It seems that one of Dubai’s favorite garnish for their food is real gold.
Dubai has a well-earned reputation for being an incredibly pricey city. Just walking down the street will give credit to its reputation. High-end luxury brands line the roads and exotic cars race down the streets. Dubai’s wealth isn’t just contained to its vehicles and shops, though. Even their food is pricey and worth its weight in gold – and we mean that literally. It seems that one of Dubai’s favorite garnish for their food is real gold.
Gold is entirely safe to consume. We’re not saying you should take a bite out of your wedding ring, that would be dangerous because it most likely contains impurities. Edible gold must be between 23-24 karats and when you eat it, it is usually pounded into thin sheets or ground into glitter before it is used as a garnish. It is essentially flavorless, and its only value to the food beside a spike in price is making the dish look fancy. Which is precisely why Dubai enjoys using it as a garnish to as many of their dishes as possible. From cocktails to burgers to even cakes, here are 19 foods made out of gold that could only be found in Dubai.
19. Black Soil Soup
We’ll admit, the name of this soup is not the most pleasing sounding thing. However, this soup actually sounds delicious if you actually read the description of it. The soup is made from wild mushrooms that include black truffles (of course). It is garnished with some toasted breadcrumbs, mascarpone, and truffle gold flakes. You can find this soup at 24 Karat, an Italian restaurant that is located in the Marriott Hotel in Dubai. Even the restaurant is decorated in gold!
The price for this bowl of soup is 103 AED, about 28 dollars. Not too bad in our opinion. If you opt out of the gold leaf, the price drops to 65 AED – about 17 dollars.
18. Gold Cappuccino
Getting a cup of coffee sounds so plebeian after we found out about this cup of gold. At the Armani Hotel Dubai – located in the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, you can get a gold cappuccino to start your day. In their lobby, you can sit down and enjoy a 75 AED ($20) cup of coffee. The drink is made from the hotel’s signature Arabian blend and topped with 23-karat gold leaf. You’ll also get some decadent dark chocolate to go alongside the coffee. Who needs a boring latte when you could be sipping on gold?
17. Japanese Wagyu Sirloin Steak
If the soup doesn’t fill you up and you’re ready for the main course, you can choose to get the Japanese Wagyu Sirloin Steak. This steak costs a wallet-crushing $200. If you decide to skip on the gold leaf embellishment, the price drops to about 175$. This still leaves you with a steak that costs 175$, though. Japanese wagyu steak is meat that comes from a select breed of cow – wagyu. The cattle are unique because their meat has an effect called ‘marbling.’ This means that throughout the steak there are lines of fat. Each bite of steak almost melts in your mouth as you eat it. Hence the hefty price tag!
16. Golden Phoenix
At Bloomsbury, a boutique in the Dubai Mall, you can order a cupcake that costs more than the mortgage for a house. For $1,007 you can get a cupcake that is made from Ugandan vanilla beans, Italian chocolate, gold covered strawberries and enveloped in 23-karat sheets of gold. It’s a good thing that gold is edible because that is a lot of metal that you’ll be ingesting into your body. You can’t just walk into this store and order the cupcake off the shelf, though. If you’re interested in getting this cupcake, you have to give the bakery a 48-hour notice because – understandably, it’s not an everyday item.
15. Black Diamond
HOLY COW! And we mean the cow that produced the milk for this ice cream must be a holy one because this dessert is a staggering 3,000 Emirati dirham – $817. The ice cream is made from Madagascar vanilla bean, that doesn’t sound too fancy. However, the ice cream is then topped with Iranian saffron. One ounce of this saffron can cost up to $100. The dessert is also topped with Italian truffles and then finally garnished with 23-karat gold flakes. As a souvenir for buying this expensive dessert, you can keep the Versace bowl and spoon that the dessert is sold in.
