On National Vanilla Milkshake Day in June 2018, Serendipity 3 unveiled its ultra-luxurious take on the classic. And it’s no ordinary vanilla milkshake, with an ingredient list that includes Jersey milk, Tahitian vanilla ice cream, Madagascan vanilla beans, Devonshire clotted cream, artisan caramel sauce and, of course, an obligatory scattering of gold. Created in partnership with Swarovski and Crystal Ninja, it’s also served in a crystal-studded milkshake glass. If you’re willing to shell out $100 (£74) for the privilege, you can try it for yourself.
Philadelphia’s iconic dish gets a serious makeover at Barclay Prime, an upmarket steakhouse which has started selling Philly cheesesteaks for $120 (£89). Super-expensive A5 wagyu beef is wedged between sesame bread along with Italian Caciotta al Tartufo cheese, truffle butter, shaved truffle and foie gras. The sandwich is also served with half a bottle of Champagne.
Located in Islington in north London, Hot Stone is known for its Omakase, a Japanese fine dining experience which centres on artisan, seasonal ingredients. Among its priciest offerings is a piece of A5 Sirloin Kobe beef, which will set you back £120 ($163) for 3.5 ounces (100g). Other expensive options include 48-hour marinated black cod (£42/$57), A5 Sirloin Japanese wagyu (£69/$94) and Fatty tuna, truffle & caviar maki rolls (£42/$57).
With a winning location on the 38th and 39th floors of Heron Tower in east-central London, Sushisamba wows guests with its city views and Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian fusion cuisine. There are plenty of high-end options to choose from here, but the priciest is the Robata-grilled Kobe Rib-eye steak at £144 ($196).
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New York restaurant Serendipity 3 has a reputation for creating eye-wateringly expensive dishes. But it took French fries to a whole new level in July 2021, releasing the Crème de la Crème Pomme Frites, at $200 (£148) a portion. They’re dipped in Dom Pérignon Champagne before being triple-cooked in goose fat; then topped with a sauce made from truffle butter, Jersey cream and Gruyere Truffled Swiss Raclette; then garnished with shaved truffle, Crete Senesi Pecorino Tartufello cheese and 23-carat edible gold dust.
Now discover the surprising origins of world-famous fast foods
Somehow, Serendipity 3 has even managed to take the grilled cheese – a notoriously quick and cheap meal – and turn it into a luxury menu item. Its Quintessential Grilled Cheese contains rare Caciocavallo Podolico cheese and truffle butter between two slices of French Pullman Champagne bread, made with (you guessed it) Dom Pérignon Champagne and edible gold flakes. The sandwich comes in at a record-breaking $214 (£133).
Alba in northern Italy is home to the world’s most sought after, and most expensive, white truffles. These delicacies are specially imported in airtight bags of dry rice (to ensure they don’t dry out) and used to top a burrata-based sourdough pizza at London’s The Wellesley hotel, which sells for £200 ($272) a pop. Created by head chef Sebastiano Cioffi, the pizza was created as part of a 'king of truffles' menu in 2016, although sadly it’s no longer available.
It might not sound “souper” appetising, but we can assure you that not a single caterpillar was killed in the making of Royal China Club’s Caterpillar Soup. In fact, it gets its name from the presence of cordyceps fungus, known as caterpillar fungus, which are thought to have special healing properties and sell for as much as $100 per gram. The ultra-rare herb is slowly simmered for around eight hours to create the broth, which sells at £480 ($640), although thankfully it feeds four.
While not technically a solo dish, we couldn’t resist mentioning London’s most outrageous afternoon tea on our list. At £500 ($678), The Rubens’ Golden Tips Tea (which serves two) includes a bottle of Lanson Champagne, plus regal-inspired pastries, scones and sandwiches. But the real star of the show is the tea itself: Ceylon Golden Tips, which is served by white-gloved waiters and weighed using a set of golden scales, before being infused with mineral water in a silver teapot. The experience is topped off by unbeatable views of Buckingham Palace.
The name of this burger is also its price in dollars ($777/£572), which makes it one of the most expensive burgers on the planet. The high-end dish, served at Le Burger Brasserie in Paris Las Vegas hotel, includes Kobe beef and Maine lobster topped with caramelised onions, French brie and 100-year-old balsamic vinegar, while guests can choose from three types of bun. Oh, and it’s served up with a bottle of Dom Perignon Rose Champagne, naturally. Gordon Ramsay is even said to be a fan.
In October 2017, for a limited time, Westin New York at Times Square introduced a flashy new menu item: a $1,000 (£736) bagel. Needless to say, this wasn’t just any old bagel. It’s made at a local bakery and smeared in white truffle cream cheese, goji berry Riesling jelly and a good sprinkling of gold flakes. Profits from the sandwich were put towards New York’s Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, an emergency food aid programme.
