The most expensive food thread

[om3ga]

One of my favorite restuarants - the Tower Restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Tower is a rooftop restaurant situated above the Museum of Scotland (giving you great views of the city) and was opened in 1998.
Here are some items from their sample menu (exchange rate $1.7428 = £1):

STARTER

Creamed celeriac soup, poached egg, truffle oil - £7.00
Char-grilled baby aubergines, hummus - £6.50
Endive salad, warm pancetta, Sicilian sausage - £7.50
Pig’s cheek and ox tongue terrine, pickled carrot, beetroot chutney - £8.00
Thai fishcakes, spiced Udon noodles - £8.00
White crab and cumin risotto - £10.00
Beef carpaccio, rocket, Parmesan, truffle oil - £12.00
Langoustines, fennel, crayfish and apple salad, mustard vinaigrette - £14.50

Argyll rock oysters, rice wine vinegar dressing, cucumber, radish, pickled ginger
6 - £9.50
9 - £14.00
12 - £17.50

We do not recommend the consumption of spirits with raw oysters

MAIN

Wild mushroom and chestnut ravioli, tarragon butter sauce - £14.50
Cous cous stuffed red onion, cauliflower purée, wilted spinach - £16.00
Red snapper fillet, artichoke barigoule - £18.50
Roast brill, spiced potato and black-eye pea curry - £20.00
Pork fillet wrapped in Prosciutto, salsa verde, turnip gratin - £20.00
Whole lemon sole, aubergine beignets, baby fennel - £21.00
Braised shin of beef, chestnut and wild mushroom compote - £21.00
Roast venison, sweet & sour red cabbage, Stornoway black pudding - £24.00

Char-grilled beef steak
12oz Rib Eye - £22.00
8oz Fillet - £28.00

Served with potato scone, grilled tomato, Portobello mushroom and garlic parsley butter. We use only fully traceable, guaranteed Scottish beef, hung for at least 21 days. The Tower is a member of The Scotch Beef Club.

http://www.tower-restaurant.com/info2.html

Interior scene #1
Interior scene #2

BTW - here's the link to that £15,250 (approx $26,569) cocktail (which is reportedly escorted to the diner's table by security guards):

Most expensive cocktail

 

[om3ga]

Yeah roguewolf, the brownies are good, but DLM pisses me off with its "status pricing" of the same stuff you can get around the corner at Kroger or Meijer or Wal-Mart for 40% or even less the price.

It's like when people drive around in a Cadillac, having WAY-OVERSPENT for a piece of unreliable shit when they could have bought a Mercedes that will run until the day they die. Both are status symbols, but one's worth the money and one's a maintenance money-pit. lol

BNF's taking me out for a dinner with truffles (if they're in-season) when I come over to visit. They weigh it (the truffles) as you grate it to put onto your plate!!! :eek: Damn. I can't remember how much it costs, but if he sees this he can tell us. He better save some money - I love Italian food more than any other in the world!!! :nanner:

Start saving up, BNF, because if I don't get a killer meal I'm dragging your ass from Bologna to Roma where I'm gonna kick your ass in the Colosseum!!! lmao

I'm not surprised they weigh the grated truffles - just checked some of the prices:

Truffles

 

[jdb67]

I was watching a Local Lifestyle Program on the W'end and the Presenter was talking about Chinese Cuisine... I nearly fell off my chair when he asked a Chinese Chef how much Shark fin cost... The Price the chef quoted was $750 a Kilogram!!!! If you think that is a touch rich, Seahorse goes for $2'400 a Kilo!!!!....:eek: :eek: :eek:


http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi2/tandi297t.html

 

[BNF]

Do some more research into Italian white truffles and you will see rarified prices.

Most of the astronomical prices are publicity for restaurants of meager quality but high pretension on Hong Kong, Moscow, the UK and USA. (Last year some HK "chef" paid c$100.000USD for a 1kg/2.2lb white truffle.....

