Most expensive restaurant meal you've had

[bedstuy]

What's the most expensive restaurant meal you've had, your share and total check?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Probably ordering a "large" at Buffalo Wild Wings or something.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I spent $145 for my share on my birthday dinner 2 weeks ago. Crispy thai shrimp to start, maine lobster, two sides: bacon braised brussel sprouts, house made creamed corn. Bananas foster cake for dessert. Bottle of some kind of italian white wine with the meal (no one wants red with seafood, not even me).

Not sure if that's the most expensive, but it was one of the most.

Total check? I've seen the bill upwards of $900, but that was for a large party of at least 8-10 people.

[bedstuy]

For me, it was $5000 for a party of 6, with my share being something like $700.  Thank God I didn't pick up the check, no dinner is worth $700.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

For me, it was $5000 for a party of 6, with my share being something like $700.  Thank God I didn't pick up the check, no dinner is worth $700.

At that price, I hope that included an ownership interest in the restaurant or at least a solid gold commemorative keepsake.  I'm a cheapskate who thinks no dinner is worth over $25 and prefers to keep it cheaper than that.

[bedstuy]

For me, it was $5000 for a party of 6, with my share being something like $700.  Thank God I didn't pick up the check, no dinner is worth $700.

At that price, I hope that included an ownership interest in the restaurant or at least a solid gold commemorative keepsake.  I'm a cheapskate who thinks no dinner is worth over $25 and prefers to keep it cheaper than that.

It was a $310 tasting menu, but I had the wagyu beef as a supplement which was an extra $100.  Then, the wine pairings were about $300 per person for the meal.  I also had a cocktail that was $30 or so.

[free my dawg]

One time I re-ordered a solid $15 worth of Taco Bell that I already thought my friends ordered.

[Simfan34]

Most I ever paid? $82 not too long ago at P.J. Clarke's. Raw oysters and clams, a lobster roll, cheesecake, and an Irish coffee. Well worth the cost, although it usually comes out to less there- like $60. I blame the fact I'd finally made it to the opera that night and the waitress was also very attractive.

Most expensive? Probably at the Capital Grille in Boston on the occasion of my cousin's graduation from MIT, last year, the steak I had was $40 or so on top of appetizers and dessert, with some 12-15 of us, and their wine considered, I'd expect it to be upwards of $2500. I might have spent more at Delmonico's on my birthday a few weeks back- I had an entree of $45 Lobster Newburg (and a rather tough one at that!) plus some oysters, bread pudding, and Madeira. Probably like $90, but I was forcibly prevented from seeing the check, much less paying.

Bedstuy, Eleven Madison Park or Per Se? (There's also a place with such prices in Brooklyn which I am neglecting and whose name I am forgetting, but who cares, it's in Brooklyn). Perhaps Daniel and Jean-Georges are contenders here.

Ultimately I am the sort of person who loves good food but would hate to pay for it- you eat and then- it is gone, just like that. And you are out $50. Which is the entry price for a great meal in this city sadly- maybe $40 but keep in mind a meal at McDonald's here is $10- and adjust your scales accordingly.

[TNF]

$50 once on a meal for me and my girlfriend on our anniversary.

[bedstuy]

Most I ever paid? $82 not too long ago at P.J. Clarke's. Raw oysters and clams, a lobster roll, cheesecake, and an Irish coffee. Well worth the cost, although it usually comes out to less there- like $60. I blame the fact I'd finally made it to the opera that night and the waitress was also very attractive.

Most expensive? Probably at the Capital Grille in Boston on the occasion of my cousin's graduation from MIT, last year, the steak I had was $40 or so on top of appetizers and dessert, with some 12-15 of us, and their wine considered, I'd expect it to be upwards of $2500. I might have spent more at Delmonico's on my birthday a few weeks back- I had an entree of $45 Lobster Newburg (and a rather tough one at that!) plus some oysters, bread pudding, and Madeira. Probably like $90, but I was forcibly prevented from seeing the check, much less paying.

Bedstuy, Eleven Madison Park or Per Se?

Per Se.  Although, I've been to both.  I wasn't a huge fan of Eleven Madison Park. 

I actually think Momofuku Ko is my favorite restaurant in NYC. 

[Simfan34]

Did you go to EMP in its present four-hour-long-festival-of-food incarnation? I'm told it's overdone, but it sounds interesting.

