People with more money than they know what to do with often spend it frivolously. These wealthy people frequently splurge on expensive homes, exotic cars and luxury vacations, but it doesn’t end there. The richest of the rich also indulge in the most expensive foods the world has to offer— just because they can.
Whether it’s time for Richie Rich’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, the most elite restaurants across the globe are prepared to serve his expensive tastes. Special menu items, some of which are literally sprinkled with gold, cater to the millionaires and billionaires of the world.
And you felt guilty about eating out at Red Robin last night when you could have made the same burger at home for much cheaper. Just wait till you read our list of the top 10 most stupidly expensive food items in the world. You’ll feel much better that you weren’t that guy who splurged on the $5,000 burger.
#10 – Westin Hotel Bagel ($1,000)
New York is known for its luxurious hotels with enough rich people in the city to pay for some of the most useless things in the world. Bagels are simply circular baked bread, and if they were fried, then they would be called doughnuts. The Westin at Times Square in New York offers their finest bagel for the low price of $1,000.
New York is already expensive with people accustomed to paying $10 for a bagel with cream cheese or jam. People at the Westin have spent 100 times that for a plain bagel with a spread made of truffle cream cheese and Riesling jelly. To top it off and justify some of the price, the Westin adds edible speckles of gold leaf, which you will see more of on our list.
#9 – Wagyu Ribeye Steak ($2,800)
It’s hard to find Wagyu (or Kobe) beef in North America, mainly because it comes from Japan. The cows that produce this kind of beef are fed only beer and massaged every day by a team of professionals to ensure that they are tender enough to marble up a good steak.
One of these steaks actually cost around $200, so they aren’t cheap by any means. The one served at Craftsteak is the most expensive that you can find at $2,800. It’s not certain what makes this steak better than all of the other Wagyu steaks, but some people say it is the tenderest beef they have ever eaten. We think we’ll opt for the $200 if, and only if, we’re feeling fancy.
#8 – Samundari Khazana ($3,200)
Curry has gained a lot of worldwide popularity in the last decade or so, but would you be willing to pay $3,200 for it on a seafood dish? The dish is massive, we admit, but hardly worth the price. The name translates into English as “Seafood Treasure” and comes with one full size lobster covered in caviar, snails and edible gold. Yum!
The creator of this seafood delight is Prahlad Hegde of England who said that it was based on a family recipe. The original recipe probably cost 1 percent of this masterpiece, as Hegde said that he kept the curry and replaced the regular ingredients with only the finest in the world. We’re not sure what was regular ingredient was swapped out for the gold, but butter would be our guess.
#7 – Pizza Royale 007 ($4,200)
Domenico Crolla is a revered chef that took a dish we are used to buying on a budget and made it super expensive. At 12 inches, the Pizza Royale 007 hardly even classifies as a medium, but the toppings aren’t like anything you find at Domino’s. There are no pepperonis or bacon, but only the finest ingredients.
Have you ever had lobster on your pizza? Even if you have, have you ever had lobster pizza that was marinated in cognac, with champagne soaked caviar, smoked salmon, venison, prosciutto, and topped with 24-carat gold?! This pizza was supposed to be a novelty item and was auctioned off on eBay for a $4,200 price tag. We’re curious: who wants pizza mailed to them for that much?
#6 – Fleurburger 5000 ($5,000)
Hamburgers are delicious; there is no doubt about that. Usually if you get a hamburger at a nice chain restaurant, it costs between $10 and $15. If you want to go to an upscale restaurant where the chef has had three decades of training, you won’t find many burgers.
That is unless you travel to the wonderful casino paradise of Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, you will find the Fleur Restaurant featuring the signature Fleurburger 5000. What makes the burger so expensive is the Wagyu beef patty (that we saw earlier in steak form) as well as black truffles swimming in their own sauce. Is it as good as something you can get at Red Robin? Maybe, but we’re not paying $5,000 to find out.
#5 – Densuke Black Watermelon ($6,100)
When you think of the perfect watermelon, you usually think of the greenest rind with the reddest inside. The Densuke watermelon defies what we think the juiciest watermelon should look like, as it is nowhere near green. The outside of the melon is black, but it’s perfectly red inside.
It essentially serves the same purpose as a regular watermelon, but since it is black, it is unique enough for people to cough up thousands for it. The rarity is also a big factor because only around 30 of these Densuke melons are produced each year and put up for auction. We’re not sure how you could possibly eat it after spending that much money for it, especially since it looks like a bowling ball.
#4 – Yubari King Melons ($22,872)
Cantaloupe is one of those melons that you either absolutely love or hate. If you are a fan of cantaloupe, then you would fall in love with the Yubari King Melon. They are only grown in one region of Japan, so they are incredibly hard to find, which is part of why they are so expensive. The other reason is that they don’t taste quite like your regular cantaloupe.
To the people in Japan, it is known as the spicy cantaloupe (because of its distinct taste) and it’s perfectly round unlike the melons found at the supermarket. Much like the Densuke watermelons, there is an auction for these rare rounded fruits each year that earn big money for growers. At least this one looks like a normal melon instead of a novelty item.
#3 – Almas Caviar ($25,000)
If you have watched enough movies or read enough books, you know that caviar is a luxury food that you only see the richest of rich people enjoy. Caviar is eggs from the sea, the most expensive of which comes from the Beluga sturgeon known as Huso Huso.
There is only one place to find this kind of caviar and that is the Caspian Sea, which can be a pretty dangerous place. Almas caviar is so rare, that it is actually illegal to ship to the United States. It’s also aged for 20 years like a fine wine, which only drives the price up more. The icing on the cake is the 24 karat gold tin in which the Almas caviar is packaged in, making it the most expensive eggs you could ever eat.
#2 – Frrrozen Haute Chocolate ($25,000)
This clever play on words barely classifies as a food since most people consider hot chocolate a beverage. We’re including it anyway because of the price tag and what comes with the hot chocolate. The Serendipity 3 is the restaurant in New York City that was responsible for this concoction, as well as the most expensive pie, cocktail and frittata (though the prices weren’t this high).
The Haute Chocolate starts in a solid gold, diamond encrusted crown and is filled with the finest cocoas and milk available. If that still doesn’t sound very expensive, it also comes with gold inside of the hot chocolate and a spoon made of, you guessed it, gold. At least it’s topped with La Madeline au Truffe. Since you have to pre-order it two weeks before, at least you have plenty of time to second guess your purchase.
#1 – Italian White Alba Truffle ($160,406)
We now come to the conclusion of our list with the most expensive food that you can find. It looks like some sort of pumpkin that has been left out until Christmas, but the Italian White Alba truffle is the rarest and most delicious mushroom in the world. You have to climb the hills of San Miniato in Tuscany to find these types of mushrooms, but even then they are pretty rare.
Seriously, the truffle itself does not look appetizing at all and doesn’t even come with the gold that we have seen on much of the food in this list. Still, people are willing to fork over six figures for this due to its rarity and taste. If you ever come across a mushroom that looks like this truffle, you should pick it up and try to sell it to someone rich!
