Dining: What Expensive Entrees Have You Tried?

[Jinx]

I was wondering if the SDopers might share what expensive entrees they've enjoyed. And, which ones would make your top-three list of most expensive dinners, even if you have yet to try it? Just curious about what premium, mouth-watering dishes people have tried! - Jinx

[Lightnin']

The best entree I've ever had was a Hudson's on the Bend, a smallish exotic meat restaurant near Austin.

A venison filet, stuffed with lobster, covered with a cherry sauce. Oh man.

[Baker]

I suppose it depends on one's definition of expensive, but I had an entree once(paid for by someone else, as a gift), that I think was between $25 and$30. I don't remember the name of the dish, but there was pasta, a cream sauce to die for, and lots of tender shrimp and scallops. Creme brulee for dessert.

I once tasted caviar from a tin that cost $300 a pound(that would be about $661 per kilogram) Tasty stuff. My boss had purchased it for a wedding reception he was catering, for folks who had told him to spare no expense, they wanted the good stuff.

[Indygrrl]

Steak and Lobster, a side of asparagus with hollandaise, some nice rolls, and Creme Brulee for dessert.

[Scumpup]

Probably the filet mignon and shrimp entree served at last year's National Sheriff's Convention. It was an excellent meal, but it was also obscenely expensive, as things tend to be at conventions.

[Bippy the Beardless]

I'm amazed at how much 'surf 'n' turf' is getting mentioned (steak and lobster/prawn) I always found the combination unsatisfactory.

A good Duck a l'orange is hard to beat, as is a nice piece of Venison in rich red wine and berry sauce. Remarkably inexpensive in Rome I had spaggetti with Lobster and sliced truffles that was extremely fine.

For my top three yet to try dinners
Chateau Briande (sp?) at a good french restaurant.
Kobe Beef at a good Japanese restaurant.
A full Peking Duck meal at a good Chinese restaurant.

[Winnie]

I had a veal chop at an Italian restaurant for my anniversary last year that was $35 just for the chop. It was sublime, completely melted in your mouth and rivaled the best filet mignons.

I had steak and lobster at a really fancy steakhouse for about $60, too.

[lissener]

The one time I ate at Le Français I had sweetbreads, from which I will. Never. Recover.

[teela brown]

I once had a combination seared rare tuna/foie gras entree at Aqua in San Francisco. Man oh man, was that delectable - the combination of the beefy sweet tuna and the buttery rich gamy foie gras was not to be believed.

[International Playboy]

It wasn't an entree, but I ate Abalone Piccata (http://www.cafepacifica.com/abalone.HTM) a couple of weeks ago. Only about a two inch medallion (menu says three), but it was sooooo good! I had never had abalone before and had been meaning to try it at this place for a couple of years now. I could easily eat $100+ worth of that stuff.

[Corixidae]

A few years ago when my grandmother died, we had a memorial dinner gathering at Tuscany (http://www.tuscanyslc.com/) in Salt Lake City. I had the double-cut pork chop with mashed potatoes. It's still on their dinner menu (http://www.tuscanyslc.com/dinner.htm).

Simply divine, and the service was orders of magnitude better than at any restaurant I've ever experienced.

[rockle]

The two most expensive dinners I have ever had rival each other, and I can't choose, and I am going to just list everything I ate at those meals:

#1 - At the Cascade Lodge, Kintnersville, PA - Caesar salad, steak Diane, strawberries Romanoff - all cooked tableside and all completely wonderful (about $50 for everything)

#2 - At Alex restaurant at Argosy's Empress Casino, Joliet, IL - Some kind of salad with dressing made from Malibu rum, some kind of chicken stuffed with lobster and crabmeat and some kind of ethereally fabulous sauce, crème brulée, and about 5 French martinis (made with champage and Chambord) - oh dear God, what a night! (some obscene amount for everything, but someone else paid)

As for what I have always wanted to try ... I would like to eat "real" Italian food in Italy and French food in France. But in those cases, the trips would likely cost more than the meals would, no dobut.

