Tasty expensive food recommendations - Food that’s actually worth the price

[JambledUpWords]

I’ll admit, expensive foods are good every once in a while, but sometimes I’m hesitant to buy if the price is too exorbitant.

Expensive foods I like:

• Pork belly
  • It’s great at Gen (a Korean BBQ restaurant chain)
  • The pork belly sliders from the Cheesecake Factory are tasty too
• Sirloin steak
• Red pepper jelly
  • It tastes amazing with cream cheese and toasted bread
• Short rib
  • There’s this great Italian place where I live that has a short rib and pasta entree
  • There used to be this Italian place really close by that had great short rib ravioli
• Ceviche
• Talenti, Cool Haus, and Museum of Ice Cream
  • Only for certain flavors from each brand though

Expensive food I want to try, but too hesitant at the moment:

• Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
  • It’s $12 a pint
    • On the website, you have to order a minimum of three pints, and the cheapest shipping is $19
  • There’s no store nearby where I live
  • The flavors look super good
• Caviar
  • The expensive stuff from Russia
  • I’d probably eat it along with something, not by itself
• Beef liver
  • Not entirely sure about local availability
  • Might need to order online
• Pâté
  • It looks good to try at least once
• Chuao chocolate
• Rack of lamb
• French pastries from France
• Smoked meats from Spain

 

[Oban Lazcano Kamz]

bleach... go try some

 

[SwollenGorl]

Not exactly super pricey, but my most favorite cheese is Ovalie Cendrée (France?). It's incredibly hard to find here in the US, although Whole Foods carries it from time to time. It's cured with volcanic ash and tastes very barnyard funk-ish. Usually runs like 40-50 a pound if you can find it in those quantities. If you leave it refrigerated for literally 10 minutes, it gets super gooey and delicious.

 

[Jaded Optimist]

Where the hell do you live where beef liver is expensive?

 

[Kamov Ka-52]

Gator tail is pretty good.

 

[Slappy McGherkin]

Osso buco veal shanks. Some of the finest eating out there! Veal can be pretty pricey in and of itself to make at home, but this is an expensive dish if you order it a fine dining establishment, but worth every penny.

 

[JULAY]

Chinese dried scallops are fucking amazing. And you're right to want to try Spanish cured meats, Jamon Iberico is utterly delicious. Also, try otoro sashimi. Worth every penny.

 

[JambledUpWords]

Where the hell do you live where beef liver is expensive?

It isn’t so much price, as it is availability. I heard some grocery stores have stopped carrying it.

 

[whatever I feel like]

It isn’t so much price, as it is availability. I heard some grocery stores have stopped carrying it.

Go to a butcher.

As for expensive food, I reccomend gjetost. Wegmens sells it. Its an..... acquired.... taste, but one you'll go mad for once you get it. And its not exactly food but expensive tequila is a totally different beast than the cheap stuff. Its actually a very classy drink.

 

[Looney Troons]

I import all of my cooking oils from Italy and there’s a huge boost of quality to anything I cook. I highly recommend L'Aspromontano EVOO. You can get a 5 liter tin for about 80 dollars. Also, fuck pepperoni. Pepperoni is disgusting, flavorless, congealed grease. Import some spianata piccante alongside your EVOO and make yourself a delicious pizza. Spianata is super delicious and has just enough heat to add boldness, but not hinder. Sometimes, Central Market will have some spianata, and it’s not cheap (can’t recall off the top of my head, but definitely not anywhere near Iberico).

 

[Stormy Daniel's Lawyer]

New York Style Cheesecake served with fresh raspberries. It's not that expensive to make, but it can be quite expensive in certain higher-end restaurants.

 

[mr.moon1488]

This guy called Dahmer had some good recipes, and they all costed an arm and a leg.

 

[hotcheetospuffs]

@JambledUpWords seems we have a similar palate. I've got a great chicken liver pate/mousse recipe in the Kiwi Recipes that is super easy and cheap to make. I'd start with chicken liver, it's more mild than beef liver. Caviar is just salty and fishy, more hype than anything, not worth the price imo. Red Chile Jam poured over cream cheese is a New Mexican delicacy, and that ice cream is overpriced. Go to the goodwill, get an ice cream maker, and make your own. It's so easy and you can make anything you want.

That said, I'm nuts for uni, lobster (the cockroach of the ocean), Manchego and Gjetost cheese, persimmons, passionfruits, and pummelos if you can find them. Oh, and truffles. They're kinda funky, but addictive. I only eat them in restaurants, and never on a date, otherwise I'll be perceived as a greedy bitch.

 

[／Ｏｕｒ Ｌａｄｄｉｅ／]

Caviar is really good if you get the really expensive stuff (like 2/3rds of the way up the price scale). Unless you're willing to go that route, it can kinda taste like fishy dusty oil. Definitely eat it with Creme fraiche and blinis.

