Most Expensive Meal - Page 3

heh 1k for a dinner for 2 and meeting thomas keller and getting a tour is well worth it :)

Here's a nice/interesting article from:  

Gastronomics: Exactly How Much Do People Spend at New York’s Top Restaurants?

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/10/exact-restaurant-spending-habits.html

The French Laundry is sooooooo worth it.  FWIW, those camera feeds don't just go to the kitchen.  Wherever in the world Keller is currently, he's watching all of his restaurants' FOH and BOH. 

As to more routine and mundane big ticket meals:  Half a dozen times a year, I spend $80 - $100 per at Korean/Japanese restaurants for sashimi/soju lunches.  We're not big drinkers, soju isn't that expensive, and those are bargain, negotiated, "good customer" prices.  At Japanese/Japanese restaurants of similar quality, drinking top sake, those lunches would run $250ish/per.  

Does that make the $100/per lunch a bargain?   I don't really care, just love the food and the Korean twists make it even better.  Any way you look at it, unless the boss is paying, it's a lot of money.  Worth it?  To me, yes.  The Japanese/Japanese versions? Not so much, but not only because of the money. 

There's also the panchan, the variety, the "spicy," and the "party" as opposed to Church of Fish ambience.  On top of that, they know me; an important thing in a sushi-ya as it means I don't have to do a lot of defensive ordering, demonstrate my sophistication, deal with "live" issues, and do a lot of other explanation in pidgin Japanese to avoid the "American" favorites strangers think you want.  What's that worth?

Sometimes spending more means getting more, sometimes it means getting less.  You listen, you try, you learn, you pick your shots. 

When it's a choice between what you want and something which costs less but is not as good, get what you want.  You'll only regret the expense til the next paycheck.  If you never try it, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. 

BDL

I had a boyfriend take me to an exclusive restaurant at a Men's Club here in Indy.  The Athletic Club.  You could not just go in, you had to be a member in good standing to eat there.  It was chateaubriand w/  béarnaise sauce and piped mashed potatos, with salad.   The meat was very good, I could have done without the sauce, though.   I was very impressed - the BF was NOT a member, he worked there part time and got one of the "big wigs" to approve this in order to impress me.  :)   

Different BF flew me in a rented private plane to Chicago to dine and see the Bears before Indy had it's own team.   It was a top-of the-hotel place and the whole restaurant revolved.   I cannot remember the meal, but the view was spectacular, overlooking the lake. I'm sure he dropped a bundle on that weekend. 

Now days, I'm more into home style food.  It has to be well prepared, though.  I won't go to just any greasy spoon.  

DD

$350.00,give or take a bit without including tip,  8 years ago, 5 course meal with a matched 3oz. pour of wine with each course (we skipped the Napoleon brandy and truffle for dessert and saved $65 per person) it was our  second wedding anniversary and ate at The Firehouse in Old Town Sacramento...back when that meant something. They also subbed out the normal appetizer and gave us a dozen oysters and cracked a bottle of champagne for the dining room in celebration of our marriage. When I had to excuse myself from the table there was a freshly folded napkin waiting for me in my seat. Still the most mind blowing meal I have eaten,  wish I had kept the menu. I left a 60 dollar tip.

Couldn't agree more.

As for most expensive I think I topped out at $350 for 2 at a seafood place here, including a larger than normal tip. I think it was well worth it because it opened my eyes to the truly different tastes of oysters (every one I had tried up until that meal had tasted pretty much the same, these bad boys shocased very unique flavor with ranging brininess and sweetness) and introduced me to the wondrous culinary delight of octopus. Details  are a tad fuzzy but the start I had the octo which was grilled and came with a groovy yogurt based sauce, almonds and a couple of other garnishes I don't really remember. I also had the deep fried potato wedges which were great. Main was BBQ mackerel which I wasn't really overwhelmed by. Cheese was good, if not a tad typical in choice and then a peanut butter and chocolate dessert that my girlfriend swears was the best dessert in town. Beer seemed a drink that would go well with BBQ  so I enjoyed a few pints from a local brewery and a whiskey with cheese/dessert.

