Is this the future of food? The world’s first lab-grown burger got its first taste from a select group of people in London — and the results were less than spectacular.
Tasters said the burger was dry and lacked flavor. It’s a shame for a burger that cost $332,000 (it was made up of tens of billions of lab-grown cells).
The 5-ounce burger was developed by Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The project was funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Post is one of a group of scientists experimenting with new ways to grow meat in laboratories as an alternative to raising livestock.
A $333,000-plus burger is nothing to sneeze at. Here’s a list of other expensive burgers that will set your wallets back just a little:
1. FleurBurger 5000 — Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas — $5,000
Craving a $5,000 burger? Head on over to the Las Vegas restaurant Fleur, where chef Huber Keller has created a burger with Wagyu beef, foie gras, and black truffles topped with a special sauce. If you’re thinking all of that yummy goodness doesn’t add up to $5,000 you’re right. The meal also comes with a bottle of 1995 vintage Chateau Petrus (around $2,000 a bottle) and Ichendorf Brunello glasses ($75 a pair).
If you want to recreate the FleurBurger, check out the recipe here.
2. 777 Burger — Le Burger Basserie, Paris Las Vegas, Las Vegas — $777
Besides the Kobe beef and Maine lobster featured in this burger (right), this pricey treat comes with carmelized onions, imported Brie cheese, prosciutto and 100-year-aged balscamic vinegar. To wash down the expensive treat, enjoy a bottle of Rose Dom Perignon, which of course helps push the price of your delicious meal up. Despite the pricey burger, the restaurant only has 3.5 stars on Yelp.
3. $666 Douche Burger — 666 Burger, New York — $666
A burger (left) that’s a bit tongue-in-cheek. The founders of the food truck 666 burger hated the gourment burger movement, so they created a burger to show their disgust. While most burgers sold at the truck cost $6.66, this one’s a bit pricier. The concoction combines Kobe beef with foie gras, caviar, lobster, truffles, and is wrapped in gold leaf. The gruyere cheese is melted on top with champagne steam and slathered with Kopi Luwak coffee barbeque sauce.
“It’s kind of like the only joke you can eat,” Rinaldi told ABC’s “Nightline.” “It’s us saying we’re going to put all this rich stuff that everybody else does and use pretty much similar ingredients. But it doesn’t mean the burger’s going to taste good. It doesn’t mean it’s actually a hamburger.
4. Le Burger Extravagant — Seredipity 3, New York — $295
Ingredients of this masterpiece: white truffle butter-infused Japanese Wagyu beef,topped with James Montgomery cheddar cheese, black truffles and a quail egg. It’s served on a gold-dusted campagna roll with white trufle butter and topped with a blini, creme fraiche, and caviar. If you’re willing to dish out that much for a burger, why not add $1,000 more to your tab and try the Golden Opulence Sundae, the most expensive ice cream sundae in the world. It was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Serendipity 3.
5. The Burger — Burger King, West London — $186
Who knew? In 2008, Burger King made headlines for offering a burger containing flame-grilled Wagyu Beef, topped with white truffles in an Iranian saffron and truffle bun. It was aimed at burger aficionados, but dismissed as just a PR stunt.
6. The Richard Noveau — Wall Street Burger Shoppe, New York — $175
Why wouldn’t the Wall Street Burger Shoppe feature one of the world’s most expensive burgers? Featuring real gold flakes, 25 grams of black truffles, foie gras and an aged Gruyere, this burger has been described — by owners of the Burger Shoppe — as a work of art.
7. X-Burger, W Hotel, Seoul — $160
If you’re tired of American burgers, head on over to Korea, where you can bite into a burger filled with Wagyu beef topped with foie gras, truffles, lobster tail on a brioche bun. It also comes with three sauces.
8. The DB “Royale” Double Truffle Burger — db Bistro Moderne, New York and the Daniel Boulud Brasserie in Las Vegas — $120
Served on a homemade toasted parmesan and poppyseed bun with a touch of horseradish, oven roasted tomato confit, fresh tomato, red onions, and frisée lettuce. The burger is stuffed with red wine-braised short ribs, foie gras, a mix of root veggies and preserved black truffle.
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