From Alain Ducasse at Paris’s famed Plaza Athénée, where 10,000 crystal pendants hang overhead in the dining room, to Paco Roncero’s high-tech haute kitchen in Ibiza, Spain—this list covers some of the most exquisite and expensive restaurants in locations around the world.
So next time you want to pay a pretty penny for dinner, head to one of these eight fine dining establishments.
Late chef Benoît Violier and his wife Brigitte earned their restaurant three Michelin stars for their sumptuous French-inflected cuisine.
Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville, 390 CHF ($393)
Location: Crissier, SwitzerlandThe most decadent menu option clocks in at 11 courses for nearly $400, and that price only increases when you add a bottle from the restaurant's 40-page wine list. Late chef Benoît and his wife Brigitte Violier were the first to have earned the coveted three Michelin stars for Hôtel de Ville, but chef Franck Giovannini, who is now at the helm, has managed to keep the status quo with dishes like Celtic sea scallops, Alpine goat and wild turbot.
The Colors, Textures and Flavors menu at Guy Savoy Paris comes with blue lobster, monkfish and a layered truffle brioche.
Guy Savoy, €395 ($464)
Location: ParisIn 2015, the chef set up shop on the banks of the Seine at the Hôtel de la Monnaie. Prices at Guy Savoy begin at €250 ($293) for the à la carte menu and climb up to €395 ($464) for the set, which sees a whole-roasted barbecued pigeon, oyster concassé, and caviar with smoked sabayon.
Submerged under the water in the Indian Ocean lies the beautiful Ithaa Undersea Restaurant.
Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, US$320 ($435)
Location: Conrad Rangali Island, MaldivesLocated 16 feet below sea level, Ithaa is the world's first all-glass underwater restaurant—a feast for both the eyes and the stomach. The panoramic view allows customers to dine while witnessing the underwater world go about their business, all this without getting their feet wet. The four-course lunch and six-course dinner menu are largely contemporary European in style and cost anywhere from $195 to $320, without beverages.
The Assortment of Desserts is the final course of Per Se's tasting menu.
Per Se, $325
Location: New York CityThomas Keller's restaurant Per Se nods subtly to The French Laundry; the decorative blue door at the main entrance is styled after his flagship. The restaurant is hushed and intimate and all of the 19 tables enjoy a view of Columbus Circle and sprawling Central Park. Two tasting menus are offered daily: a nine-course chef's tasting menu as well as a nine-course vegetable tasting menu, both costing $325.
The Jardin-Marin menu concentrates on the very best of what the current season has to offer.
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, €380 ($446)
Location: ParisIn 2014, the French heavyweight chef revamped his restaurant at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, and the sheer glamour should be enough to recommend Alain Ducasse's most lofty Paris undertaking. The dining room ceiling drips with 10,000 crystals while cutlery created in the 1970s by Roger Tallon is reedited for the restaurant. Main courses here will set diners back $129 to $182 and a menu of three half-dishes, cheese and dessert will cost $446. Drinks not included.
Chef Masa Takayama behind the sushi counter at Masa in NYC’s Time Warner Center.
Masa, $595
Location: New York CityWith a tasting menu that costs $595 per head, not including beverages and tax, Masa is often called America's most expensive restaurant. Reservations for the 26-seat restaurant are taken three weeks in advance, and it is said that chef Masa Takayama prepares the menu himself, featuring fresh fish and Kobe beef flown in from Japan.
Helmed by Paco Roncero, SubliMotion offers diners a multi-sensory experience that combines food, art and technology.
SubliMotion, €1,500 ($1761)
Location: Ibiza, SpainYes, you read that right. The 12-seat restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel charges €1,500 a head for its 20-course dinner. Open only during the island’s summer season (June 1 to September 30), SubliMotion offers diners an immersive, culinary-entertainment experience, which includes virtual reality elements, laser light shows and a projection mapping in the dining room. If Willy Wonka had a restaurant, this could be it—think edible entrance tickets, a variety of seafood cooked in shells and a DIY salad where guests pick from vegetables that appear to be growing out of the table.
READ MORE: What Is Kaiseki?
Kaiseki refers to a social gathering (kai) with seating (seki), or an elaborate meal accompanied with sake.
Kitcho Arashiyama Honten, 54,000¥ ($480)
Location: Kyoto, JapanThree Michelin-starred Kitcho Arashiyama Honten is to many a temple of Kyoto kaiseki cuisine. Chef Kunio Tokuoka is at the helm here, taking over where his grandfather left off. The restaurant is styled in the fashion of a tea ceremony house, with tatami mats and low tables overlooking beautiful gardens. And the dishes served here are premium and seasonal, which is the cornerstone of kaiseki.
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