[wolfman]

One time I got a combination game plate at the Buckhorn Exchange (http://www.buckhorn.com/main.htm) in Denver. Elk Steak, Pheasant, and Buffalo Prime rib. So much yummy meat at once. And so much money(but I didn't have to pay, my boss did :))

On the down side I see they don't have pheasant anymore.

[Gyrate]

I've eaten at The Ivy in London twice, at a cost of about £70-80 each time for two people. I had grilled calve's liver the last time, which was divine, and lamb the first time, which was less divine.

I've also been to Bowfingers in Paris twice, paying about the same amount for excellent if not particularly exotic meals in a gorgeous setting.

All meals included a bottle of reasonably nice wine.

[Hunter Hawk]

The best white-tablecloth dinner I've had to date was at G. W. Sundman's in Helsinki. The menu was as follows:

Black salsify mousse with vendace roe
Fois gras terrine
Turbot poached in vegetable consomme
Filet of reindeer gratinated with nut bread, boletus mushroom brulee
A salad of artichokes and marinated tomatoes
Black currant tartlet with apple & cinnamon sorbet and fudge sauce

Each course came with its own pairing of wine. The total price was somewhere around a couple hundred euros.



I've also had some toe-curlingly good dishes at Tojo's sushi in Vancouver, such as:

Some sort of unusual scallop sushi
Halibut-cheek sashimi with ponzu sauce
Sauteed fish (I'm blanking on which kind) with sauteed mushrooms and fried fish fin

On some other dishes, he also used the best peppercorns I've ever had. I'm not sure what kind they were, but they were fresh rather than dried--I ended up eating them individually, chewing slowly and thinking "My god, this is good pepper..."

With drinks and tip (and a lot of other good dishes--these were just the standouts in an already-excellent field), the total was somewhere in the low three digits American. (You can get away much cheaper than that, though.)



I've also had some very good entrees at the Palace Kitchen in Seattle; their entrees tend to range from about $15 to $30. Examples:

Grilled venison with braised farro and rapini
Slow-roasted pork belly with potatoes, braised greens, pea puree, and a fried duck egg

[Hunter Hawk]

Dang it, I forgot to add in the links.

G.W. Sundmans (http://www.ravintolaopas.net/gwsundmans/index.asp?newsClassID=31&newsID=&companyID=&lang=en)
Tojo's (http://www.tojos.com)
Palace Kitchen (http://www.palacekitchen.com/palace/dinner.html)

[iwakura43]

The one time I ate at Le Français I had sweetbreads, from which I will. Never. Recover.

I'm still trying to figure out whether this is supposed to be an endorsement or a warning.

[Annie]

I want this (http://www.lumiere.ca/pages/signature.htm) for my 40th birthday. Some friends went last weekend and are still drooling. Hey, what's $195 for dinner? :eek:

Here's the bargain plate: (http://www.lumiere.ca/pages/tasting.htm) only $150 with the wine-and lamb!

[kalex]

I can answer this one, it was just this past weekend. I took my SO to Morimoto's in Philly for his 40th- he took me there for our first date. Got his pic taken with Iron Chef himself. I can't even remember everything that came out of the kitchen - kobe beef, rock shrimp, triple fried whole fish - plus specialty sake, which is served cold. It came to almost 600 dollars. (there were 8 of us!) What a party! If you get a chance, give it a try. A gorgeous place and great food.

[pulykamell]

I used to work in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Scotland (as a washer-up/minor prep cook), so I got to sample lots of tidbits of simply awesome food here and there. I honestly can't even remember all the yumminess I've had there.

But as a proper diner, the best main course (I get confused, because some people use entree to mean this, others use entree to mean appetizer, which, really, makes more sense) I've eaten was quite simple: breast of veal with a truffle sauce and whipped potatoes. It was in a little French bistro called Chez Daniel in Budapest. Started off with a creamy wild mushroom soup, and finished off with a creme brulee, it was absolutely the perfect meal. The veal was absolutely exquisite; buttery soft, yet still retaining texture, perfectly seared on the outside, moist on the inside. And the truffles ... man, I love truffles ...

[SaxFace]

Oh, my. This thread is making me so hungry!!

