What’s the most expensive dinner out to eat you have paid?

[QuarterMillionMan]

My recommendation if you go to Hawaii and want to treat yourselves are 2 revolving restaurants with spectacular views are The Top of Waikiki and The Top of Ala Moana which I've been to both but decades ago.

[Fishindude77]

I think there are people who appreciate great food and would enjoy a meal at places like that and then there are people who just aren’t into it and the experience would be wasted on them. Nothing right or wrong about that. Everybody is different. And it’s not about the money either.

Pretty accurate. My wife gets a kick out of fancy dining so we do it periodically, but it doesn't do all that much for me. I'd much rather buy a few choice steaks and some crab legs or big shrimp (or whatever sounds good), have friends over and do the cooking myself with drinks, etc.
I'm not a tightwad, but for the price of one couples meal dining out we can typically feed about six some pretty top notch food and drinks at home.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Usually for a birthday dinner I'll do something pretty pricey. Last year was the most expensive and I checked the credit card and it was. It was sushi by scratch. It wasn't worth it. The year before I went to Morimoto's in LV. That was more worth it for about the same price. And I've been to Nobu's in LV for DH and it was similiar in price. Sushi by scratch was the worst and the only one I felt not worth paying for. We typically do the omakase for each of us. Sushi omakase is typically where I splurge and we've spent.

I've also had kobe wagyu in kobe and that I did not pick up the tab (my dad did) and he's was from not just japan but kobe. Incredible and knowing what I know now about pricing OMG. But I'd probably go back. I buy A5 wagyu from costco at $59.99/lb where we live. DH will cook it on the grill for about 3 minutes. A lb feeds 4-6 of us depending on the sides with the richness of the meat is killer.

So DH and I have enjoyed multiple meals in different places for different pricing. I've done cheap michelin to expensive. And I wouldn't say that price is most important. Things have been good no matter what the pricing.

Also $100 per person seems to be the going rate if we go out to dinner with friends at a nice as nice restaurant now at least where we live. I mean when olive garden the entrees are $25 before tax and tip and a bowl of ramen is $20, I'm not surprised. We went out to dinner with friend last weekend and the bill for 6 was $400. It was a nice seafood place, we treated DH's friend and his wife from high school. It was a family seafood so not dress up upscale and one of my kids ate a cauliflower steak entree. But average entree was $50. $100 for a fancier place seems to b be in line for going out to an adults only dinner now. My last red robin night with DH and kids when we lost power was $100 with 4 burgers and a beer and sodas.

[Tabs]

I will be completely honest, if nothing else for the entertainment and shock value for the rest of you.

A buddy of mine and I had actual Japanese Kobe Wagyu A5 on your bucket list. To be clear, up until earlier this year, neither one of us have ever had it before, and decided that it was time to fix that, even if it's just one time.

I owed this buddy a huge favor, so I said I would cover it. Plus, he would have choked on price if he knew just how much it actually costed... because we ordered a lot. In any case, for just the two of us, including tip and all the sides we ordered as well, my total came down to $900, or $450 per person.

That is, without a doubt, the most I have ever spent on any single dinner. Prior to that, I have never spent more than $100 to $110 per person.

And you know what's really sad about it all? Neither one of us thought it was that great. I mean, it wasn't terrible or anything. We just thought it was incredibly over-rated.

[ua_guy]

Cuts of meat and cooking/prep can only get so good. There's a place around here that does a $70 steak just as good as a $200 steak downtown at a high-end restaurant. Two totally different places/atmospheres. But, paying more doesn't mean always getting higher quality or better tasting (which is preference!) food.

[kork13]

Cuts of meat and cooking/prep can only get so good. There's a place around here that does a $70 steak just as good as a $200 steak downtown at a high-end restaurant. Two totally different places/atmospheres. But, paying more doesn't mean always getting higher quality or better tasting (which is preference!) food.

