfo.html?categoryId=2&hotelId=35[/code]
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post #27 of 82
4/9/07 at 11:24am
I'm flattered Nofifi. Cheftalk is indeed a fantastic board, and I've tried many others.
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post #28 of 82
4/9/07 at 12:53pm
Ok, Kuan, you can pay me that 5 bucks now for all those nice things I said about you, lol.
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post #29 of 82
4/9/07 at 1:55pm
If you include wine......I remember one mushroom tasting meal where 6 of us had Grange Grunge from 1976, White Bourdeaux, something else and a btl of vintage Yequim......
The food was $100pp the wine I did not pay for nor know what they paid but it had to have been a whole bunch.

Bagwell 2424 (HI) in 1978, $300 for 2. Several meals at Nicolias Roof in Atlanta during the late 1970's-80s.....first you start with the many flavored in house vodkas....
Splurging in New Orleans can take on a whole new meaning.......

My lately departed guy introduced me to fine wines....that's where your ticket can expenitially multiply.....$800+ btl of Margaux 1983 or 4.....
ummmmm old Argmanac.....thank goodness his cellar was deep and wide, guess it helped that his father was an importer.

Dining at An American Place can easily set me back $100 pp.....I actually plan to drop that.

When I dined around Chapel Hill hitting a multitude of restaurants for a mydrid of tastes it was not crazy to drop $50+ per place with 3-4 on that evening's list.
cooking with all your senses.....
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post #30 of 82
4/9/07 at 4:28pm
Most expensive for me is about $175 for two people. No alcohol as we don't drink. Once at Christophers with some truly prime beef. The other at Bambara, I had locally grown lamb (Utah raised lamb can be some of the finest), wife had the Muscovy duck. Was very good.

It's hard to hit the kind of numbers you guys are throwing around in this part of the country.

Phil
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
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