They are expensive enough in Italy, but the idea of making them a rich man's meal is non-existent. Almost any decent restaurant will offer a variety of dishes with truffles in the fall, and the cost is generally increased by c€20 per dish with slivers. (Slivers being all that is needed!)

 

[jdb67]

Do some more research into Italian white truffles and you will see rarified prices.

Most of the astronomical prices are publicity for restaurants of meager quality but high pretension on Hong Kong, Moscow, the UK and USA. (Last year some HK "chef" paid c$100.000USD for a 1kg/2.2lb white truffle.....

They are expensive enough in Italy, but the idea of making them a rich man's meal is non-existent. Almost any decent restaurant will offer a variety of dishes with truffles in the fall, and the cost is generally increased by c€20 per dish with slivers. (Slivers being all that is needed!)

Have you eaten Truffles? what do they taste like?

 

[BNF]

Of course I have! I also have hunted (really "searched") them for the past 10 years every fall.
They are, not just according to me but to many many gourmets, food journalists (STFW), chefs and food researchers (STFW again), the most complex taste in the world. Some foods have 3 or 4 levels of flavors and aromas. Many believe that truffles have hundreds of layers and aromas. (I couldn't find any decent articles in english...sorry!)

They are pugent at the very first moment, but that quickly changes for most people to any number of secondary scents. They do not taste like mushrooms, they do not taste sweet - they do create a warm feeling in the mouth and on the tongue, they do taste like....truffles. I can't get any words out to describe them - they need to be sampled, and best, as usual, simply on a fine, delicate egg pasta or on eggs.

 

[jdb67]

Of course I have! I also have hunted (really "searched") them for the past 10 years every fall.
They are, not just according to me but to many many gourmets, food journalists (STFW), chefs and food researchers (STFW again), the most complex taste in the world. Some foods have 3 or 4 levels of flavors and aromas. Many believe that truffles have hundreds of layers and aromas. (I couldn't find any decent articles in english...sorry!)

They are pugent at the very first moment, but that quickly changes for most people to any number of secondary scents. They do not taste like mushrooms, they do not taste sweet - they do create a warm feeling in the mouth and on the tongue, they do taste like....truffles. I can't get any words out to describe them - they need to be sampled, and best, as usual, simply on a fine, delicate egg pasta or on eggs.

Your discription is very close to what I have heard from two other people I have spoken to, that have tried them in a Pasta dish.... Im looking forward to giving them a go... cheers!!!

 

[om3ga]

More on truffles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle

I love this quote:

Looking for truffles in open ground is almost always carried out with specially trained pigs or dogs. Pigs were the most used in the past, but nowadays farmers prefer to use dogs, which do not eat the truffles.

Seriously though, I've got to try some truffles!!!!

 

[D-rock]

I can see why some people would go to dogs to hunt out truffles. Have you ever held a pig back form something it wants? It makes restraining a dog seem like a picnic. Although I always thought pigs were better at finding them.

 

[BNF]

I don't want to get too off subject, but... truffle dogs are an entirely different story. Italians, in general, have a fairly attrocious attitude towards domestic animals, and truffle dogs are often poisoned or killed by other hunters for their (dog's) skills.
Lastly, unlike most other foods and flavors, the taste of a truffles (especially the finer white ones) cannot be artificially produced. They are also resistent to cultivation and are extremely picky about where they grow in nature to boot.

Most of what I've read in this thread is "pop star" money waste. It is incredibly easy to convince someone with no taste that just because something is expensive , it is good.

The philistine who "knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."

 

[member2686]

You still haven't commented on what meal you're going to make or buy for me when I visit, BNF. lol I recall you liking tortellini.

The most expensive canned food is abalone - $100 a can! :eek:

http://www.can.com.sg/content/neocan/en/streetwise/maxidollar/price_check__cny_s.html

 

[qweretyuiopas@]

Tabitha Stern[/B]]We went to the Four Seasons once and ordered room service and my husbands cheeseburger was $32...and i thought that was expensive!

I hope it was good lol, I bet it looked like a regular burger too.