My husband is a fantastic cook (I think all French people are required to be) and he and his mother cook expensive tasting meals. But, of course, we splurge on dinner here pretty often. There's nothing like a memorable meal.

We frequent one restaurant pretty often. It's about $50 per person, minus wine, for an appetizer, entree and dessert. Is that expensive? We go about every other month and the last time we went I had lobster ravioli, a wintery dish with lamb and cabbage and the profiteroles. Unbelievably terrific. FYI, the place is called Le Florimond on Avenue de la Motte-Picquet in the 7th.

The best meal we've ever had together was at a restaurant called Le Chaumerie (sp?), also in the 7th. I ordered the "tasting menu" for about $130. Basically, the chef asks what you like and what you don't like and what you're allergic to and then makes whatever he feels like making at the moment. I had about 10 plates, each better than the previous one. My favorite dish was a chicken breast sauteed with a slice of pure vanilla bean inside (so flavorful, so tender). My husband had the ris de veau, which is veal sweetbreads but he likes gross things. With the wine, we probably spent close to $500 on that dinner.

I love living and eating in France.

[vix]

SaxFace, I'm so jealous!

I don't remember the cost of specific entrees that I've had, possibly because some of the more expensive (and delicious!) meals I've had haven't centered around one main dish.

(Some of the following websites play music.)

Some of the best sushi I've ever had was at Echo (http://www.echopalmbeach.com/echo/homepage.html) in Palm Beach.

I've had exquisite tasting menus at Toque! (http://www.restaurant-toque.com/eng/index.htm) in Montreal and at Vong (http://jean-georges.com/) in NYC. Both meals were easily $100 per person including wine.

For brunch, the most expensive I've had was at The Breakers (http://www.thebreakers.com/restaurants_lounges/the_circle/) in Palm Beach, at $54 per person.

I should also say that some of the best meals I've ever eaten in restaurants were not expensive at all. One especially memorable one was in a tiny cafe in Providence, RI called La Campagnola. Sadly, it no longer exists, but the chef still cooks for a nearby gourmet grocery and deli.

[CrankyAsAnOldMan]

Oh my lord, this duck I had once, this duck this duck this DUCK. It had some amazing sauce on it--it wasn't the typical duck a l'orange but something similarly sweet; actually, it reminds me a bit of the sauce you get on General Tsao's chicken. The duck skin was crackly crisp and the sauce was divine.

It was at some small french restaurant in Charleston, back in 1991.

But generally I don't eat expensively. It's a rare thing for me to go to a restaurant where the entrees cost more than $15-20.

I will say that one time, my husband's (former) company threw a party. My husband was a contractor who telecommuted and rather than pay to fly him in, they told him to go out and have a lovely evening out, they'd reimburse him for up to $250. Well, it's hard to spend $250 in this small Midwestern city on dinner (if you're not wine fans) but we tried. We went to the nicest steak house in town:

http://www.thechophouserestaurant.com/pages/chop_ann.html

where everything is a la cart and a side dish of broccoli is $7. We also dragged along my former roommate, who was in med school at the time. It was a fun night, one of the only times I've ordered without any concern for the bill.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

The most I've ever paid for a meal was on the humongous ferry from Denmark to Norway that my wife and I took on our honeymoon: we paid $40 each to gorge ourselves at a smorgasbord. I had 12 different kinds of fish.

But probably the best eating I've ever done was at Slightly North of Broad, a well-acronymed restaurant in Charleston, SC. The entree was fish and not much better than what i can make myself, but for dessert we got fresh fruit in a honey/passionfruit sauce, and creme brulee. It was exquisite.

Neither of those are exactly entrees, though.
Daniel

[JavaMaven1]

The most expensive dinner I've had was at Patina in Los Angeles.


We selected one of the prix fixe menus, with different wines to match each course, as picked by their sommelier (Chris Meeske, one of the top sommeliers in the country).