14. Golden Mary
When you stay at a St. Regis, you know you’re staying in the lap of luxury, and this holds true for the St. Regis Dubai. Even the exterior of this hotel screams wealth. It’s a palace with staff waiting to take care of your every need. If you’re familiar with the St. Regis hotel line, then you’ll know that each hotel has their own signature, Bloody Mary. At the St. Regis Dubai, they have a Golden Mary – yes, this made us laugh. This version of the drink is made with dates, red pepper, lemon juice, yellow tomato juice, rose-infused vodka, and gold leaf garnish.
13. Royal Pizza
If someone actually orders this pizza, then he or she must be insane. Why else would anyone pay $170,737 for a PIZZA? As the name implies, the pizza was initially created for the royal family. However, after being given the title of the World’s Most Expensive Pizza by the Guinness Book of Records, the pizza now has a permeant spot on the menu. Chef Abdel Muhammad Al-Hallabi tops the pizza with white and black truffles, Monga saffron, French foie gras, Dom Perignon soaked caviar, Japanese matsitake mushrooms, and then two ounces of gold leaf. This single pizza could buy a house!
12. Yellow Gold Tea
Who knew a single flower bud could be so lavish? At the TWG Tea in the Dubai Mall, you can order a pot of 24-karat gold tea. The tea is made from a yellow ginseng plant that is harvested once a year. It’s grown on a single hillside in the Sichuan province. It is also only collected once a year. Only the finest and top buds of the plant are cut using golden scissors. After the tea is dried, each leaf is covered in gold foil. A single pot of this tea is about $270! It is described as having a delicate floral with a hint of metallic taste. We’re not sure how this sounds, but those who have tried it say it is impressive!
11. Gold Burger
Who doesn’t enjoy a show to go along with their dinner? At the Maison Rouge, one of Dubai’s most popular places, you can enjoy live music, dancing, and superb food. If you’re willing to pay an extra $100, you can get Maison Rouge’s famous Gold Burger. The 300 gram of Angus beef is layered with fresh greens, tomatoes, cheese, a secret sauce, and is served in a homemade red velvet bun and then wholly frosted in 24-karat gold. Luckily, you can split the cost with someone because this burger is meant for two. Can you imagine biting into this gold crusted burger?
10. Gold Macarons
If you want to order the most incredible dessert centerpiece, then the gold macaron pyramid is a must. At Forrey & Galland Chocolatier, you can request an entire pyramid of mouthwatering macarons that are handmade to order and completely covered in gold. If you aren’t feeling the pyramid shape, you can opt for a ball of macarons instead! Who wants boring flowers on the table when you can have a dazzling arrangement of gold macarons? Aside from giving the bakery at least 48 hours of notice, you only need to pay about $250…
9. Lussory’s 24-Karat Gold Alcohol-Free Wine
It might seem counterproductive to drink alcohol-free alcohol, but in Dubai, this is actually a popular option. Since the majority of the population is Muslim, there are those who choose not to partake in alcohol because they see it as a sin. Others chose to ignore this rule and still drink. However, for those that don’t want to get in trouble or deal with a hangover, they can opt to drink alcohol-free drinks such as the Lussory’s 24-karat Gold Wine. The halal approved wine is infused with gold flakes and costs about $150 a bottle.
8. Vogue Café Golden Lemonade
Inside the Level Shoe District in the world famous Dubai Mall, there is a famous café called the Vogue Café. If you need to take a break from all your exhausting luxury shopping, you can relax at this nicely located café. The menu is small but expertly curated, and their signature drink is their refreshing Golden Lemonade. The golden syrup that is used is a 72-hour infused mixture with honey, rosemary, and 24-karat gold flakes. With some fresh lemon juice, golden syrup, and more gold flakes to garnish it, you have a $21 treat to enjoy amid your expensive shopping purchases.
