Ever since 1936, when the Guide Michelin – published by the famous French-based Michelin tire company – instituted its three-tier system for ranking restaurants, achieving three-star status has been the career-defining goal of many serious chefs, the culinary equivalent of an Oscar or a Nobel Prize.
The system awards one star to restaurants considered very good in their category, two to places good enough to merit a detour on a road trip, and three to those so excellent that they’re worth a special trip – what we’d call destination restaurants.
To be granted three stars (also called rosettes), a restaurant – theoretically at least – consistently has to produce finely crafted food, beautifully presented and skillfully served in refined surroundings. Needless to say, it costs money to ensure that every part of the dining experience is top-notch (some places have more people in the kitchen than they can seat in the dining room), and equally needless to say, restaurants pass the costs along to their patrons. (These are the world’s 20 most expensive restaurants.)
A meal in a Michelin three-star restaurant, then, will never be cheap. At the most expensive one of all, for instance – Guy Savoy in Paris – a multi-course tasting menu will run more than $550 per person, and that’s just for the food.
That said, there are Michelin three-stars where one can dine very well indeed with a food cost between $100 and $200 a head – still a lot, to be sure, but perhaps worth it for what should, in principle, be an unforgettable experience. (If that still seems like too much to pay, here’s how much a meal at McDonald’s costs around the world.)
To determine the cheapest Michelin three-star restaurants in the world, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data collected by the British-based financial product comparison site Money.co.uk, which drew the price of the least expensive fixed-price multi-course dinner menu at each restaurant from the establishment’s own website. Conversions of local currency to U.S. dollars were made by 24/7 Tempo in mid-May 2022 and are approximate. Our calculations have slightly altered the order of restaurants in the source material. (Note that many three-star restaurants offer specially priced menus at lunchtime; those menus were not considered for this ranking.)
13. (tie) Restaurant Lameloise
>Location: Chagny, France
>Chef: Éric Pras
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: €180
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $190
13. (tie) Régis et Jacques Marcon
>Location: Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, France
>Chef: Régis et Jacques Marcon
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: €180
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $190
12. Clos de Sens
>Location: Annecy-le-Vieux, France
>Chef: Laurent Petit
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: €178
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $187
11. Reale
>Location: Castel de Sangro, Italy
>Chef: Niko Romito
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: €170
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $179
10. Kei
>Location: Paris, France
>Chef: Kei Kobayashi
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: €170
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $179
9. L’Osier
>Location: Tokyo, Japan
>Chef: Olivier Chaignon
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: JP¥23,000
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $176
8. (tie) Alain Decasse at the Dorchester
>Location: London, England
>Chef: Jean-Philippe Blondet
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: £140
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $172
8. (tie) Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
>Location: London, England
>Chef: Gordon Ramsay and Matt Abé
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: £140
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $172
7. Kashiwaya
>Location: Osaka, Japan
>Chef: Hideaki Matsuo
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: JP¥22,000
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $169
6. Dal Pescatore
>Location: Canneto sull’Oglio, Italy
>Chef: Nadia Santini
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: €150
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $158
5. Kikunoi Honten
>Location: Kyoto, Japan
>Chef: Yoshihiro Murata
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: JP¥20,000
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $153
4. Nakashima
>Location: Hiroshima, Japan
>Chef: Tetsuo Nakashima
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: JP¥17,320
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $133
3. Restaurant Überfahrt
>Location: Rottach-Egern, Germany
>Chef: Christian Jürgens
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: €146
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $128
2. Lung King Heen
>Location: Hong Kong
>Chef: Chan Yan Tak
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: HK$990
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $126
1. King’s Joy
>Location: Beijing, China
>Chef: Gary Yin
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in local currency: RMB¥699
>Least expensive multi-course dinner menu in U.S. dollars: $104