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Spend a lot to taste a little: the $100,000 tuna

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) on Jan 11th 2009 at 4:00PM

This past week, two Tokyo restaurants shared the $104,800 tab on a 128 kg (282 lb.) bluefin tuna. If that sounds like a lot, the restaurant actually paid 9.63 million yen-same amount of money, just sounds like more. Okay, if you're impressed by the sheer cost of this fish, it set the buyer back more than $372 per pound. Of course, it's probably worth it. Wall Street Journal reporter Yumiko Ono describes the dish as "[s]mooth, succulent and a little on the light side.

Sushi from this pricey swimmer was available for only three days. Half of it went to Kyubey, a den of sushi delicacy in the Ginza district. A small portion came with a price tag of $22 and was also offered as part of a 10-piece, $60 lunch special.

Itamae Sushi snatched the other half of the expensive tuna. Instead of pushing customers to dig deep into their pockets, the trophy catch was included in a $32 lunch special open to the first 20 people to walk through the door. Did it make money on the win? Probably not. Bragging rights, however, are priceless.

Filed under: Food and Drink, Asia, Japan