14 Bank-Breaking Dishes

FleurBurger 5000 ($5,000), Fleur by Hubert Keller, Las Vegas

The former Top Chef toque takes the burger-and-a-beverage to decadent new heights with this two-handed splurge, which is made with rich Kobe beef crowned with foie gras and black truffles. The meaty spectacle is paired with a bottle of 1995 Petrus wine and two Ichendorf Brunello glasses — yours to keep.

Macaroni and cheese ($95), Mélisse, Santa Monica, California

 

The Michelin-starred French restaurant's rich spin on the childhood staple features fresh tagliatelle pasta topped with gobs of parmesan cheese, brown-butter truffle froth and shaved white truffles. P.S. The dish is only served October through December, which is white truffle season.

Black Tot Rum ($80 Per One-And-a-Half-Ounce Serving), Minetta Tavern, New York City

While pricey Scotch and cognac are omnipresent on restaurants' drinks lists, rums rarely reach double-digit prices — save for one of the few remaining bottles of this uncommon grog, which was once rationed out to members of the Royal Navy. Though you can now drink it like a sailor, you might need to own a yacht to afford it.

Samundari Khazana curry (Around $3,000), Bombay Brasserie, London

This costly curry (its name means "seafood treasure") is assembled with an ocean's worth of luxe ingredients, including abalone, crab, caviar, and lobster, whose shell is shellacked with loads of edible gold. White truffles, morel mushrooms and rice scented with saffron — the world's most expensive ingredient — seal the spicy deal.

Luxury Pizza ($1,000), Nino’s Bellissima, New York City

The pie's the limit at this pizza shop, where a thousand bucks buys a luxurious thin-crust extravagance that's crowned with chives, lobster, crème fraîche and a half-dozen kinds of caviar.

Hot Dog ($69), Serendipity 3, New York City

The foot-long haute, err, hot dog is sizzled in white truffle oil, planted in pretzel bread painted with white truffle butter, and finished with caramelized onions, black truffle–studded foie gras, heirloom-tomato ketchup and — phew! — black truffle–infused Dijon mustard. For dessert? The $1,000 Golden Opulence sundae, finished with 23-karat edible gold leaf.

Strawberries Arnaud ($1.4 Million), Arnaud’s Restaurant, New Orleans

The New Orleans stalwart's dessert is a patented blend of bright-red red berries, vanilla ice cream, a port–red wine sauce, whipped cream, mint, and a 5-karat pink diamond ring that once belonged to British financier and philanthropist Sir Ernest Cassel. Don't get the ring too sticky.

Beef and Noodle Soup ($324), Niu Ba Ba, Taipei, Taiwan

This ain't your dorm-room ramen: Chef Wang Cong-Yuan spent 15 years perfecting his steeply-priced soup, which is constructed with four special cuts of slow-braised beef (from Australia, the U.S., Brazil, and Japan), a blend of up to six different stocks, and one of 20-odd varieties of unique noodles. We recommend sipping, not slurping. 

Zillion-Dollar Frittata ($1,000), Norma’s, New York City

This fluffy morning extravagance is crafted with six eggs, an entire lobster, and a whopping 10 ounces of Sevruga caviar. If you're pinching pennies, you can opt for a version with one ounce of caviar for the bargain price of $100. 

Gull's Egg Omelet (About $150), Boisdale of Bishopsgate, London

If you'd like to spend a little less for breakfast, this London restaurant offers a fleeting seasonal splurge: a gull's egg omelet, only available from April to mid-May. Three of the black-headed gull's rare eggs (only 40,000 are collected annually) are paired with lobster, crab, asparagus, truffles, and wild garlic.

Hot Pot ($500), Shaboo, Las Vegas

Nestled inside the $8.5 billion Aria Resort & Casino complex, Chef Masa Takayama's Shaboo offers a sophisticated riff on Japan's hot pot cuisine. There are no menus, so wait patiently as waiters present you with pristine platters of Omi beef imported from Japan's Shiga Prefecture and seafood flown in daily from Tokyo's vaunted Tsukiji market, which you poach in a burbling vat of broth. For dessert? Perhaps winter truffle ice cream.

The Von Essen Platinum Club Sandwich (About $150), The Cliveden, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Starting with sourdough bread, this triple-decker sandwich is then stuffed with jamón Ibérico air-cured for 30 months, white truffles, hardboiled quail eggs, France's  famed poulet de Bresse chicken, and semi-dried Italian tomatoes. This jaw-stretcher is big enough to share — not that you should. 

The Sultan’s Golden Cake ($1,000), Çirağan Palace Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey

Order 72 hours in advance to enjoy this royal repast made black truffles; French Polynesian vanilla beans; and pears, apricots, quinces, and figs that have spent years marinating in Jamaican rum. The cake is covered in 24-karat gold leaf, and served in a handcrafted silver box.

Golden Araucana Egg ($100), Toqueville, New York City

The Araucana fowl lays a beautiful blue egg, which the French-American restaurant soft-poaches and crisps before plating it alongside risotto or handmade gnocchi or tagliatelle. Why the triple-digit price? A generous topping of fresh Périgord truffles.

Macaroni and Cheese, $95: Mélisse, Santa Monica, California

The Michelin-starred French restaurant's rich spin on the childhood staple features fresh tagliatelle pasta topped with gobs of Parmesan cheese, brown-butter truffle froth, and shaved white truffles. P.S. The dish is only served October through December — white truffle season.