Restaurant defends charging nearly $50 for lasagna

A ritzy Brisbane, Australia restaurant has gone viral for its “eye wateringly expensive”, caviar-topped lasagna that will set you back nearly $50 a serving

Celebrity chef Gillian Hirst first invented her famously Australian take on the Italian classic in 1992, when a staggering 400 portions per week of sand crab lasagna were served to ecstatic diners at Brisbane’s now-closed fine dining hotspot Il Centro.

The lasagna, made with sand crab rather than mince meat, quickly made a name for itself on the Australian culinary scene, with Hirst previously saying: “It was a modern take on the classics and I knew it would work.

“It ticked all the boxes — comfort food with a touch of luxury but also approachable, everyone knows lasagna … I am still amazed at how many people remember it.”

Now, more than three decades later, Zazu Dining in Brisbane’s West End is trying to revive the iconic dish.

The restaurant’s owner, Jova Lou, asked Hirst for her sand crab lasagna recipe and she kindly (albeit surprisingly) handed it over.

The result is a decadent layering of creamy bechamel sauce and sand crab bolognese, swimming in a pool of abalone bisque and topped with a spoonful of black caviar.

But the price of the dish has attracted attention. At nearly $50 per serving, it’s considerably more expensive than the ‘90s original.

Zazu says its portion can be split between two people, but it “could easily be polished off by a hungry solo diner,” according to Queensland food journalist Anooska Tucker-Evans, who sampled and reviewed the dish.

Zazu’s lasagna appears to be rivaled in price only by a $37 duck lasagna freshly baked to order at Lollo in the W Melbourne.

And the mighty expensive lasagna isn’t Zazu’s only quirky offering.

Rather than sticking to a single cuisine, the restaurant appears to have thrown together a huge, global menu of flavors.

Edamame with truffled butter and smoked garlic salt ($6) sit alongside Thai beef salad ($17) and Balkan-style kofte kebapi ($12).

“Eclectic oval pizzas” are dressed up with Middle-eastern style lamb, while dumplings and bao buns can be served alongside Szechuan duck pancakes and confit chicken roulade.