10 Stupidly Expensive Dishes Around The World

A side dish of French fries costs $200 at Serendipity3 in New York. The not-so-humble potato dish was headlining in July when it made it to the Guinness World Records for the world’s most expensive French fries. So, what’s in it?

Well, it seems the ingredients are more well-traveled than I am. The Upstate Chipperbeck potatoes are blanched in Dom Pérignon Champagne and J. LeBlanc French Champagne Ardenne Vinegar. No ordinary oil for this pricey delicacy—it’s cooked in pure goose fat from Southwest France. Shaved black summer truffles come from Italy, and other ingredients include organic A2 A2 100% grass-fed cream from Jersey Cows, truffle butter, truffle oil, Gruyere Truffled Swiss Raclette, and gold dust. Phew!

It’s served with Mornay sauce on a crystal Arabesque Plate and a matching bowl by Baccarat (a French manufacturer of fine crystals).

Want to indulge in the world’s most expensive side dish of fries? Call them up and get on the waitlist!

There’s more gold to dig through. An Indian eatery in Dubai, Bombay Borough, has crafted an AED 1,000 ($272) biryani this February to celebrate its first birthday. 

The portion size is big enough to feed four to six people and it takes 45 minutes to an hour to make, so order in advance. This massive platter of saffron rice is packed with Rajput chicken kebabs, Kashmiri lamb seekh kebabs, Mughlai koftas, and malai chicken roast—topped with 23-karat gold leaf. Curries and raitas accompany this serving platter.

Chicago-based Berco’s Popcorn lists organic sugar, butter from Vermont Creamery, and Nielsen Massey Bourbon Vanilla on the website as the ingredients of this very expensive—although not a billion-dollar expensive—popcorn. There’s also the Laeso salt that’s flown in from Denmark and 23-karat gold that add to the staggering price of $250 per gallon.

This ice cream from Dubai is more expensive than the biryani at AED 3,000 ($816). Scoopi Cafe is an ice cream shop in the emirate that’s unrestrained when it comes to food. There’s an edible coffee on the menu, as well as a gold burger. But the vanilla ice cream takes the cake—it’s made using beans from Madagascar, saffron from Iran, rare black truffles from Italy, and 23-karat gold flakes and powder. When you order a scoop, it’ll arrive in a golden bowl handcrafted by Versace and a silver spoon—that you get to keep!

When it comes to flashy, Vegas isn’t very far behind Dubai. At Paris Las Vegas’ Burger Brasserie, this burger made with wagyu beef, goat cheese, foie gras, 100-year-old balsamic vinegar, and poached lobster will set you back by $777. It’s paired with a bottle of Dom Perignon and comes with Gordon Ramsay’s nod of approval.

However, it doesn’t even come close to the most expensive burger in the world—that will come later in this article.

It’s not difficult to find great pizza in New York, but how much are you willing to pay for it? Industry Kitchen upped the ante with a $2,000 pizza, which has squid ink dough, caviar from the Caspian Sea, truffles from France, foie gras from France, Stilton cheese from England, and of course, 24-karat gold leaves from Germany.

Something that costs a couple of dollars at a fast-food chain nearly made someone $6,000 poorer in the Netherlands. All for a good cause though. 

This June, Chef Robbert Jan de Veen, of De Daltons in Voorthuizen, broke the record for the most expensive burger with his creation of The Golden Boy. The first one sold for €5,000 and the proceeds for this went to a food charity. The chef told a media outlet, “Restaurants were closed and there were no food competitions due to the pandemic. Though our food takeaway service was on, I was depressed. I was feeling bad seeing the sufferings of the masses and the dismal situation of the restaurant industry. Therefore, I decided to create the world’s most expensive burger and donate the entire income to charity to do good for the society.”

So, what was it made of? Pure luxury. Dom Perignon champagne bun topped with gold leaf, Japanese wagyu beef, white truffle, beluga caviar, barbecue sauce made with Macallan whiskey (an expensive single malt from Scotland) and kopi luwak (the world’s most expensive coffee), and smoked duck egg mayo, among other things.

It’s a shockingly expensive pizza at a whooping €8,300.00 (almost $10,000)!

Made in Italy by Chef Renato Viola, it’s the world’s most expensive pizza. Seems outrageous to spend so much on a 20 cm (almost 8 inches) dish? Well, decide after you read how it’s made. The very expensive list of ingredients are: organic flour that’s proofed for 72 hours; Australia pink salt; three types of caviar; prawns from Italy’s Cilento, Mediterranean lobster tails, and mantis shrimp from the Mediterranean; seven kinds of cheeses, including organic buffalo mozzarella. Not just this, it’s served at your home with a sommelier pairing it with Remy Martin Cognac Louis XIII and Champagne Krug Clos Du Mesnil 1995.

It’s a seafood lovers’ very expensive dream!

This $14,000 dessert at The Fortress Resort & Spa can be made to order 24 hours in advance. It’s a sweet surprise with an 80-karat aquamarine stone balanced on a stilt. The idea is to taste the ocean as you dig into the champagne sabayon, Italian cassata, and pomegranate and mango compote. And the handcrafted chocolate fisherman is a whimsical touch.

Serendipity3 has given the world multiple reasons to gape in awe, including its LUXE milkshake ($100) that made it to the Guinness World Records, too. It created the world’s most expensive dessert in 2004—the Golden Opulence Sundae is still on its menu and costs $1,000. In 2007, it broke its own record by introducing Frrozen Haute Chocolate sundae, which is made for billionaires because it’s priced at $25,000.

Cocoas from different parts of the world are flown to make it happen—14 out of 28 used are the world’s most expensive. The steep price is also for the goblet it’s served in and the 18-karat gold bracelet with 1-carat diamonds that you find after you finish eating the edible treasure. You get to take home all of this along with some serious bragging rights!