The prices at the world's most expensive restaurants are justified not only by the use of rare and fresh ingredients, but also by the efforts of the finest chefs, the most luxurious interiors, and, most importantly, the unique experience that accompanies the process of eating.
But all this does not cancel out the truly astronomical prices, reserved only for those whose wallets are as deep as the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
And if you dream of getting into the most expensive restaurant in the world, we will tell you how much it will cost and where it is located.
10. De L'Hotel De Ville, Crissier, Switzerland
The average price of lunch is $400 per person.
For over 50 years, this restaurant has been serving exquisite dishes made with the freshest ingredients. This means you can expect a constantly changing menu depending on the season.
9. Maison Pic, Drome, France
The average price of lunch is $445.
This legendary French restaurant is led by chef Anne-Sophie Pic, one of the few female chefs in the world to have received three Michelin stars.
The restaurant's nine-course menu features Mediterranean dishes such as fish in saffron sauce, candied turnips, goat cheese, and delicate chocolate desserts that melt in your mouth.
8. The French Laundry, California, USA
The average price for lunch is between $325 and $450.
The most expensive restaurant on the West Coast offers wealthy clients exquisite French cuisine, with oysters and pearls, fluffy omelette "Poulard" and lamb.
Dishes appear on the menu depending on the season you visit the establishment.
7. Restaurant Guy Savoy de Paris, Paris, France
The average price of lunch is $536.
This modern French restaurant is renowned for the impeccable freshness of its ingredients and the richness of its vegetable dishes. Since 1996, it has held three Michelin stars—the highest gourmet award, bestowed only on the world's finest restaurants.
The chefs at Restaurant Guy Savoy de Paris boast that the products they serve to customers "have never been inside a refrigerator" because they are harvested and prepared on the same day.
6. Aragawa, Tokyo, Japan
The average price of lunch is $570.
This modest space, located in the basement of an office building, houses the most expensive steakhouse in the world. It offers exclusively Kobe beef—the elite cut of meat from black Tajima bulls raised in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture.
During their lifetime, they received care that many people could only dream of. Specifically, the animals were given regular massages and were given beer and sometimes sake.
5. Kyoto Kitcho Arashiyama, Kyoto, Japan
The average price of lunch is $570.
Designed as a traditional tea house, Kyoto Kitcho offers modernized Japanese dishes such as boiled blue crab with vinegar jelly, barracuda sushi, and maitake mushroom caviar, which is said to have medicinal properties.
This restaurant has received three Michelin stars and is considered one of the most beautiful in Japan.
4. Ultraviolet, Shanghai, China
The average price of lunch is $570.
One of the first (but not the last) luxury restaurants to create a multisensory experience for its diners, its setting consists of 10 chairs surrounded by four bare walls.
When diners enter the room and begin to eat, they are transported into a simulation of a rainy day in Britain, an autumn forest, or the French countryside.
Ultraviolet's chef, Paul Pairet, boasts the restaurant's highest staff-to-patron ratio—three staff members per guest. This likely explains the high price tag for joining the elite Ultraviolet club.
3. Masa, New York, USA
The average price of lunch is $595.
At one of the most expensive restaurants in the US, you can sample incredible sushi created by chef Masa Takayama. This isn't your typical restaurant; the chefs prepare only the ingredients that are available that day. The preparation process takes three hours, so you're sure to get ravenously hungry.
2. Per Se, New York, USA
The average price of lunch is $685.
New York is considered one of the most expensive cities in the world. It's no surprise that it's home to two of the world's top 10 most expensive restaurants.
Per Se chef Thomas Keller has written numerous cookery books and has been awarded three Michelin stars. His restaurant offers fine dining connoisseurs a nine-course menu, either vegetarian or regular, combining classic French recipes with the finest ingredients.
The restaurant also boasts an award-winning wine collection of 2,000 bottles.
Incidentally, The French Laundry is also one of Keller's favorite creations, who promotes French cuisine in every way possible.
1. Sublimotion, Ibiza, Spain
The average price of lunch is $1,850.
The world's most expensive restaurant is almost three times more expensive than the previous entrant in the list. Although chef Paco Roncero would prefer you think of it as "the cheapest life-changing experience.".
Sublimotion Restaurant is located in the basement of a Hard Rock Café in Ibiza. It consists of a table for 12 people and an empty room. But during a reception, the room is transformed through a combination of lighting and virtual reality.
Twenty-five staff members, including chefs, magicians, DJs, and waiters, collaborate to create a performance featuring laser light shows, unique desserts, delicious drinks, and virtual reality adventures. This stunning, emotional, and culinary experience lasts approximately three hours.