7. Pomegranate Martini
At Bā Restaurant & Lounge you can enjoy an exquisitely crafted menu of Asian fusion cuisine. From sushi to dim sum to tuna tacos, there is a little bit of everything. On top of the many food options, there is another draw to this restaurant. They are famous for the gold-dusted cocktails. One of the most popular ones is the Pomegranate Martini that’s dusted with gold glitter, and it’s only 21 dollars! If that’s still too steep a price to pay and you’re a lady, then you’re in luck. You can visit the bar during its Ladies’ Night and get complimentary golden cocktails!
6. Oh My Gold Cake
At first glance, this looks like a solid gold bar, but wait until you cut into it and discover that it’s actually a chocolate cake! Created by French Bakery, the cake is a ‘rich combination of hazelnut mousse, speculoos cream, hazelnut dacquoise, white chocolate parfait with biscuit Breton.’ We’re drooling already. The cake is finished off by a solid dusting of gold glitter, making it look like a real bar of gold. You are able to order this cake for just $75, not too bad of a price! We’ll be honest, we still wish it was a real gold bar, though.
5. Gold Emotion Sparking Apple Juice
Why should adults get all the fun with their sparkly gold cocktails? If you want to give your child the fanciest tea party ever, you can get them the Gold Emotion Sparkling Apple Juice. There are actually a few places in Dubai that carry the bottle, including the Forrey & Galland Chocolatier, Dubai Festival City, Mercato Mall, and the Dubai Mall. One bottle of this pricy apple juice will only cost you about $60. The juice has gold flakes swirling inside. We bet all the children of the upper class in Dubai are already drinking this juice in their sippy cups.
4. Diamonds Are Forever Cocktail
Although the name of the cocktail is Diamonds Are Forever, there actually aren’t any diamonds in the drink. However, the Swarovski Crystalline cocktail glass that the drink is served in does have real diamonds embedded in the stem. Of course, you get to take the glass home as a souvenir – which you better seeing as how it’s over $1,200! The drink is made with ‘LHeraud Vintage Grande Champagne Cognac, The Bitter Truth bitters by Jerry Thomas and Luxor 24k Gold Flake Champagne.’ The drink might only last a few sips, but your crystal cocktail glass with DIAMONDS EMBEDDED IN IT, will last you forever.
3. Element 79
If you remember your chemistry classes back in high school, then you’ll know that 79 is the atomic number of gold. How appropriate. Element 79 is an elegant cocktail served at Gold on 27. It’s actually non-alcoholic and is a combination of orange blossom honey, ginger and absinthe droplets, gold pearlescence and a gold sugar cube. Aside from drinking gold, you’ll also be sitting in one of Dubai’s most luxurious hotels – the Burj Al Arab. This hotel is decorated with about 1,790 square meters of 24-karat gold. We don’t even want to know how much a room at this place costs. We already know we can’t afford it!
2. Gold Truffles
If you really want to impress your girlfriend or wife, order them a handpicked box of truffles from Forrey & Galland. A box of 49 truffles costs a little over $100. Luckily, even though the store is based in Dubai, you can still order the chocolates online. The website lists every single one of its decadent truffles, and we want them all. You can get a milk chocolate praline truffle decorated with a brush of gold leaf, or a sugar-free dark rocher almond that’s also covered in gold. The chocolatier has over 90 different truffles to choose from, and they’re all works of art. They’re almost too pretty to eat… almost.
1. 27.321 Cocktail
If you are interested in buying one of the world’s most expensive cocktails, we’re sorry to tell you, but you’re out of luck. This drink would have cost you about $7,438 at the Skyview Bar at the Burj Al Arab. However, the drink was designed to be served ten times and no more. Now, you’re probably thinking, was this drink liquid gold to have cost this much? No, this drink actually didn’t contain gold at all. It was actually a 55-year old Macallan single malt scotch whiskey that was served in a Baccarat 18-karat gold glass.
Once you get the drink you get to the keep the gold cup, thus its inclusion on our list.
BY IVY CHENG