15 Exquisite Dishes That Can Burn a Hole in Your Pocket

Culinary experiences can be a relatively luxurious indulgence, especially if you belong to the “adventurous eater” type and always seek out the finest and most exquisite delicacies. Dishes priced in the thousands of dollars are no longer a novelty; let’s explore 15 of the most expensive gourmet foods available on the market.

15. Matsutake Mushrooms – More Expensive than Gold

Matsutake, or Tricholoma matsutake, is a type of mushroom found in various parts of the world, but it is predominantly located in misty, snow-covered forests with high humidity in Japan, Korea, North Korea, and Russia. This mushroom is also a prized delicacy in Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

According to master chefs, Matsutake mushrooms have a “rich autumn flavor” with a meaty texture and a sweet aroma. This mushroom is favored by the aristocracy and members of the Japanese royal family.

This mushroom is highly favored by members of the Japanese royal family.

In the Japanese market, after processing, Matsutake can cost up to 2,000 USD per kilogram (over 46 million VND). Its high price is attributed to the diminishing habitats of this mushroom, leading to a decreasing supply. Currently, the total harvest of Matsutake in Japan is under 1,000 tons per year.

14. Creamy Oysters from Coffin Bay, Australia

Once considered a food for the less affluent, the creamy oysters from Coffin Bay, Australia, have now become a luxury delicacy.

Close-up of a large, creamy oyster from Coffin Bay, Australia.

These oysters are larger than usual because they are farmed for six years. They are meatier than regular oysters and can sell for nearly 100 USD each.

13. Da Hong Pao Tea – A Cup Costs Up to 4,000 USD

Da Hong Pao is a type of oolong tea that only grows in the mineral-rich rocky terrain of the Wuyi Mountains in China. The name translates to “Big Red Robe,” which is related to a local legend.

In 2002, a wealthy individual spent nearly 28,000 USD (around 650 million VND) to purchase 20 grams of this legendary tea. While tea culture has existed in China for a long time, this exorbitant price shocked many, making it one of the most expensive teas in the world.

Da Hong Pao Tea comes in various price ranges, but only the leaves picked from ancient tea trees are rare and costly.

However, visitors to Wuyi can be surprised to find that they can purchase Da Hong Pao tea at much lower and more reasonable prices. Experienced tea drinkers indicate that the most valuable and expensive tea comes from leaves cut from ancient tea trees, while standard tea is much more affordable.

12. Golden Araucana Eggs

Araucana is a breed of chicken originating from Chile that lays blue eggs. In Tocqueville (New York), a plate of Araucana eggs consists of a single soft-boiled egg served with risotto and a choice of tagliatelle or gnocchi (usually made from flour, potatoes, and cheese). However, this dish is quite pricey at 100 USD, possibly due to the egg being garnished with Perigord truffles.

11. Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata – 1,000 USD (New York, USA)

At Le Parker Meridien restaurant, you can enjoy a luxurious frittata made from Sevruga caviar (approximately 65 USD for 30 grams), six eggs, a lobster, chives, and cream. If you don’t want to spend 1,000 USD on this dish, you can opt for a cheaper version priced at 100 USD.

10. Douche Burger – 666 USD (New York, USA)

This special burger from the food truck 666 Burger consists of Kobe beef stuffed with foie gras, topped with Gruyere cheese, caviar, truffles, lobster, and drizzled with a special sauce made from civet coffee, all wrapped in gold leaf.

9. Yubari King Melons

This is a hybrid cantaloupe exclusively grown in greenhouses in Yubari on Hokkaido Island, Japan. These melons are a perfect blend of their parent varieties: juicy like Earl’s Favorite and sweet like Burpee melons. Eating a Yubari melon is often described as tasting honeydew on the tip of the tongue, watermelon in the middle, and a pineapple finish.

This melon can be grown elsewhere, but it is only called Yubari King if grown in Yubari. Each melon sells for 50-100 USD, but the first round of melons each season can be auctioned for up to 26,000 USD each.

8. Hops Sprouts

Hops flowers are also known as beer flowers because they have been used to add bitterness to beer since the 17th century. Hops are grown on trellises, producing sprouts of 20-50 cm in just one week.

The harvest season for hops sprouts (the long shoots, not the buds) lasts only a short period (in March-April each year) before they develop into flowers. This event is so eagerly awaited that the first batch of sprouts is often auctioned for around 1,000 Euros (27 million VND) per kilogram.

7. Gold Pizza

You can eat gold. While it contains no nutritional value, it is not harmful (if consumed in small amounts and without choking). Eating gold is simply a way to indulge in luxury. Margo’s Pizzeria in Malta sells pizzas with a diameter of 35 cm topped with gold leaf and truffles.

