What A $600 Meal Looks Like At One Of The Most Expensive Restaurants in the U.S.

Will you ever pay an eye-popping $600 for just one meal? Most of us would rather spend the cash on something else. Those who really are into food and can afford the astronomical prices of fine dining fare, $600 is probably nothing. But what if that price covers only just one person? Yep, several hundreds of dollars for a meal for one.

Imgur user Hoptail had no qualms forking over that amount to dine at one of the most expensive restaurants in America. She went to Saison in San Francisco, California not just to eat but to document her gastronomic experience in a series of photographs. Imgur was generous enough to show us what a $600 meal for one looks like. Well, it doesn’t really substitute for seeing and tasting the real thing, but it’s better than nothing.

Saison in San Francisco is one of the best restaurants in the U.S.

Of course, such extravagant spending is expected to fetch criticisms. Hoptail, who is Australian, got flak from vegans and people who oppose the strong trend of restaurant photography.

“Documenting your food is becoming more and more acceptable now, even in high-end restaurants. I’m aware that I looked like an instawhore, but.. well, firstly, I don’t have Instagram, and secondly, if I’m going to spend that much on a meal, I want to be able to appreciate it later and share it with people who would find it interesting,” she explains.

She did add a short FAQ at the end of her Imgur post where she addressed the concerns over her extravagant meal.

“For those of you with the disparaging comments about this endeavour not being worth it, or that I shouldn’t be spending my money on stuff like this if I’m not financially well-to-do. Kindly shove it up your arse. It’s my money, and this is what I like. I could be strung out on cocaine or have a crippling meth addiction. Cut me some slack. Go to Wendy’s if you WANT to, ain’t nothing wrong with that – you do you,” she said.

Now here’s what she got for $600 dollars.

“The most heavenly tea I’ve ever had in my life. Each little bushel had douglas fir, yarrow, chamomile, lemon balm, anise and hyssop all picked fresh from the restaurant farm and steeped in hot meyer lemon water.”

“Up next, baby spinach, roasted kelp cooked in clarified butter (compliments of their jersey cow Bella) and topped with caviar.”

“Turbot fish – 2 ways. Sashimi was amazing. The second preparation was grilled with a light soy glaze. Came with little heirloom tomatoes and some sort of deepfried flower.”

“A Geoduck. If you’ve never heard of them before, Google it. They are freaky looking AF. Honestly, it wasn’t that good. Just kind of chewy and the marinade was super overwhelming I couldn’t actually taste the meat.”

“This was, hands down, my favourite course. Fresh sea urchin on grilled bread that was basted in a sauce made of the off-cuts of the bread. It was SUPER creamy.. like the butter of the sea. So amazingly fresh and the sauce in the bread was incredible.”

“That’s sliced radish on top (again from their farm) with Bella’s clarified butter.”

“Underneath there was a sort of radish jelly vinegar reduction, the radish tops and cubes of marinated radish. It was super fresh and tart and a really good transition from the richness of the previous course.”

“This is roasted pumpkin – 3 ways. The first to the left is kind of like agedashi tofu except it’s torn roast pumpkin topped with octopus flakes.”

“Second preparation was pumpkin hung over their in-house fire and slow roasted for like 8 hours with a buttermilk cream. Caramelisation was incredible.”

“Not sure about this one. Pumpkin puree in cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil. It felt like it was kind of added as an afterthought and was way too salty. I’m not even sure how I was supposed to eat it.”

“This is antelope. It came with stuffed radicchio, herb salad and really nice biscuits and honey butter that tasted like pancakes.”

“It was well-seasoned and had the texture of a cross between venison and beef and was perfectly medium-rare.”

“Antelope bone broth with sage. It was actually really nice, but I needed to move on from Bambi’s relatives.”

“This is smoked ice cream. Don’t ask me the science behind how one smokes ice cream – but it’s got something to do incorporating exotic wood embers into the cream. So incredible though, and came with life-changing salted caramel.”

“Accompanying assortment of candied toppings (walnuts, peanuts, cacao nibs and pine nuts)”

“Dessert, yes. The best part. Praise Jesus, my palette has been blessed. Amen.”

“Orange buttermilk creamsicle”

“Super smooth, really creamy and had hidden segments of candied oranges at the bottom.”

“Blueberry sorbet on top of brandy macerated blueberries. Topped with more brandy. Good if you like brandy. I don’t.”

“The Saison “Snickers” bar. This is an off-menu item that comes if you befriend the right waiter. Some sort of dark chocolate and nut brownie base, salted caramel centre, chocolate ganache and topped with 24K gold.”

“Honestly, this was an awesome experience and, for me, well worth the money.”