Would you pay R4k to eat at one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants?

Serious foodies will book months in advance to secure a table at an eatery on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. But just how handsomely do they have to pay to be able to tick this dining experience off their bucket lists?

To find out, we priced the tasting menus at the heavy-hitters that topped the 2018 list. Plus looked at how The Test Kitchen, the only SA restaurant to crack the nod, compares cost-wise.

OSTERIA FRANCESCANA

Where: Modena, Italy

Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurant's list: 1

Chef: Massimo Bottura

Cost of a tasting menu? From R3,952 per person.

What does that get you? A 10-course tasting menu of avant garde Italian food, which according to the eatery's website currently include whimsically named dishes like "An eel swimming up the Po River" and "The crunchy part of the lasagna".

It doesn’t include wine pairing, which is an additional R2,213 per person. You should be prepared to fork out for service, too. 

EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA 

Where: Girona, Spain

Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurant's list: 2

Chef: Joan Roca.

Cost of a tasting menu? In 2015, their tasting menus were priced from R2,600 per person. No updated prices are available.

What does that get you? This is a mystery meal. The restaurant doesn’t publish menus or prices on their website. You should expect multi-course, high-art fine dining, capped off by unconventional desserts by the world's best pastry chef, Jordi Roca. Neither wine nor service are included.

According to the World's 50 Best Restaurant's website, the eatery is know for its contemporary Catalan cuisine. Signature dishes include ‘Frozen olives’ plucked from a bonsai olive tree and a dessert that's infused with "the essence of old book".

MIRAZUR 

Where: Menton, France

Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurant's list: 3

Chef: Mauro Colagreco with Antonio Buono

Cost of a tasting menu? From R1,734 per person.

What does that get you? Once again, the actual course descriptions are missing from this eatery's website. What you will find is an enigmatic description which reads “a journey in a few steps to learn the culinary philosophy of Mauro Colagreco" and that the restaurant's cuisine is inspired by produce from the sea, gardens and hinterland farmers. 

Eat all the hinterland you want, but it's an additional R945 per person for wine pairing and service is not included. 

ELEVEN MADISON PARK

Where: New York City, America.

Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurant's list: 4

Chef: Daniel Humm with Dmitri Magi

Cost of a tasting menu? From R2,380 per person.

What does that get you? A truly remarkable meal of five tasting courses, which are served in the bar area. Probably the most technically proficient kitchen in the world, Humm’s brigade mix sharing plates with fine-dining precision, the result being everything from doughnuts to gravy elevated to high art.

It doesn’t include wine or service (which is a whopping 20% in the United States).

GAGGAN

Where: Bangkok, Thailand.

Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurant's list: 5

Chef: Gaggan Anand with Rydo Anton

Cost of a tasting menu? R2,688 per person.

What does that get you? Gaggan means progressive and this Bangkok restaurant's actually a temple of modern Indian food. Their website hints that their tasting menu will take you on an emotive journey through the childhood of the Indian chef, viewed through the prism of classical training and modern technique.

In keeping with the theme, wine and service are not included.

THE TEST KITCHEN

Where: Cape Town, South Africa

Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurant's list: 50

Chef: Luke Dale-Roberts

Cost of a tasting menu? R1,800 per person.

What does that get you? A 10-course tasting menu in the iconic Woodstock eatery. Cocktails and snacks are served in restaurant's 'dark room', before you move into 'the light room'. There the more formal courses are served with a view into the kitchen.

Wine pairing and service is not included.