Most Expensive Restaurants in Australia?

[SOPOOR]

Foodie here, but I hate over hyped, places that are expensive because they just are for the sake of location, or some famous person ate there, or owns it

What are the most expensive restaurants that you know of/type: (lets keep it to Entree+main desert or entry level set menu exc drinks)
for me:
Buffet: crab 89, $300, recently been reduced to $260 on weekends, looks very overpriced for quality/service/atmosphere
Restaurant: Vue Du monde $360, (always a great experience, the 2 times ive been there)
(its clear I dont get too much out of melbourne!)
and i'm sure Sydney would have more

 

[Forg]

Expensive, or overpriced?

When it was open we paid something like $400/ea for Tetsuya’s, but it was WAY better value than ~$150/ea at Rockstool Bar & Grille.

You can spend ~$800 apiece at Quay if you get the fancy wine pairing.

I dunno, it’s hard to put a value on the very top end of town. They serve food you just couldn’t make yourself, when the service is right it’s like magic (“how did they know I wanted that?!”) … it’s the epitome of diminishing rate of return when you either pay for (or provide) that level of food & service. I think if you did it regularly it’d be a complete waste, you wouldn’t get enough enjoyment to justify the cost, but going to one of these places every couple of years & you can get a “wow” experience you’re not gonna get often.

We went to Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck on my wife’s birthday in 2018 … even getting the reservation was a challenge, they were releasing reservations in 3-month blocks and were being booked solid within a few hours of release. One instance where the time-difference was good, as the reservations were being released at midnight GMT.
Anyhoo, I can’’t recall the exact price, was about $600 each before wine. But we’re still enjoying memories of the event - it was great! Certainly a LOT more enjoyable than a same-price economy return airfare to Perth.

 

[PERLHR]

All of them....overpriced!

 

[SOPOOR]

Expensive, or overpriced?

When it was open we paid something like $400/ea for Tetsuya’s, but it was WAY better value than ~$150/ea at Rockstool Bar & Grille.

You can spend ~$800 apiece at Quay if you get the fancy wine pairing.

I dunno, it’s hard to put a value on the very top end of town. They serve food you just couldn’t make yourself, when the service is right it’s like magic (“how did they know I wanted that?!”) … it’s the epitome of diminishing rate of return when you either pay for (or provide) that level of food & service. I think if you did it regularly it’d be a complete waste, you wouldn’t get enough enjoyment to justify the cost, but going to one of these places every couple of years & you can get a “wow” experience you’re not gonna get often.

We went to Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck on my wife’s birthday in 2018 … even getting the reservation was a challenge, they were releasing reservations in 3-month blocks and were being booked solid within a few hours of release. One instance where the time-difference was good, as the reservations were being released at midnight GMT.
Anyhoo, I can’’t recall the exact price, was about $600 each before wine. But we’re still enjoying memories of the event - it was great! Certainly a LOT more enjoyable than a same-price economy return airfare to Perth.

I am/was in hospitality, I had contacts who went there and was pretty impressed by it.

I wasn't important enough, but $500 for food alone to me has to be mindblowing........... I did dine at Brae about 7 yrs ago, and was not impressed

 

[TheRealTMA]

L’Enclume popup at the Bathers Pavilion was exceptional. Price around $600 without wine. Well worth the money IMHO.

 

[kpc]

I have eaten at the following over the years in Sydney:
1) Quay...some outstanding dishes but not all
2) Bennelong...view was good!
3) Tetsuyas (now closed)...got food poisoning!
4)Sepia (now closed)...first time was outstanding, 2nd time before they closed permanently, not so good...
5) Marque (now closed)...was pretty good
6) Aria....ok for location

All were $250-300× per head (not incl alcohol) and imo overpriced!

 

[Lowjhg]

Cambridge House, Tasmania

Omakase dinner for A$472 a person. You need to stay there as a guest as the restaurant location is inaccessible. A room starts at A$741. So that's minimum A$1213 nett before adding extras.

 

[Forg]

L’Enclume popup at the Bathers Pavilion was exceptional. Price around $600 without wine. Well worth the money IMHO.

Oh yeah! We were there on a weekday of the first week (we jumped on the opportunity because we’d enjoyed ourselves the last time they did the same - 2 years ago I think?). Was brilliant, so much variety & playing so well with different flavours/ingredients. There was even a juvenile whale swimming around the harbour that day & it slowly swam past the restaurant so close to shore I’m amazed it was deep enough … how much the restaurant had to pay the whale’s talent-agent to arrange that I dread to think!