Amuse: A small espresso cup's worth of a very rich mushroom soup
First: Tuna Tartare, with lemon and basil oils
Second: John Dory Filet with Apple Smoked Bacon and Sauteed White Grapes
Third: Seared Foie Gras with Roasted Pear and Concord Grape Emulsion
Fourth: Braised Beef with Champingnon (sp?) mushrooms and Red Wine Reduction Sauce
Fifth: Chocolate Millefuille (A kind of layered chocolate mousse/crunchy wafer thing, with several different types of chocolate being used)

Everything was fabulous, but my husband didn't really like the foie gras all that much. Total bill, with wine & tip: $350 for two.


The 2nd most expensive meal we've had was at the Sky Room in Long Beach, where, honestly, the most memorable part of the meal was the martinis and the dancing. We'd still go back in a heartbeat, because the view (top floor of the Breaker's hotel) is gorgeous.

[Bippy the Beardless]

I used to work in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Scotland (as a washer-up/minor prep cook), so I got to sample lots of tidbits of simply awesome food here and there. I honestly can't even remember all the yumminess I've had there.
If you don't mind saying, Which Restaurant? (Was it Nich Nairn's (sp) place ?)

[Jane D'oh!]

I've had some great meals in a bunch of different places this place (http://www.littlepalmisland.com/dining_rest.cfm#) was best for view and setting. The night we were there, there was a storm coming in off the ocean. Little bit of lightening over the ocean as a backdrop. Incredible. Nice wine list and good food. I believe my meal was veal. Dessert was a mango passion creme brulee.

Took a group here (http://www.charlietrotters.com/restaurant) for my 40th. Great food, excellent service and another great wine list. The tip that evening was $200.00 The menu is pre fixe, the night we were there, the vegitarian theme was a salute to corn. I did three corn courses and four meat couses. Wow!!!

This place (http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/cleveland/dining/venues/century/default.html) is incredible as well, and for dessert they do six mini ice cream cones. They were great.

I really couldn't single one out as being the best ever, it would be unfair to the rest. I think the other dozen or so other really great meals are already feeling neglected.

[Cherry2000]

My favorite is beef wellington... a nice piece of tenderloin spread with foie gras and wrapped in puff pastry, usually blessed with a port wine reduction sauce. The price tag is usually $30 or better in any restaraunt that serves it.

Price aside, I seem to have a hard time finding places that serve it. So I just learned to make it myself and since we are at home, we can get good and swacked on single malt scotch while we're at it :) See? Problem solved!

[Ukulele Ike]

My husband is a fantastic cook





.....husband.......?


Whoa, I think I missed something. Is this new?

[Syntropy]

Oh, my word. I am SUCH a foodie.

1.) My birthday dinner at La Strada's in Reno: Amazing lobster ravioli appetizer, hearts of palm salad, Osso Buco main course. Incredible bottle of chianti. Coffee and tiramisu for dessert. $200 for two.

2.) Postrio in San Francisco: Crab cakes, Lamb chops, portabello mushrooms, risotto. Tuscan chocolate layer cake and cappucino for dessert. There were no price tags on my menu.

3.) Bistro Margot in Chicago: Pate Maison, Filet of Pork Tenderloin with Pasta Gratin, Asparagus, and wild mushroom sauce, Crepes Suzette. Wine with appetizer, different wine with main course, liqueur with dessert. $180. ish.

*sigh*...... places like this are the reason I need to drop 20lbs.

[if6was9]

There were no price tags on my menu.
If ya gotta ask......

[pulykamell]

If you don't mind saying, Which Restaurant? (Was it Nich Nairn's (sp) place ?)

No, it wasn't Nairn's. It was the Airds Hotel, in Port Appin, Scotland...west coast, on Loch Linnhe. Very near to Oban -- probably responsible for my love of whiskey, now. :)

[rexnervous]

I've been blessed enough to eat at many places that are "expensive" - for me, it would be anything that ran over $100 for two without alcohol (my wife and I don't drink). Most, but not all, were fine meals.

But the one that applies to this thread isn't even an entree - I remember a $12 appetizer from Red Sage in Washington D.C. that consisted of a single scallop.

This was many years and many many restaurants ago, but still at the top of my "Wow, that's pretty damn expensive" list.