 

[om3ga]

Back in 2004 (I don't know if this is still the case) Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield, 120 northeast of Pittsburgh had a six pound burger that you could order for $23.95, loaded with the following: Two whole tomatoes; A half-head of lettuce.12 slices of American cheese; A full cup of peppers; Two entire onions; Plus, a river a mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/677/super20size20me20too6cd.jpg

After a pub in Clinton New Jersey offered a bigger burger, Denny's Beer Barrel Pub retaliated with the "Ye Olde 96er burger:"

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/729/ks11ej.jpg

This monster burger uses about 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of pre-cooked hamburger, equivalent to 32 fast food sandwiches. Twelve slices of cheese, an onion, two tomatoes, half a head of lettuce, an inundation of condiments and a bun specially prepared by a local bakery increase the total mass to about eleven pounds (5.0 kg).
To the best of my knowledge Kate Stelnick was the first (and I think only) customer to finish that burger within Denny's time limit (3 hours) on Wednesday, January 12, 2005.

Details:
http://katestelnick.com/

 

[AFA]

And now for something completely different....
Why did I start an "expensive food" thread, you may ask? I'm wondering who in their right mind would buy such expensive fare. For example:

Britain's most expensive sandwich - the Wagyu sandwich - goes on sale today at Selfridge's, in Oxford Street, London at a cost of £85 (about $148).
Slices of 24-hour fermented sour dough bread are spread with a mayonnaise flavoured with foie gras (£30 a lb) and black truffle (£340 a lb). This is followed with a generous helping of brie de meaux, considered Europe's finest cheese.
The Wagyu beef itself, comprising a third of the weight of the sandwich, costs £28 a pound and is imported from Japan. The meat is seared in a pan on both sides for two minutes and then basted with yet more foie gras before being chilled for 15 minutes and sliced.
English cherry tomatoes and rocket, plus peppers roasted on a naked flame and then skinned and sliced finely, complete the presentation.

Ok - perhaps you want a dessert to go with that pricey sarnie?

Incredible Om3ga! All this talk about food is making me hungry. I'm off for some peanut butter and jelly! :rofl:

 

[Legzman]

I wonder why people would pay that much for a sammich or anything else for that matter.
Every food we eat ends up in the toilet anyway.

that answer is simple...because obviously they can afford it

 

[om3ga]

Incredible Om3ga! All this talk about food is making me hungry. I'm off for some peanut butter and jelly! :rofl:

I'll settle for some good old fashioned fried chicken....

 

[om3ga]

Incredible Om3ga! All this talk about food is making me hungry. I'm off for some peanut butter and jelly! :rofl:

PS: I don't know where wikipedia got this info but it's still of interest:

As of September 2004, the most expensive peanut butter on the market is a $545 limited item which can be mail-ordered from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the U.S. This peanut butter (SRM 2387) is a set of three 6 oz (170 g) jars which will expire on December 31, 2009.

 

[Rastagir]

You know, the title of this thread reminds me of a funny tail. My dad is a captain, so he has many friends overseas. One of these friends, sends him beluga caviar every once in a while to thank my father for a favor my dad did to him. The funny thing is that no one in my family likes caviar, so our cat has the honour of eating a whole tin of Beluga Caviar (Beluga caviar ranges in price from more than $5,000 in the United States (when it can be imported at all), to a low of around $250 per kilo in Baku, the major production center) every once in a while.....

 

[cabey]

I know this isn't a food but a bar near Manchester sells a cocktail for £20,000

this is taken from a website about it...

the premium cocktails, the priciest of which is a £20,000 Harrington! What’s in it? Louis Tres French cognac and Cristal - plus a bespoke diamond ring gift certificate. At least you’re not going to choke on a rock when you drink it!

The bar is situated where all the footballers who play for the Manchester football teams live

 

[smallville206]

I wonder why people would pay that much for a sammich or anything else for that matter.
Every food we eat ends up in the toilet anyway.

I'm in complete agreement.