There was a point last summer, however, where I got into a group of people who were quite the gourmets. All very tasty, but eating a $50 dollar meal every other day can be quite disasterous for your budget. I had a nice $250 in my account, all of it hard earned, and $1000 from the month prior shunted into my savings account. Next thing I knew I was in shambles and so destitute I couldn't even afford a ride on the subway, much less a ticket to New Jersey. I actually had to call to be saved from my penury and picked up. Nice gang while it lasted though, but then when one guy caught feelings for a girl and it all went tits up...

[bedstuy]

Yeah, I did the tasting menu at EMP.  In my experience, the tasting menu at any Michelin star restaurant is going to make you drunk and sick.  But, it's a cool experience to try good caviar, wagyu beef, 1968 madeira. and such.   

But, only a chump or a super rich person pays for these fancy NYC restaurants.  It's all about getting making super rich friends and mooching off of them.

[badgate]

One time I re-ordered a solid $15 worth of Taco Bell that I already thought my friends ordered.

[Simfan34]

Yeah, I did the tasting menu at EMP.  In my experience, the tasting menu at any Michelin star restaurant is going to make you drunk and sick.  But, it's a cool experience to try good caviar, wagyu beef, 1968 madeira. and such.   

But, only a chump or a super rich person pays for these fancy NYC restaurants.  It's all about getting making super rich friends and mooching off of them.

I once ate at... Aureole? I think that's starred, it was a la carte however. Not terrible, not the best I've ever had, however. As for mooching off of friends, I tell my friend (who's an analyst at Merrill Lynch this summer) that we'll all go out to EMP once I get out of grad school and he's a MD at Goldman. Or something of that sort.

I remember gossiping at some Republican event, apparently the chairman of the NYU Republicans once declared his favourite restaurant to be Per Se, as per a girl at Fordham. Now this chairman is the son of a fairly well-known billionaire... but I mean, Per Se? Surely your "favourite" is something more... conventional. I mean, sure, my favourite restaurant might not be the one I go to most often (otherwise it'd be Tom's Restaurant, of Seinfeld fame, which happens to be at the end of my block), but it's not going to be the super fancy one I go to every now and then. Which would be P.J. Clarke's. But to each his own I suppose.

[free my dawg]

One time I re-ordered a solid $15 worth of Taco Bell that I already thought my friends ordered.

That was roughly my friends' reaction too. Context and all.

[bedstuy]

Yeah, I did the tasting menu at EMP.  In my experience, the tasting menu at any Michelin star restaurant is going to make you drunk and sick.  But, it's a cool experience to try good caviar, wagyu beef, 1968 madeira. and such.   

But, only a chump or a super rich person pays for these fancy NYC restaurants.  It's all about getting making super rich friends and mooching off of them.

I once ate at... Aureole? I think that's starred, it was a la carte however. Not terrible, not the best I've ever had, however. As for mooching off of friends, I tell my friend (who's an analyst at Merrill Lynch this summer) that we'll all go out to EMP once I get out of grad school and he's a MD at Goldman. Or something of that sort.

I remember gossiping at some Republican event, apparently the chairman of the NYU Republicans once declared his favourite restaurant to be Per Se, as per a girl at Fordham. Now this chairman is the son of a fairly well-known billionaire... but I mean, Per Se? Surely your "favourite" is something more... conventional. I mean, sure, my favourite restaurant might not be the one I go to most often (otherwise it'd be Tom's Restaurant, of Seinfeld fame, which happens to be at the end of my block), but it's not going to be the super fancy one I go to every now and then. Which would be P.J. Clarke's. But to each his own I suppose.

If you're the chairman of College of Republicans at NYU and your Pops is a billionaire, I think you're expected to be an obnoxious prick. 

I will say, the other patrons at Per Se were so hilariously wealthy.  As a middle class kid, I just marvel at the deliberate, manicured, pretentious dignity of that kind of rich person.  They seem almost sad and lifeless, like people hired to be extras in a movie about rich people.  That said, Per Se is an amazing restaurant.

On the point of favorite restaurants, I think you hint at a real distinction.  Your favorite restaurant ought to be about the whole experience, which is more about the company you have shared there.  It should be somewhere you had an amazing date or a late night meal with drunk college friends.  If you're 21 and that place is Per Se, your life is sad.

[Simfan34]

No, you're quite right. Although I do always enjoy P.J. Clarke's; I'm sure there's better steak to be had but I always enjoy going there after the Philharmonic or the Opera with my friends. As for dates, I did go through my bank activity to check if I had forgotten anything, and I did see a credit for an Ethiopian place in midtown in October. It wasn't much ($25), but I winced at the memories. Alas, mine aren't so fond. That and my ability to make large sums of money vanish with ease, I suppose.