That's where I've always struggled with really expensive meals. I consider myself somewhat discerning & experienced as a cook, so I can definitely tell when ingredient quality or cooking skill makes a noteworthy difference in a dish. But I don't see what makes a dish worth $100+. There's unquestionably a significant difference between $10 meals to $30 meals to $50 meals to $100 meals .... But there's diminishing returns as you go above those levels, and I don't understand what makes people willing to shell out $400pp for a meal. What makes it so special that you can't get otherwise?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I think part of the cost is if it's coursed. A multi course meal cost more. I haven't had a steak more expensive than an omakase sushi

[disneysteve]

That's where I've always struggled with really expensive meals. I consider myself somewhat discerning & experienced as a cook, so I can definitely tell when ingredient quality or cooking skill makes a noteworthy difference in a dish. But I don't see what makes a dish worth $100+. There's unquestionably a significant difference between $10 meals to $30 meals to $50 meals to $100 meals .... But there's diminishing returns as you go above those levels, and I don't understand what makes people willing to shell out $400pp for a meal. What makes it so special that you can't get otherwise?

You have to consider the entire experience, start to finish, everything from parking and entering the building to walking out the door at the end, because that's what you're paying for. Eating at Outback is world's apart from eating at a high end steak house in many ways beyond the food.

Not only is the food itself important, though, if you are a drinker the quality of the bar is another factor. We were out of town Thursday night and went to a casual hotel restaurant for dinner. Food and service were good. My wife decided to get a drink. They had a choice of 3 bourbons, all low end entry level common brands. We wouldn't have expected anything else given the venue but at a fancy restaurant, we expect much better. More variety. Less common brands. Maybe a few private barrels. For example, we ate at a really nice place in Alexandria, VA a few months ago. Not only did they have their regular bar menu which already had a respectable whiskey list, but they also had their "secret" book with many more whiskey offerings including some that are quite rare. They had a wide selection of whiskey flights available as well (we got two of them). So that definitely feeds into the overall price. Even if you don't drink or want alcohol, the other beverage choices are important, too. Do they just serve Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite, or do they have a selection of craft soft drinks, house made root beer, fresh squeezed juices, freshly brewed iced teas, perhaps imported beverages. We had lunch at a Greek restaurant a few weeks ago and they had imported Greek iced tea which was really unique.

And of course service can make or break a meal. Generally speaking, the high school or college kid earning $2.25/hr plus tips working a few hours/week around their class schedule and juggling 8 tables and working the register and answering the phone is going to be very different than the career restaurant worker who has been full time at that location for 20 years and knows every detail of the menu.

You're not just paying for what's on your plate.

[disneysteve]

I think part of the cost is if it's coursed. A multi course meal cost more. I haven't had a steak more expensive than an omakase sushi

Very true. Le Bec Fin in Philly which I mentioned earlier was a 7-course meal.

[EasyMoney00]

I think the most we ever spent was at a restaurant in Puerto Rico. It was around $250 total for both of us. Food was really good.

I typically frown at anything that's considered "fancy." Even hip places that people will wait several hours in line for is off limits to me. No interest.

There's a movie called Pig. Nick Cage is in it. There's a scene where he's in a restaurant talking with the chef. He basically sums up what those ultra fancy super hip places are. It's a good movie but that scene is really great.

[disneysteve]

Even hip places that people will wait several hours in line for is off limits to me.

Same here. I refuse to wait more than a nominal amount of time to be seated in a restaurant. If you are so busy that patrons have to wait 30 minutes or more, you need to take reservations. I don't understand the point of a restaurant forcing customers to wait that long, and I don't understand customers being willing to wait that long.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I've noticed the menus at fine dining restaurants have similar entrees. Take for example this menu from Redwood Steakhouse in Las Vegas. In Hawaii at Hy's Steakhouse they have let's say the same cioppino or braised short ribs or miso seabass or Caesar salad but in Hawaii double the prices seen here in Las Vegas. I've been to Redwood in Las Vegas about 5x's and love this place. The ambiance is dimly lit and has an elegant feel. And no crying babies.