Hong Kong to host eye-watering 900 US dollar meal

Famously relaxed with conspicuous consumption, Hong Kong is set to host a dinner costing nearly 7,000 Hong Kong dollars (902 US dollars) per head, according to one of the city's hotels.

US-born chef Thomas Keller is being flown in by the Mandarin Oriental to cook for 450 diners - in what the hotel says will be Hong Kong's most expensive meal this year.

A top-priced, 11-course dinner during Keller's November 29 to December 2 stay will set gourmands back 6,888 HK dollars each, excluding service. Slightly more frugal diners can enjoy lunch for just over 2,000 HK dollars.

The hotel says it is flying over the three Michelin-starred chef, his seven-strong team and crate loads of ingredients for the four days.

Tables have been booked for weeks, according to the hotel, which in a statement hails Keller's food as "a work of art," adding that "diners can expect to enjoy an exceptional menu full of flavour and life."

Keller, who runs the exclusive French Laundry and Per Se in the US, is laying on a French-American menu that ranges from oysters, caviar and truffles to chocolate brownies with wine to match.

The cost of the Mandarin's Keller dinner is far from Asia's most expensive.

According to Forbes Asia, which publishes an annual rich list, Bangkok's Mezzalune sold a 10-course meal in 2007 for 30,000 US dollars a head.

Singapore's Les Amis charges an average of 182 US dollars a head, while Tokyo's Aragawa dishes up Kobe beef at 800 US dollars a pound, Forbes says on its website.