I'm drooling just writing that recap. Need...to...spend...exorbitant amount of money on delicious food...now

Going to Le Bernardin on Friday I think that will be the new most expensive meal. Hoping to hit Next in Chicago for the el bulli menu next year

Well ... Good luck with that. I hope I'm wrong for your sake. I'm not positive, but I think you have to buy 3 other dinners to get the El Bulli tickets. I think it's kinda like a "subscription" sorta thing. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeZ 
Hoping to hit Next in Chicago for the el bulli menu next year

Dinner at NOMA (Copenhagen) eight people $4200 plus tip. Definitly worth it.

Most expensive meal I have had,

I will put the pictures up on my profile.

1Star Michelin Tasting Menu in Ireland - 125euro - wine included.

Seems reasonable enough compared to some on here

                                                                                     Tasting Menu

                                                                                 CLIFF HOUSE HOTEL

Bread and Butter                    

                                                                                 Sea Vegetable Brioche

                                     Brown Soda Bread

                              Corn and Helvick Beer Bread

                                  Organic Glenilen Butter

                             Smoked Butter, Walnut, Sea Salt

Amuse                                                                  One Crisp Potato, Rosemary Salt.

                                                              Glenilen Yoghurt Panna Cotta, Carrot Jelly, Pistachio Crunch

                                                                  Choux Pastry, Garden Broccoli, Black Olive Butter

                                                                 Parsley and Fennel Macaroon, Cashel Blue Cheese

West Cork Scallops                                          Textures and Structures, Irish Caviar, Herbs

                              Honjozo Sake, Akashi-Tai, Japan

Mc Grath’s Beef                                               Oak Smoke, Foie Gras, Béarnaise 2012

               Pinot Noir, Firesteed, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2009

Wild Sea Bass                                              Youghal Bay Crab Porridge, Saffron, Rock Samphire

               Riesling Kabinett “Saarburger Kupp”, Dr Wagner, Saar, Germany 2010

Irish Rose Veal                                              Morels, Stone Leeks, Garden Celeriac, Wild Garlic

                        Ceruasolo di Vittoria, COS, Sicily, Italy 2009

Blood Orange                                                Soy Milk, Lemon verbena, Cranberry, Granola “The Cliff”

The Cliff House Sweet Snacks                                 Rhubarb and White Chocolate “Magnum”                                                                                                                                                     Dark Chocolate 80%, Apricot Puree, Olive Oil

                                                                      Parsnip Custard, Hibiscus Apple, Rosemary Blossom

                                                                         Violette Pavlova and Glenilen Farm Fromage Frais

                                                                      Vanilla “Parfait”, Spear Mint, Rhubarb Sorbet, Tapioca

                                                             “Kabir” Moscato di Pantelleria, Donnafugata, Marsala, Sicily, Italy 2009

Hi, Six of us in the Theater district NYC after seeing Jersey Boys.

We went to Barbetta. the place has some history, over 100 years in business. very impressive.

the bill including tip was 1900 for the six of us.

Dinner was good not great.

Apps came out to table way too soon for my liking.

well this is not a review page...

see you....
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by olechef 

Dinner at NOMA (Copenhagen) eight people $4200 plus tip. Definitly worth it.

Hoa !!

Hold up there !!

Are you talking about 4,200 U.S. Dollars? And that's not including the tip?

With how many bottles of wine, or was that before the bar tab?

For eight adults that's 525 U.S. Dollars, EACH?!

I gotta get me some of that owners action, dude !!  I'm in the WRONG business ...

Well I think we tried to set the bar...on the high side. It was my wife's 41st birthday - we had a very difficult previous 12 months and were unable to really celebrate her 40th bday the right way. So I made a reservation at Alinea in Chicago. Needless to say 20 plus courses and wine pairings from the reserve selection resulted in a tab for 2 at $1,200. Best meal ever.  I have a copy of the menu and cc receipt just waiting to be framed. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaneohegirlinaz 

 

 

Hoa !!

Hold up there !!

Are you talking about 4,200 U.S. Dollars? And that's not including the tip?

With how many bottles of wine, or was that before the bar tab?

For eight adults that's 525 U.S. Dollars, EACH?!

I gotta get me some of that owners action, dude !!  I'm in the WRONG business ...