White truffles (Alba Madonna) are the most expensive mushrooms in the world due to their rarity. The complex flavor of this mushroom has been described as “like mold, garlic, natural gas, cheese, similar to onion but not onion, cabbage, earth, and paradise.”

Accompanying the truffles are buffalo mozzarella cheese made from milk in Campania (on the western coast of Italy) and 24-carat gold leaf. The restaurant advises guests not to pair it with tomatoes, as their acidity can spoil the flavor of the truffles.

A serving of this pizza is sold for 1,800 Euros (about 50 million VND).

6. Romanee-Conti Grand Cru Wine

For a long time, wine has been regarded as a luxury reserved for the wealthy. The production and enjoyment of wine are so complex that they can lead to significant differences in the same type of wine produced in different years. The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti region in France spans 16,000 square meters and produces 3,500 bottles of wine each year, of which only 500 are Grand Cru. The Grand Cru wine from 2005 is priced at $11,800 per 12-bottle case (equivalent to $983 per bottle or $245 per glass). However, don’t be too quick to judge; even the Grand Cru 2005, which tops the list, is considered to be of average quality. A bottle of Grand Cru from 1990 was sold for $10,953 in May 2011 (which is about 60 million VND for a premium glass – who dares to say that wine is not a specialty for the rich?).

5. Sushi by Angelito Araneta (Son)

Here is an introduction to the sushi ingredients from the chef’s own Facebook:

“12-year aged balsamic vinegar, Japanese rice, 70-year purified water, Muscovado sugar, Norwegian salmon, fish roe, cucumber, mango, foie gras, sea cucumber (smoked, then soaked in alcohol and steamed), pure crab meat, wild saffron, mayonnaise with butter, 12 Palawan pearls, and 4 African diamonds of 0.2 carats quality VVS.”

You can eat the pearls and diamonds or save them for other purposes. There is a small detail that Araneta forgot to mention: each piece of sushi costs $500 and is wrapped in 24-karat gold leaf.

4. Madeleine Truffle Chocolate

Chocolate truffle refers to small chocolate confections, usually filled with cream or jelly. However, the Madeleine Truffle actually uses real truffles as the filling.

This type of truffle grows in the Perigord region of southwestern France and retails for €3,940 per kg (around 100 million VND). The Perigord truffle is dipped in 70% Valrhona dark chocolate along with sugar, cream, Indonesian vanilla, and pure truffle oil from Italy. The entire filling is then coated with cocoa.

Knipschildt, a chocolate genius based in Connecticut, makes Madeleine Truffles to order at a price of $250 for a 60-gram piece. Orders are shipped globally for free within 14 days, complete with gift-wrapping in a silk ribbon box.

3. Iberian Ham

This type of ham originates from a small region at the border of Spain and Portugal, where black pigs are raised entirely on acorns. This diet imparts a completely natural flavor to the meat, free from any chemicals. Unlike regular Iberian pigs, which are fattened with barley, oats, and corn (their meat is also quite expensive), these special pigs roam freely in oak groves, allowing them to move naturally (this movement also enhances the quality of their meat).

The hind leg of the pig is salted for two weeks and then dried for up to three years before being sliced thinly for consumption. It wasn’t until 2007 that this ham was exported to the U.S. at a price of about 2 million VND per pound (0.45 kg).

2. Donkey Cheese

The name may not sound appetizing (in English, “ass” also means “rear”), but producers assure that it is the best cheese in the world. Each kilogram of cheese requires 25 liters of raw milk, and all the cheese comes from about 100 Balkan donkeys in western Serbia.

A food critic who tasted donkey cheese said he was “blown away by the power of the flavor. A sweet, creamy flavor like leerdammer cheese on the palate, finishing with the salty taste of parmesan cheese, truly numbs the salivary glands.” Perhaps it is this impressive flavor that has driven the price of donkey cheese up to $700 per pound (about 15 million VND for 0.45 kg).

1. Golden Opulence Sundae

This dessert is sold exclusively at Serendipity 3 restaurant in New York City. This restaurant is quite unique because it sells everything you desire, including the chair you are sitting on. Everything in the building has a price tag. Except for the ownership of the restaurant, you can buy anything, especially the specialty desserts only available here.

To enjoy the Golden Opulence Sundae, you must place an order 48 hours in advance for the restaurant to source the ingredients: vanilla ice cream from Tahiti and Madagascar, Amedei Porcelana chocolate (ranked among the most expensive chocolates in the world), and 24-karat gold leaf. The ice cream is then topped with various fruits/nuts such as Japanese cherries, pineapple, peaches, grapes, almonds (dipped in gold), cherries… The finishing touch includes golden snowflakes and a few flower petals that take 18 hours to carve. Even the spoon you use to eat the ice cream is made of 24-karat gold and inlaid with diamonds (after the meal, you can take the spoon and glass home as a souvenir).

And the best part? This luxurious sundae will only cost you $1,000.

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