The Most And Least Affordable Michelin-Star Restaurants In The World

Many restaurants that have earned the ever-coveted Michelin stars tend to reflect this accomplishment with a very expensive menu. Chef’s Pencil magazine has analyzed 450 restaurants in order to find which ones are the most expensive and which are the least expensive. The most expensive can be found in Denmark, while the cheapest is in Thailand. For the purpose of this study, only two and three star restaurants were analyzed, as well as the prices for the top tasting menus.

Kitcho Arashiyama Honten

The study found that at the list of countries with most affordable Michelin starred restaurants was Thailand, with an average of $173. Second was Ireland at $212, South Korea and Taiwan tied in third with $213.

When it came to most affordable meals by city, Thailand still came out on top, with Bangkok averaging $173 per meal, Lyon at $203, Seoul at $213, Rotterdam at $216, Barcelona at $224, Vienna at $225, Madrid at $228, Taipei at $232, and Hamburg at $240.

On the other side of things, the most expensive country was Denmark at $404, followed by Singapore at $364, Sweden at $327, Japan at $322, the United States at $313, China at $310, the UK at $301, France at $300, Switzerland at $292, and Italy at $255.

Breaking it down by city, Copenhagen’s average is at $448, Shanghai at $406, Kyoto at $401, Paris at $358, Stockholm at $335, Hong Kong at $324, Amsterdam at $320, and New York and Milan $309.

Michelin Starred Restaurants Are Often Insanely Expensive Due To Their Reputation

One of the most shockingly expensive restaurants out there is Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet in Shanghai. The tasting menu there starts at $618 per person and can go up to $1547 per person. At Kitcho Arashiyama Honten, a tasting menu will set you back $911.

Chef’s Pencil suggests heading to a Michelin starred restaurant for lunch in order to get a better deal, as well as choosing a la carte menu options, where they are available.

According to the report: “Dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant is on the bucket list of every respectable foodie out there. But it can come at a price.”