Cha-ching! Here's how much it costs to eat at the world's top 3 restaurants

27 June 2019 - 00:00 By Tswelopele Maputla
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The view from Mirazur, the French eatery recently voted the World's Best Restaurant.
The view from Mirazur, the French eatery recently voted the World's Best Restaurant.
Image: Mirazur

If you’re a foodie, you’ll know that fine dining tends to be pricey - but just how much would you have to spend to indulge in a gourmet meal at some of the globe's most highly rated restaurants?

To find out, we looked at the cost of a tasting menu at the three restaurants that topped the influential and prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants list for 2019.

MIRAZUR

  • Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list: 1
  • Number of Michelin stars: 3
  • Location: Menton, France
  • Chef: Mauro Colagreco
  • Type of food: Mediterranean

Cost of a tasting menu: €260 (around R4,200) per person

What does that get you? A gourmet mystery meal. Mirazur doesn't publish the specific details of their tasting menu online. What they do say is that their seasonal dishes are inspired by the restaurant's amazing setting - it's backed by mountains and overlooks the sea - and the fresh produce grown in its prolific fruit and vegetable garden. 

The World's 50 Best Restaurants website gives some more clues as to the type of food you'll likely enjoy during your meal. They reckon that the homegrown salt-crusted beetroot with caviar cream and the squab, spelt and wild strawberries are some of the highlights of Mirazur's menu.

NOMA

  • Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list: 2
  • Number of Michelin stars: 2
  • Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Chef: René Redzepi
  • Type of food: New Nordic

Cost of a tasting menu: DKK 2,500 (approximately R5,430) per person. The optional wine pairing is an added DKK 1,350 (nearly R3,000) per person, while the juice pairing will set you back another DKK 950 (about R2,000).

What does that get you? Noma offers tasting menus of roughly 20 courses, which are based around the best ingredients available during a certain season. Currently it’s vegetable season, which means they're serving vegetarian and vegan dishes only. Meat lovers would do best to wait to book a table during seafood or game-and-forest season. 

A scroll through Noma's instagram feed reveals the type of dishes served during their recent seafood season. Think lumpfish roe marinated in cured egg-yolk sauce with rose oil and Mirabelle blossoms, with a salad of king crab.

ASADOR ETXEBARRI

  • Rank on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list: 3
  • Number of Michelin stars: 1
  • Location: Atxondo, Spain
  • Chef: Victor Arguinzoniz 
  • Type of food: Spanish wood-fired barbecue

Cost of a tasting menu: It averages at €180 (around R2,920) per person. Drinks are extra.

What does that get you? The menu changes daily depending on what local ingredients are freshly available, but this is one for adventurous carnivores. In fact, the restaurant's website cautions that no vegetarian menu is available and urges you to reconsider making a booking if you don't eat seafood.

The World's 50 Best Restaurants website names Asador Etxebarri's standout dish as being grilled kokotxas (fish throats).


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