Question: How do I feel about the most expensive meal I’ve ever paid for by myself?
- The setting: Michelin-starred restaurant upon a hill.
- The food: delicious and well-presented.
- The company: my girlfriends and I, decked out in cocktail dresses and heels.
But what really stayed with me was the impeccable service – friendly, informative, unfailingly polite and never pretentious. The décor was gorgeous too – it’s as if I wandered into a dining room decorated by a very wealthy individual with very good taste (or an interior designer).
The entire dinner took almost 3 hours, including a pre-appetizer and pre-dessert compliments of the chef. All in all, a wonderful experience.
I ordered a prix fixe menu and the total tab came out to $80 including tax and tip. It was the most I’ve ever spent on a meal, for myself. That’s a special occasion type of dinner.
Funny to think that when I was in middle school, a $3 box of popcorn chicken from KFC was considered a special treat – by my 8th-grade culinary standard, I’ve definitely made it. 
What’s the most expensive meal you’ve ever spent on yourself (excluding meals dined on the company, date, or parental tab)? Was it worth it?
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The hubby and I spent about $1400 for four at Daniel in New York, and about the same for NYE dinner at La Folie in San Francisco. Both incredible meals, but at $350 a head… well, more than a little guilt-inducing.
I think — $60 for a NYE prix fixe dinner with T. DELICIOUS, but worth it? I don’t know for sure. I suppose, yes. I still dream about the dessert the served. MMmm, not on the regular menu.
Here is an example where I paid for the meal for my mom and my sister. Since I had gotten a really nice bonus at work and it was Christmas, I decided to treat my sister and my mom to a really nice meal. The tab came out to close to $500. I knew that when I picked that restaurant that it was going to be hella pricey but I had been there on my company’s dime before and had really enjoyed the experience. We had such a great time and the service was amazing. The food was so good and it was an opportunity to treat the two most important people in my life.
Hm…$150 at Il Sole on Sunset. Was it worth it? Not really.
Our two most expensive meals that we paid for were at Ruth Chris in Arlington, VA and Cityzen in Washington, DC. I would have to say though that they were not my favorite meals. Both were good but left me feeling too full and unable to enjoy myself post meal.
Favorite expensive meal not paid for by myself was at Abacus in Dallas. I have eaten there a couple of times and every time has been fantastic! Pricey but worth it!
My husband and I went out to one of our favorite restaurants (Sel de la Terre in Boston) for my birthday last year, I think it came to close to $200, but luckily we had a $100 gift card. And it was totally worth it.
Anniversary dinner at Toque in Montreal. 7 course prix fixe with wine pairings was I believe $450 CDN (I think $320 US) and I was disappointed. The server’s english was not awesome and I dont’ speak French. The food was great but we eat semi-expensive meals very regularly ($150/two) and I thought the service should have been amazing.
We did a birthday dinner at Lacroix in Philadelphia for $340 (total with tax & tip). I felt it was TOTALLY worth it. They pulled us into the chef’s table in the kitchen for dessert and the chef gave my husband a signed menu with a Happy Birthday note. I think as the price increases the service gets better. The food can only be *so* good.
I must be a really bad PF blogger. I’ve had many meals over $80.
We almost went to the Joel Robuchon place in Vegas on our honeymoon for $350/head. (The only Michelin 3-star places are in NYC and vegas, and they’re way, way more than $80). We decided on a fancy steak place at $150 instead, it was incredible. I love fancy food. I love everything about it.
Our local cooking school has a prox fixe with five courses and wine for $75, and I wish I could go there every week.
One of the most expensive dinners I ever had was at Aureole in NYC. The food was delicious – but so rich that when we walked outside at the end of dinner I immediately threw up in a snow bank. Not the best way to thank my date!
Over at FiLife you can plug the amount of your most expensive meal into this stacker and see how it compares to others:
http://www.filife.com/stackers/what-is-the-most-expensive-meal-per-person-youve-ever-had/488
I ranked 4th.
Kristen
About 15 years ago, I took my then boyfriend out for his bday for a fancy dinner at the Rainbow Room. I had no idea the bill would be $400 which was equivalent to my monthly rent at the time! It was delicious and we had wine and champagne so it was very decadent!
$450 for my friend and I at Citronelle in DC. It was delicious! We had the 8 (? or some obscene number) course tasting menu with wine pairings. There were multiple courses of dessert. I had squab for the first time and it was tasty. My glass of dom perignon 99′ was the best alcoholic drink i’ve ever tasted – it created a new definition of champagne for me.
It was also extra fun because we got to dress up and the chef was someone we saw on Food Network or other cooking channel so often. Since we were younger than most diners there, the servers were extra nice explaining things and being patient. It was a nice delirious (in a happy way) walk home.
Company’s dime: about $100/meal at various restaurants throughout the east coast.
My dime: $50+ for a 3 or 4 course prix fixe brunch with drinks at Coco Sala in DC. I’m cheap when it comes to my own money. But CS has great service, food, and drinks – the entire experience was divine. http://www.cocosala.com/