The Most Expensive French Toast In The World Is Coated In 24K Gold

Extravagant foods often require an expensive taste. Caviar, white truffles, foie gras, and oysters are commonly known as fancy fares with hefty price tags. Even a Versace-designed plate of linguine with two pounds of lobster can reach into the triple zeroes, but only in the Big Apple. However, one of the most popular fine-dining selections around the world is Wagyu beef, a divine cut of meat that solely comes from Japanese-bred beef cattle. Wagyu is a naturally healthy meat due to the oleic acids inside. It can cook at a low temperature, which makes it incredibly tender and palatable. But experiencing Wagyu is costly: one pound typically sells for a few hundred dollars.

While that price is expected, other foods have excessive numbers attached to them. Take a burger and fries, for example. This feel-good meal typically costs around $6 but can reach up to $5,000, depending on where you eat. The Fleur Burger 5000 has doubled down on luxury in Las Vegas, consisting of Wagyu beef, foie gras, truffles, homemade potato spears, and a nearly $4,000 bottle of exclusive wine. Though it won't be served on designer dinnerware, Chef Hubert Keller promises a burger you won't forget.

Dinner is often a celebratory event, but what breakfast? There's a reason it's the most important meal of the day, and what better to fulfill that slogan than with golden luxury? Enter the world's most expensive French toast, only available at the Hampstead Bakery and Cafe in Dubai. 

The Hampstead Bakery and Cafe opened its doors in Dubai in 2020, focusing on early morning meals, filling entrees, and afternoon tea. However, one lush item separates this local cafe from the rest, and it's (literally) dripping in gold. The Golden Royal Brioche French Toast is not a meal to be overlooked. In fact, its visual appearance does the exact opposite, attracting the eye to its golden crust that's actually coated in 24K gold. Hampstead describes this lush morning meal as a "Light, fluffy, buttery homemade Brioche soaked in a saffron infused Tres Leches, served with fresh berries, almond praline and vanilla ice cream, covered with 24 karat edible gold." While the cafe sells other variations of brioche French toast, this meal is definitely one of its priciest at 231 AED (about $63). 

Hampstead also takes pride in its decadent desserts. Though it doesn't have a golden appearance, the Royal Chocolate Cake is rich in other ways. This chocolate sponge cake has six alternating layers of savory icing and glaze. And if that isn't enough, it also comes with a side of chocolate sauce. One whole cake will set you back 357 AED ($100), but it's worth every penny and calorie. 

Edible gold has become increasingly popular in Dubai. Although Hampstead seems to have the only gold-encrusted French toast, other fancy foods in the area have been touched by King Midas. Scallops, steaks, and even golden cappuccinos can be found in Dubai City. 

Gold-encrusted food is no unnatural phenomenon. In fact, BMJ reports that gold was a 16th-century solution to anti-aging. After being infused with water, it was said to have expanded one's lifespan while maintaining health and beauty. Now, these edible flakes symbolize wealth and decorate even the simplest of meals, like pizza. In his video titled "I Ate A $70,000 Golden Pizza," famous Youtube persona Mr. Beast (and other well-known faces) meets up with an unnamed private chef to try the world's most expensive pizza. Forget the classic sweet tomato sauce and stringy mozzarella you're used to — each ingredient in this pie sits well into the thousands. 

Starting with the crust, this lavish pizza is layered with an ounce of leafed gold before it is accompanied by a decade-old parmesan béchamel sauce. This is where the really hefty price tags come in. The chef then adds Japanese beef (soaked in a $10,000 bottle of grape juice), Hudson Valley foie gras (seared with a $6,000 jar of apple juice), $4,000 worth of shaved white truffles flown in from Italy, and a $16,000 scoop of Almas Osetra (rare albino caviar) to coat the top. Lastly, he finishes this supreme pie with smoked sea salt and more gold leaf flakes — just in case they forgot about the gold-covered crust underneath. With each slice pricing in at an estimated $4,400, this pizza is easily one of the most expensive meals in the world.