There was a famous French restaurant in Tokyo Chez Matsuo. My company would take our customers’ CEOs there. With wine, it would be in the $500 range. I put $4,000 on an expense account there.
The New York Grill on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt in Tokyo was the place for couples. I took a girlfriend there and it was $200 to $250 each. I don’t remember exactly.
Now I’m living in a town in the Taiwanese countryside, an insanely expensive dinner is $20 each. What a different lifestyle now.
This is basically my answer as well (except it was for 2). It was a hair shy of 200, with no alcohol. While the food was good, it was skimpy. I’ve noticed that more upscale restaurants serve smaller meals than the ‘regular’ restaurants. It’s not about eating your fill as much as it’s about being served a pretty meal, in a pretty environment. That’s not to say that the food isn’t good, just that there is less of it. Having asparagus arranged in an artistic way on my plate is cool but it only took 4 or 5 stalks, which are consumed quickly.
Well, we didn’t walk away hungry; we thought the portions were reasonable-- not comical like some of the things you see from El Bulli and such. I want to be entertained by a meal, yes, but firstly I must be sustained.
The most I’ve ever spent for two or fewer people was $92 at this place in Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula for lamb entree, dessert, two vodka tonics, and probably an appetizer I forgot about. Our dinner party split the checks.
Why did I spend all that money? Believe it or not, I was attending a transgender convention in the area and the lodge was one of our big formal dinners. I also went to high tea in Victoria as part of the conference, and that cost me $66 in American currency–and that’s probably the second highest bill I’ve paid for me or another person. Normally, I almost never go over $30 per person excluding drinks, and I don’t really go out with heavy drinkers.
How about the most expensive meal I almost ate? My wife and I were in Barcelona for our 20th anniversary. On a whim, I put our names on the wait list for Enigma, the Adria brothers’ successor to El Bulli. 40 courses served as you progress through seven dining rooms over the course of four hours. About $330 a person.
Sadly, our last night in town, we got the call. There was a last minute opening for two in the earlier of the two seatings. We sat in the Sagrada Familia and debated whether to go or not for probably 20 minutes. Ultimately, we chose not to go as we were totally wiped out and had nothing left in the way of clean clothes for an outing like that.
Ah, I remember. My wife and I arrived in Venezuela late in the day, and had no chance to go to a money changer, so we had no local money. Next morning, the banks were closed, because while we slept, HugolChabez was unsuccessfully staging his first coup, and there was a day of martial law. So we went into a hotel, to order a meal. (instead of our usual street market fare). I asked the cashier first if he would accept a travelers check, he said yes, so we splurged on a nice luxurious meal, about 15 bucks, and I proffered a check for $100 to pay for it. The honored my tender, gave me my change in bolivianos at a fair rate, we could pay our hotel bill. and it was all good.