Wagyu beef ruined regular beef for me for a whole month it was so good. If you are ever hosting a party, have people pitch in for a roast from costco because you can get 20 or more servings that are plenty large out of a 12 elbee roast and that brings the cost down to expensive restaurant levels. Make sure to get the actual Japanese wagyu.

Pate is actually not so expensive to be good. Like $10-15 for a block of it in the cheese area of a grocery store?

 

[Looney Troons]

Caviar is really good if you get the really expensive stuff (like 2/3rds of the way up the price scale). Unless you're willing to go that route, it can kinda taste like fishy dusty oil. Definitely eat it with Creme fraiche and blinis.

Wagyu beef ruined regular beef for me for a whole month it was so good. If you are ever hosting a party, have people pitch in for a roast from costco because you can get 20 or more servings that are plenty large out of a 12 elbee roast and that brings the cost down to expensive restaurant levels. Make sure to get the actual Japanese wagyu.

Pate is actually not so expensive to be good. Like $10-15 for a block of it in the cheese area of a grocery store?

Thanks for the recommendation re: Costco. It’s something I was curious about but wasn’t going to throw the money away on whim and have it suck. That being said, I purchased the Iberico Bellota set that Costco stores were selling a few months back, and it was well worth it.

 

[melty]

You should try all of them.. If I had to pick I would go with smoked meats and pate, but I'm biased against desserts.

My favorite tasty, expensive foods:
-Beef Tartare, some people try to put their own flavor combination spin on this but the classic is best.
-Foie Gras, even the worst foie is pretty good.
-Truffles, truffle oil, salt, etc
-Manchego cheese is almost always good. Spanish cheese in general
-Charcuterie in general
-Raw Hamachi (yellowtail)

Hit or miss:
-Scallops, depends how they're cooked.
-Raw oysters, depends on where they are from
-Uni, usually good but varies by location also.

These I feel are overrated, or I've prepared them better at home so I don't like to pay for them at a restaurant.
-Filet mignon
-Lobster
-Kobe/Wagyu beef (frequently not cooked well, or overused)

I'd like to try more caviar, personally.

As for expensive food, I reccomend gjetost. Wegmens sells it. Its an..... acquired.... taste, but one you'll go mad for once you get it.

I tried this once, it was crazy good! Thank you for reminding me about it.

 

[whatever I feel like]

Oysters aren't worth the cost. I've had some good ones at a pricey oyster bar and all said and done I was better off getting steak. So I did! That was an expensive fucking meal when you factor in the apps and liquor too....

 

[whatever I feel like]

This guy called Dahmer had some good recipes, and they all costed an arm and a leg.

I heard he had quite the taste for Cambodian sausage.

 

[Slappy McGherkin]

And its not exactly food but expensive tequila is a totally different beast than the cheap stuff. Its actually a very classy drink.

Absolutely agree! I've collected top shelf tequila for many years and have some of the finest of the fine, most purchased in Mexico. Every now and then, I'll break out a bottle for a party or special event and even peeps that can't normally stand tequila are absolutely amazed at how smooth it is.

This particular tequila (below), Don Tacho is in a handblown glass bottle with a nopal cactus inside. It's over 25 years old and was $100 USD back then in Mexico. Hell, there are tequilas on the market now that bring $300-$400 (or more) a bottle. I hate it when something becomes "trendy" because it just drives the price point through the roof. But, we've come a long way from the days of Cuervo Gold being a "fine" tequila - that shit is rotgut by today's standards. Everybody raves about Patron, but it ain't all that either. It's good, but not fine. A lot of the very fine brands never make it to (or are near impossible to find) here in the US.

Salud, mi tequila drinking amigos!!!

 

[neverendingmidi]

Jeni’s ice cream is overpriced. Graeter’s is better as a base ice cream. Jeni’s is hipster ice cream. Seriously, their scoops at a store are smaller than a golf ball, and it take for-fucking-ever to order because there’s no limits on tasting, and each person HAS to try each of the bizarre flavors before picking a plain chocolate. Now picture this happening over and over for each of the 20 people in front of you. It’s stupid.

Osso buco veal shanks. Some of the finest eating out there! Veal can be pretty pricey in and of itself to make at home, but this is an expensive dish if you order it a fine dining establishment, but worth every penny.

It’s not veal, but the pork osso buco at this restaurant is pretty damn good.

I like prime rib, November/December when the roasts are on sale is wonderful.

Pate is okay
Lobster is a far more delicate meat then a lot of places cook it.
I want to try Umi, but only a single piece of it. Not the whole packages they sometimes have at a local Japanese grocery.