Salt Bae sparks fury after bragging about customer’s £140,584 bill at his Abu Dhabi restaurant

Salt Bae has been slammed on social media after bragging about a customer’s bill that came to a staggering £140,584 – with a single steak priced at £1,030.

The Turkish millionaire restaurateur, known for his gold leaf steaks and signature salt-sprinkling pose, was criticised on Instagram by commenters calling the prices ‘insane’ and ‘all ego’.

The eye-watering bill was from Salt Bae’s restaurant Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Abu Dhabi, with 14 guests paying out 615,065 dirham (£140,584), meaning it cost 43,933 dirham (£10,041) per person.

It is not known who the astronomical tab belonged to. But a number of high-profile people are currently visiting Abu Dhabi with the final race of the Formula 1 season taking place there this weekend and neighbour Qatar hosting the World Cup which starts on Sunday.

The eye-watering bill was from Salt Bae’s restaurant Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Abu Dhabi, costing 615,065 dirham (£140,584)

The Turkish millionaire restaurateur is known for his gold leaf steaks and signature salt-sprinkling pose

Pictured: the bill from the Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Abu Dhabi. Astonishingly, over half-a-million dirham (£114,154) was spent on wine alone 

Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, charged an astonishing 9,000 dirham (£2,059) for two gold-leaf covered Istanbul steaks, 5,500 (£1,255) for two golden Ottoman steaks, 4,500 (£1,027) for two beef tenderloin, and a further 3905 dirham (£891) for 11 beef fillet steaks.

But the diners weren’t finished there. They also spent 1,200 dirham (£273) on five portions of beef carpaccio, an appetizer of thinly sliced raw meat, and 320 dirham (£73) on four flowering onions.

For four portions of French fries alone, the influencer chef charged 180 dirham (£41) and 5850 (£1,335) for gold-covered baklava.

It would be fair to say that the diners also drank well. Astonishingly, over half-a-million dirham was spent on wine. There were five bottles of Petrus red wine, costing 325,000 dirham (£74,200), two bottles of Petrus 2009 Louis XIII costing 200,000 dirham (£45,661), and a bottle of Chateau Margaux for 15,500 (£3,538).

For a single bottle of Heineken, Salt Bae charged 55 dirham (£12.50), a negroni cost 75 dirham (£17), and four virgin mojito cost 180 dirham (£41).

Just for nine bottles of still water, the Nusr-Et Steakhouse charged 405 dirham (£92), and 270 dirham (£62) for six bottles of sparkling water.

Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, charged an astonishing 9,000 dirham (£2,059) for two gold-leaf covered Istanbul steaks

Salt Bae posted the picture of the bill to Instagram, and his 49million followers, with the caption: ‘Quality never expensive #saltbae #saltlife #salt.’

Shortly after, Salt Bae received a barrage of criticism from other social media users, with more than 597,000 likes, and 26,500 comments, many of them disgusted by the bill.

One user wrote: ‘This is lame, that amount of money will help a whole village from dying. This is horrible.’

Many users were completely shocked by the price and called the total ‘insane’.

Another user said: ‘There are about 98 million people below the poverty line, homeless, and you are spreading lies?!!! what is the purpose behind publishing such things? I will unfollow you and I hope so from everyone to do the same … shame on you.’

Another wrote: ’55 bucks for a Heineken just so u can ruin the meal with gold leaf and drop salt through your hairy arms.’

’55 bucks for a Heineken just so u can ruin the meal with gold leaf and drop salt through your hairy arms.’

‘This is lame, that amount of money will help a whole village from dying. This is horrible.’

‘There are about 98 million people below the poverty line, homeless, and you are spreading lies?!!! what is the purpose behind publishing such things? I will unfollow you and I hope so from everyone to do the same … shame on you.’

‘This is insanity. This isn’t even about good food. This is just criminal pricing. All ego’, one user wrote

Another user wrote: ‘This is insane! Extravagance and showing it off! Should have thought twice before posting this.’

This is not the first time a receipt from Salt Bae’s restaurant has proven controversial.

In October last year, a customer at the Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Knightsbridge was slammed for spending £37,000, including a staggering £4,829 service charge.

For a single golden tomahawk steak, the customer had to fork-out £850.

A user shared the receipt to Reddit with the caption, ‘Now this is just outrageous’, it shows a Snapchat screengrab of the receipt, with the diner complaining ‘That’s just taking the p***’.

The receipt shows that almost £30,000 of the meal was spent on expensive alcohol.

The cheapest items, besides the water, were the mashed potatoes and sautéed mushrooms which came to £12 each. 

A customer was slammed after spending £37.000 at celebrity restaurant Nusr-Et Steakhouse in London’s Knightsbridge in October 2021

London diners can get their hands on 24-Carat gold Tomahawk steak, which has previously been a menu item in their Dubai branch (pictured) 

Commenting on the receipt, one Reddit user wrote: ‘Daylight robbery. At least with Michelin you have somewhere that’s been stringently deemed to charge high amounts. And it would cost about 37x less!’

However many users felt the customers were to blame, with one writing: ‘Receipts from this place are just the latest social media flex. I don’t know why anyone should care.’

Another added: ‘Why do people keep posting receipts from a s***** restaurant? Is it some sort of anti-flex to say “I’m rich but also very very stupid and don’t have good taste”?’

‘It’s a humble brag. Posting your receipt for a £30k meal whilst simultaneously expressing outrage at the cost,’ another wrote.

Elsewhere one said: ‘I’m not commenting on the price cos that’s been established as largely from alcohol that these people specifically selected’.

With many adoring celebrity fans, Salt Bae has built something of a cult flowing after his theatrical salt-sprinkling antics went viral on social media in 2017.

Footage of To Lam, minister of public security in the country, seemingly enjoying the £1,450 tomahawk steak at Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Knightsbridge, London, emerged on social media last night

Salt Bae prepared the steak for the Vietnamese minister before feeding it to him from his knife, pictured in London, November 2021 

David Beckham was fed steak by viral chef Salt Bae, as he enjoyed a meal at his NYC eatery NUSR-ET with wife Victoria, and kids Romeo, Cruz and Harper

The Rooneys splashed out on a meal at Nusr-Et – where a giant golden steak costs up to an eye-watering £1,450 to buy – with their four sons

Love Island’s Jess and Eve Gale, 22, splashed the cash at Salt Bae’s restaurant Nusr-Et in London on Sunday night as they enjoyed a night out with TOWIE’s Demi Sims, 25

Media personality Gemma Collins, 40, spoke of her shock at her £1,450 bill for a 24 carat Golden Tomahawk steak at Salt Bae’s London restaurant

His restaurants have been a popular venue for celebrities including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as footballers David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.

The Rooneys splashed out on a meal at Nusr-Et in October last year, posing for a photograph in the restaurant posted to Gökçe’s Instagram.

Politicians have also jumped on the bandwagon.

A Vietnamese communist official was even caught being hand-fed a gold-covered steak at Salt Bae’s restaurant in London in November 2021.

Footage of the minister of public security in the country, showed To Lam enjoying a £1,450 gold-leaf covered tomahawk steak.

In the video, the Turkish chef cuts the steak for Lam, salts it in his signature pose, before feeding it to the official off his knife.

The footage was posted on Nusr-Et Steakhouse’s Tiktok page in November 2021 but was quickly deleted. But the clip already went viral in Vietnam.

Social media users slammed Lam — whose department monitors dissenters and activists in the authoritarian country — for having such an extravagant meal.