The Michelin Guide has become a standard go-to for researching the best fine-dining restaurants in a city, especially when you’re travelling. However, more often than not, dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant not only requires a reservation weeks, if not months, in advance, it could also potentially create a big dent in your budget.
If you’re curious about how much you should expect to spend for an once-in-a-lifetime meal at a top Michelin-starred restaurant, Chef’s Pencil, a food platform reporting on industry news and trends, did an analysis recently to identify the most and least expensive countries for dining at a top Michelin-starred restaurant.
Chef’s Pencil analysed the menus of 450 restaurants around the world that have either two or three Michelin stars. The study looked at the top tasting menus during dinner, which usually consist of eight to 12 courses.
On average, a dinner tasting menu at a two- or three-starred restaurant will set you back USD$276 per person. To break that down further, expect to spend an average of USD$252 at a two-star restaurant and an eye-watering USD$357 at a three-star restaurant. Simply put, an extra star bumps the price by an additional USD$100.
Now, for the rankings. In the most expensive countries list, Japan came in at number four. In first place is Denmark, where a top Michelin-starred meal will cost you a whopping USD$404. This is followed by Singapore in second place (USD$364), Sweden third (USD$327) and Japan fourth (USD$322).
Here’s the top ten rundown of the most expensive countries for dining at a top-tier Michelin-starred restaurant:
- Denmark, USD$404
- Singapore, USD$364
- Sweden, USD$327
- Japan, USD$322
- USA, USD$313
- China (including Hong Kong and Macao), USD$310
- UK, USD$301
- France, USD$300
- Switzerland, USD$292
- Italy, USD$255
On the flipside, in the most affordable category, Thailand led the charge with an average price of USD$173. Here are the top ten most affordable countries/regions to dine out at a top Michelin-starred restaurant.
- Thailand, USD$173
- Ireland, USD$212
- South Korea, USD$213
- Taiwan, USD$213
- Portugal, USD$217
- Spain, USD$218
- Belgium, USD$224
- Austria, USD$230
- Netherlands, USD$236
- Germany, USD$247
Fret not, this doesn’t mean you can kiss your dream of dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Japan goodbye. The affordable hack is to go during lunch instead. Many of the top-rated restaurants in Japan, especially in Tokyo and Kyoto, offer a scaled down version of their dinner courses at a substantially lower price.
In Tokyo, these Michelin-rated restaurants, from Bib Gourmand to one-star, offer meals at less than ¥1,500 (about USD$14). And if you’re not picky about the star ratings, these well-reviewed restaurants (including Sushi M; pictured above) serve up impressive omakase and tasting menus for less than ¥10,000 (about USD$90).
Tokyo, or Japan for that matter, can be affordable, too – you just need to know where to look. And that’s what we, Time Out Tokyo, are here to help you with.
More news
See autumn leaves from Japan’s longest gondola lift at Naeba in Niigata
Get Eggslut's signature Fairfax sandwich for just ¥500 in November
Tokyo Station opened a food truck park offering vegan and eco-friendly food
Japan 2021 autumn leaves forecast: when and where to see the best foliage
Starbucks Japan releases new mugs and tumblers for different prefectures
Want to be the first to know what’s cool in Tokyo? Sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates from Tokyo and Japan.