It pays to be reputed as the "best restaurant" in the world.  I would love to sample Rene's cuisine.  To give you an idea

Morimoto has just opened his NYC restaurant.  At the time my office was in Chelsea Market which is also the home of the Food Network.  About a week before the opening I get in the elevator and a chef walks in to go to the Food Network floor.  I see he has 'Morimoto' on his whites so I ask him if he was there for an Iron Chef taping.  He tells me that he is one of Morimotos chefs at the restaurant.  I then ask him...'What does a guy have to do to get a table at the hottest new opening in town?' I was half joking but a week later, not only are my wife and I sitting in Morimoto's, but we are dining at the chef's table so not only did we get in on opening night, we had the Iron Chef himself, Masaharu Morimoto prepare our meals for us.

It was quite an experience, one I'm sure will never be repeated.  There were about 2 or 3 other couples with us.  Before the meal started a server comes up to you and quietly asks you about how much you would like to spend for your meal.  No menu, no selecting what you want.  Basically Morimoto made up dishes for us on the fly, prepared the meal and a few times served the dishes himself.  The grand total for my wife and I, with tip was about $800.

It was worth every penny.

Not unique to Morimoto.  That sort of improvised, "tasting menu" is actually a fairly common practice in Japanese restaurants -- especially sushi-ya.  It's called omikase.

BDL

Some of us non-Japanese chefs have been also known to do that at the request of guests. I always called it an ultimate compliment.

I was lucky enough to dine with Morimoto in Philly while he was testing menu items before he opened his restaurant there.  I was in Philly opening a place and Morimoto came in for one of our soft opening nights and invited all the trainers down to his place for a "light lunch" the next day.  It was an AMAZING experience to say the least and one I wont forget. 

If your looking for the most expensive restaurant and you also happen to be in New York... Thomas Keller's Per Se has a $295 per head tasting menu (I think it's the only option) and another $200 for wine pairings. Now I've heard wonderful things about Per Se and know a waiter there but I still have an extremely tough time justifying that much for one person for dinner and I am not one to shy away from expensive meals. The most expensive meal I had was at Vetri in Philadelphia, when the Friday tasting menu was only $135 a person. It has since bumped its pricing to $155 and exclusively does the tasting menu, but is really nice and has been getting rave reviews from everyone in and out of Philly.

My wife and I don't eat out much because I'd rather just cook it and save the money, but every now and then it's nice to get all dressed up, and go have a wonderful night with my wife and relax. About a year ago we went to The Melting Pot in Nashville and had ourselves a good time. We splurged quite heavily, my wife had the wine pairing with each of her meals and I tried a new beer pairing they were doing, which was quite fantastic. On top of ordering the most expensive meal option, with the wine and beer pairings, after our meal we decided to hang out at the bar and have a few more drinks before our ride showed up. Our total price was just under $400, but the food and the experience were totally worth ever damn cent.

12000 danish krown... lunch for 4 a few months ago ( about 2120 usd ) not bad but it was the tasting menu at noma and worth it in every way from service. when i got home my wife asked the price and i responded with not to ask as i wont be doing it again any time soon since i cant get another table. 

Our most expensive meal was at Ruth Chris in DC. about $500.00 for two. The reason the tab was so high was because my husbands drink of choice was Johnny Walker Blue. The meal and the experience was totally worth it. We were treated like royalty.

Another equally expensive meal was Sunday brunch at the Ritz Carlton in DC. We drank beaujolais nouveau and champagne. Absolutely worth it, we were treated very well, and had a blast walking around in Georgetown quite tipsy afterwards. The two things we still regret about that experience was not taking advantage of the desserts, and being so hungover that evening that we had to cancel a private limo ride we had planned around DC. It was one of those splurge vacations.

My husband and I are quite picky about where we eat, which is why we don't eat out very often. We rather save up and have one of those "once in a lifetime" dining experiences rather than eat anywhere and take a chance. We rather spend a few hundred dollars on a sure thing, than $80 here and there for mediocre food. We don't ever set out to spend X amount, it sort of just happens that way. For example, I can't seem to justify spending $300.00 set price per person just because it's a certain famous restaurant. We do choose pricier places but we prefer a la carte options, which tend to add up if we're enjoying the establishment, experience, and food.