Sixpenny in Stanmore is a pretty decent value 7-course degustation for $265 (add something like $180 or $250 for wine pairing). It doesn’t have the outlook of Quay or Aria but I reckon they’re more comfy with being a bit more experimental with the menu than the more formal CBD restaurants. And views are nice but you can get those nice views for free …

Tetsuya’s restaurant in Singapore - Waku Ghin - is extremely good too; but I must admit not quite to our taste. It’s somewhat more exxy than Tetsuya’s was in Sydney, but you have this personal chef cooking in front of you while chatting with you (“entertaining you”) in a room with only 4 customers total. When I say not my style, the food was brilliant, but I don’t like being the focus of attention so much with so much direct attention being paid just to me, I’d rather a nice person bring me nice food than have an indentured servant cooking in front of me.

At the other end, over a decade ago I asked folks on a car forum I frequent for dinner recommendations in Hobart. Was suggested I try this place called Ethos.Eat.Drink, a degustation of whatever local produce chef Iain Todd deemed good that week … was $60 each for 6-7 courses. That was one of the best meals we’ve ever had, but the value for money just blew us away.
I believe he’s running the restaurant at Saffire at Freycinet now, with a similar approach of highlighting locally-sourced ingredients; I can’t see how it wouldn’t be great if anyone’s considering going there.

[on The Fat Duck]
I am/was in hospitality, I had contacts who went there and was pretty impressed by it.

The theme was “a childhood holiday at the seaside”, and after booking they sent out a little survey about your childhood holiday memories. My wife, having lived in Germany ‘til they emigrated when she was 9, recalled enjoying torta di inglese when the family would camp in Italy in the summer … and the restaurant baked her one, one-off, because it was her birthday!

 

[kpc]

If you are intetested, Quay In Sydney is closing permanently on 14 Feb 2026. Dinner bookings are wide open atm...one of the readons I suspect it is closing

I made a dinner booking for early Jan...can cancel for free 48+ hours prior

Quay to close after more than three decades at the pinnacle of fine dining

Chef Peter Gilmore will serve his final course at Sydney’s premier harbourside restaurant early next year.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Pvcmenace]

Expensive, or overpriced?

When it was open we paid something like $400/ea for Tetsuya’s, but it was WAY better value than ~$150/ea at Rockstool Bar & Grille.

Exactly, expensive or overpriced.

I nominate 'Overpriced' everything from the Lucas Group restaurants which are style over substance. Set up for the Instagram set but food is mid at best.

 

[Forg]

I nominate 'Overpriced' everything from the Lucas Group restaurants which are style over substance. Set up for the Instagram set but food is mid at best.

I think I've heard of some of those, but haven't been ... could be because I mostly get my recommendations from friends who have great judgement & go out a lot more frequently than we do! So if they're not that great, they won't be recommended to me, and I'm not taking a gamble (on the rare occasion of an outing) on an unknown.

 

[Quickstatus]

Once went to Tetsuya Sydney.
After that got pizza delivered for obvious reasons.

All nice but overpriced and almost impossible to get into which is also great. I'll go someplace reasonably priced , just as good and easy to get into and no need for post dinner pizza

 

[cove]

We tried Gibney in Cottesloe (Perth) and Mrscove said we wouldn’t go back. Lunch was $645 for Four that included unremarkable one drink each.
It is sad that Quay is closing.
Aria has a difficult menu to like.

 

[Forg]

Once went to Tetsuya Sydney.
After that got pizza delivered for obvious reasons.

All nice but overpriced

One person's definition of "over" is different to another's.
If you want that level of food & service, it costs that much to bring it to you. I don't think it's "over" priced if what they are doing is that good.

Mind you I'll temper the above by saying that Testsuya peaked 15-ish years ago, slowly downhill after that as I think he'd turned his head to other endeavours & keeping the menu refreshed takes constant ongoing effort. Still good, just not inventive or an original experience like it was 20 years ago. I would be tempted to label it "over" priced since then, despite my objection to how the phrase gets used.

 

[Quickstatus]

. I don't think it's "over" priced if what they are doing is that good.

Well that is also my definition of overpriced - nothing is ever that good...

 

[Forg]

Well that is also my definition of overpriced - nothing is ever that good...

We shall have to agree to disagree; food is one of my loves in life and getting a really good experience eating out one of the most fun things I can do.

I sometimes need to work hard at justification. One example ... there's not much more in F over J than the food & drink, and the very worst of restaurants mentioned in this thread serve food that's significantly better than the very best that's served in any F. And yet for the price difference between J & F, I can eat at the very best restaurants mentioned in this thread, many times!