That aside (provided you ignore the "balance" column to the right) these statements provide a rather nostalgic chronology of restaurants (which, with little else, are my main expense). An embarrassing profusion of McDonalds', then a sudden shift to Somerville, Massachusetts- a trip I took to see a friend at Tufts- $21.30 for lunch at a cafe with a friend in Cambridge, $17.50 for a Nepali dinner, $10.65 for crepes before I left to take the bus back. $24.00 at a vegan restaurant- dinner with a vegan friend (we invariably eat at this one restaurant). $60.00 at P.J. Clarke's, immediately preceded by $36.00 at the Philharmonic... I think I'd bought two tickets to cover for a friend (who I had owed money for a prior ticket before, so we were even). $22.00 at a frequent Thai haunt with an acquaintance who I haven't seen for a better part of a year yet who I have been trying to meet since the autumn.. and it goes on. A fascinating look at my eating my way through life.

[Хahar 🤔]

Simfan, I feel like New York should have a better selection of very good cheap food than anywhere else in the country.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Simfan, I feel like New York should have a better selection of very good cheap food than anywhere else in the country.

I'm betting Simi doesn't eat street food or dive food.......which of course are splendid.

[Hatman 🍁]

My father in law treated a bunch of us to dinner at the city's finest steak house. A sitting member (now disgraced) of the Canadian Senate (Pamela Wallin) was sitting behind me.  Most people can't recognize Senators, even myself, but she was formerly a well known journalist/TV personality. And she's very well known now since there was a scandal.

She's not the only disgraced Conservative Senator who has been in the same establishment where I was eating. A few weeks ago I went to a strip club where Senator Patrick Brazeau also serves as day manager.

As for me footing the bill? I can't recall exactly. I've not paid more than $60 for a meal that I can think of.

[Хahar 🤔]

With regard to the question, I dropped $40 at Gettysburg a couple weekends ago on our history club trip. My order was only $13.50 (plus probably an extra two or three dollars for the portion of the crab dip I had), but the total bill came out to $95 and I took the biggest share of it because I had the most cash on hand. The history department should reimburse the $95 at some point, so really it didn't matter who was paying.

[Simfan34]

Simfan, I feel like New York should have a better selection of very good cheap food than anywhere else in the country.

You must realise all the decent carts were replaced by "food trucks" run by white people years ago. I recall the carts from my youth with a myriad of food, today we have the halal carts still but that's drunk or tired food, certainly not "very good". They're now all selling $20 lobster rolls or $7 Belgian Waffles. No, no, it's all atrociously expensive.

[traininthedistance]

Simfan, I feel like New York should have a better selection of very good cheap food than anywhere else in the country.

You must realise all the decent carts were replaced by "food trucks" run by white people years ago. I recall the carts from my youth with a myriad of food, today we have the halal carts still but that's drunk or tired food, certainly not "very good". They're now all selling $20 lobster rolls or $7 Belgian Waffles. No, no, it's all atrociously expensive.

While expensive food trucks are, indeed, a thing nowadays (though they're not actually all run by white people), there is still plenty of good cheap food to be had.  I mean, Chinatown still exists, just for starters.

And the halal carts are great.

[Simfan34]

Chinatown exists, yes, but it's very far away.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Most I ever paid? $82 not too long ago at P.J. Clarke's. Raw oysters and clams, a lobster roll, cheesecake, and an Irish coffee. Well worth the cost, although it usually comes out to less there- like $60. I blame the fact I'd finally made it to the opera that night and the waitress was also very attractive.

Most expensive? Probably at the Capital Grille in Boston on the occasion of my cousin's graduation from MIT, last year, the steak I had was $40 or so on top of appetizers and dessert, with some 12-15 of us, and their wine considered, I'd expect it to be upwards of $2500. I might have spent more at Delmonico's on my birthday a few weeks back- I had an entree of $45 Lobster Newburg (and a rather tough one at that!) plus some oysters, bread pudding, and Madeira. Probably like $90, but I was forcibly prevented from seeing the check, much less paying.

Bedstuy, Eleven Madison Park or Per Se? (There's also a place with such prices in Brooklyn which I am neglecting and whose name I am forgetting, but who cares, it's in Brooklyn). Perhaps Daniel and Jean-Georges are contenders here.

Ultimately I am the sort of person who loves good food but would hate to pay for it- you eat and then- it is gone, just like that. And you are out $50. Which is the entry price for a great meal in this city sadly- maybe $40 but keep in mind a meal at McDonald's here is $10- and adjust your scales accordingly.

This is why the world hates America.