In July 2012, Bloomsbury Cafe in Dubai caused shockwaves when it announced it would be selling a $1,000 (£736) cupcake. It has a whole host of ultra-expensive ingredients, including Italian cocoa, premium Ugandan vanilla beans and 23-carat edible gold sheets. Naturally, it comes on a 24-carat gold cake stand.
Opulence is certainly the order of the day at Serendipity 3, where you can buy fries for more than $200 (£147) and milkshakes for $100 (£74). Among the restaurant’s crazily expensive offerings is the Golden Opulence Sundae, which sells for $1,000 (£736) and broke the world record for the most expensive ice cream sundae when it was released in 2004. It has to be specially ordered with two days’ notice and features Tahitian vanilla ice cream, almonds, caviar, and a bespoke sugar ornament that takes eight hours to create.
While it might not actually cost a “zillion” dollars, this extravagant frittata is still obscenely expensive at a record-breaking $1,000 (£736). Offered by Norma’s Restaurant at Le Parker Meridien Hotel in New York, the world’s most expensive omelette is topped with 10 ounces (280g) of Sevruga caviar and contains 1lb (0.45kg) of lobster. To make sure diners don’t leave hungry, it’s served on a bed of Yukon Gold potatoes.
When social media sensation Salt Bae opened the London branch of his steakhouse Nusr-et in September 2021, the restaurant generated more than its fair share of noise. The most expensive menu item? A 24-carat gold leaf-wrapped giant Tomahawk steak, which will set you back a painful £1,450 ($1,967). Diners hoping to be served by Salt Bae himself might be disappointed, however, as the internet-famous chef has left London to open a new restaurant in Saudi Arabia.
Salt Bae's not the only one. Check out these 32 restaurants that were opened by celebrities
Last time you were eating a pizza, we can bet you weren’t craving a smattering of 24-carat gold. Or foie gras, truffles or caviar, for that matter. But all of these luxurious ingredients can be found on the 24k Pizza, along with imported white Stilton cheese, a squid-ink infused base and a sprinkling of flower petals. The decadent take on the Italian classic is served at New York’s Industry Kitchen for a whopping $2,000 (£1,475).
Gone are the days when burgers were solely the realm of fast food outlets. With booming demand for gourmet options, some have taken things a step further – such as celebrity chef Hubert Keller. At Las Vegas’ Fleur restaurant, he has created a deluxe burger which – until recently – was the most expensive in the world. Selling for $5,000 (£3,686), the obscene menu item consists of a wagyu beef and foie gras patty, topped with black truffle sauce and sandwiched between a truffle-infused brioche bun. But the biggest factor in its high price point is the 1995 Chateau Petrus Bordeaux it comes with.
Breaking the world record for the most expensive burger, the Golden Boy was created by Dutch chef and “King of Burgers” Robert Jan de Veen and unveiled in July 2021. Costing a mind-blowing €5,000 ($5,792/£4,270), it has a wagyu beef patty topped with beluga caviar, king crab, Spanish Iberico ham and white truffle, smeared with luxury BBQ sauce and held between a Dom Pérignon Champagne bun. The burger is sold at De Daltons in Voorthuizen, Netherlands, with proceeds from sales going towards a local food bank.
Proving that no dish is too ordinary to get the luxury treatment, Australia’s Lord Dudley Hotel has created an ultra-decadent Surf and Turf Pie costing A$12,000 ($8,889/£6,551). The decadent pie took three weeks to develop, and includes two kinds of award-winning beef, two entire lobsters and Winter Black truffles. It’s garnished with (what else?) 23-carat gold and soaked in Champagne before serving.
At first glance, this expertly crafted dessert looks more like a sculpture, but we promise it’s edible. Served at the Fortress Resort and Spa in Galle, Sri Lanka, the Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence includes a handmade chocolate fisherman sitting atop an Italian cassata made with Bailey’s Irish cream liquor. A pomegranate and mango compote complements the dish, which is eaten with artisan handmade glass cutlery and comes in at a not-so-sweet $14,500 (£10,670).
While tacos are usually finished in a few mouthfuls, you might want to savour this one. The world’s most expensive taco – and one of the most expensive single dishes in a restaurant – comes in at an eye-watering $25,000 (£18,396) and is served at Mexico’s Grand Velas Los Cabos resort. It contains Kobe beef, Almas Beluga caviar and black truffle brie inside a gold-flake infused taco shell, while a luxurious salsa made from dried Morita chilli peppers, premium añejo tequila and civet coffee beans accompanies the dish.