IPeople like to feast on holidays, because they don’t look so much at calories and kilos. In 2022, too, the vast majority of Germans will be focusing on enjoyment during their holidays.
For 62 percent, at the top of the wish list are: delicatessen, going to restaurants, travel. So everything that is fun together. This is the result of a survey by the debit card provider Legatus.
One or the other even toyed with the idea of treating themselves to a menu in a star restaurant on the way. The “Michelin Guide”, which annually awards the best gourmet temples in various countries for outstanding culinary performance, helps in the search for it.
This year, however, many people are asking themselves: is star cuisine even possible in view of the sharply rising prices on vacation? The political and economic situation hits the Germans in the stomach. According to the study, more than 88 percent take a closer look when spending money or want to limit themselves.
Michelin only rates the kitchen
But that doesn’t have to mean that the dream of a star menu is already over. Because you can actually eat cheaply in a starred restaurant.
Anyone who thinks that everything there – whether with one, two or three stars – is always posh and horrendously expensive is wrong. In fact, the Michelin stars are “only” awarded for the excellent kitchen performance, but not for comfort, ambience, service and certainly not for the price. So you don’t automatically have to do without good taste for cost reasons.
Noch eine Impression aus dem l’Antic Molí
Quelle: L’Antic Molí
The international food magazine “Chef’s Pencil” has just compared hundreds of current menus of starred restaurants in Europe. It has identified five that offer three courses for a maximum of 25 euros. Of course, the cheapest options are offered as a daily menu or just for lunch.
Daily menu for 24 euros
Example France: In the restaurant “La Robe” in Montaigu, located between Bordeaux and Toulouse, chef Xavier Giraudet offers the daily menu for 24 euros. It is creative home cooking, often seasoned with aromatic herbs such as lovage from the family garden.
In the “Hostellerie la Montagne” in Colombey les Deux Églises in the Champagne-Ardenne region, star chef Jean-Baptiste Natali candied celery and breaded beef with pine nuts; his lunch menu costs 25 euros.
Dignified but not aloof: the guest room in the restaurant l’Antic Molí
Quelle: L’Antic Molí
The lunch menu for 25 euros is also available at “Les Clefs d’Argent” in Mont-de-Marsan in south-west France. Here, chef Christophe Dupouy concentrates on local ingredients with an exotic touch and serves trout with curry, for example.
In Hungary, the Budapest star restaurant “Essência” is managed by the Portuguese-Hungarian duo Tiago and Éva Sabarigo. The kitchen is a fusion of both cultures, the three-course menu costs 25 euros for lunch.
Germany is a high price zone
And the cheapest starred restaurant in Europe? That’s in Spain: “L’Antic Molí” is a converted grain mill in Ulldecona, a two-hour drive south of Barcelona. Chef Vicent Guimerà Sales specializes in seafood. The daily menu costs just 20 euros – for gourmets who pay attention to the price.
The food magazine “Chef’s Pencil” has compiled a ranking of the 25 cheapest starred restaurants in Europe. For this, those houses with three-course menus up to a maximum of 30 euros were selected. Of course, German gastronomic temples are not among them; the most bargain-star cuisines are mainly in France and Spain.
The Ciel Bleu restaurant in the Hotel Okura Amsterdam is considered the most expensive starred restaurant in Europe
Those: Okura
“Chef’s Pencil” has also found the most expensive starred restaurants in Europe for those who want to and are able to celebrate as they come and feast in the lap of luxury. They have two or three Michelin stars and are considered the crème de la crème of cuisine – with sky-high prices to match.
Most of them only open in the evenings anyway and rarely offer a beginner’s menu. The so-called tasting menus of the house, i.e. the best of the kitchen, are judged, usually a sumptuous 8 to 14-course menu served for dinner, excluding drinks and incidentals.
Menus, expensive like used cars
The most expensive star restaurant in Europe is in Holland, specifically in Amsterdam: two stars, famous for its king crab with Baeri caviar, the “Ciel Bleu”, on the 23rd floor of the “Okura” hotel with a panoramic view of the city.
It just increased the price of its premium caviar tasting menu by 100 euros. The sumptuous meal now costs 595 euros per person, mind you, excluding drinks and taxes.
The second most expensive in Europe, “Guy Savoy” in Paris, also increased its prices. The top menu now costs 570 euros. It’s called “Colours, Textures and Flavors in 13 Courses”, with lobster, John Dory, guinea fowl flavored under the skin with morels, artichoke soup with black truffles. But there is even a comparatively cheap eight-course lunch for 250 euros.
The full ranking:
25 Most Affordable & Most Expensive Michelin Restaurants in Europe