May 22 (Bloomberg) -- New Yorkers looking to flaunt their success can now buy fried rice for $88. It contains lobster, Japanese Kobe beef and American caviar.

How does it taste? Like fried rice.

The extravagance comes courtesy of David Burke & Donatella, the Upper East Side hangout famous for such inventions as plates made from pink rock salt and cheesecake-lollipop trees.

The official title is Million Dollar Fried Rice. Waiters joke that you're getting it at a discount. They won't tell you that it's $3 more than the $85 five-course tasting menu.

Is this a publicity stunt? Norma's at Le Parker Meridien received international coverage for its $1,000 caviar-studded omelet -- including a spot on the ``Late Show With David Letterman.'' (As a comic protest, Letterman added ketchup.)

Stunt or not, David Burke's bartender says the $88 dish sells out every night.

The rice is supposed to arrive in a bowl shaped out of laser-cut pink salt -- created from ``evaporating primordial ocean water trapped under the forming Himalayan Mountains.''

It also helps season the rice.

We received no salt bowl, just ordinary serving ware.

It's supposed to come with edible gold leaf.

Ours came ungilded.

Slices of raw Kobe covered the entire affair. The paper- thin meat provided only an inkling of fatty, beefy flavor. But the rice was enough to feed two. The tan, well-seasoned grains were studded with slivers of crab and lobster that gently perfumed the dish.

A generous quenelle of caviar and a fried quail egg complete the dish.

Pricey Rice

Is this worth $88, or is it the high-end consumer who's getting fried? That's a personal question of value. But either way, it tastes like just rice.

Note: There's no home delivery.

Our single dish, plus two drinks, cost $121.

David Burke & Donatella is at 133 E. 61st St., near Lexington Avenue. Information: +1-212-813-2121; http://www.dbdrestaurant.com.

L'Atelier de Sotohiro Kosugi

Soto is a New York sushi bar. Yet it feels like a L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon bar. Sort of.

Soto diners can expect to pay top dollar for small, architectural creations -- that's the Robuchon part. Patrons can expect to walk past a West Village sex shop en route to the restaurant -- that's the ``sort of.''

Soto's philosophy, developed at the now closed Soto in Atlanta, is similar to Robuchon's: Sit at a counter and order flights of teeny-tiny portions that cost between $8 and $28 each. Waiters recommend two to three plates plus sushi; you'll need more to fill up. Food alone will cost at least $100 per person. Much of that fare will be uni, the beautifully orange roe from the terribly spiny sea urchin.

Chef Sotohiro Kosugi wraps the roe in a nest of squid, shiso and seaweed to evoke the whole prickly creature. A raw quail egg on top super-sizes the richness. Use chopsticks to mix it up into an orange-and-white soup.

Cost: $22. I took my time enjoying the expensive, elegant arrangement. A fellow patron slurped it up like cold soba noodles in a minute flat.

Ever try Robuchon's tiny eggshell of uni, cauliflower cream and lobster gelee? It costs $39. Chef Kosugi's response is uni whipped into a mousse and layered between rounds of steamed lobster -- a $28 mini-parfait. What's that on top? More uni -- this time it's smoked.

Sushi Lab

Kosugi stands behind the blond bar in a V-neck lab coat that shows off his well-knotted tie. He spends up to 10 minutes working on a single intricate dish. Another chef -- dressed identically -- quietly makes sushi. Kosugi's wife prepares cooked fare from the kitchen.

The rectangular room looks peaceful when empty. A stark white wall lines the north side, interrupted by a large red rising sun.

Soto is noisy when full. Cell phones ring. BlackBerries populate the sushi bar. A nearby diner should have been ejected for too much perfume. I was armed with a more powerful fragrance -- the oceanic musk of uni broiled over a slab of sea eel ($16).

One sushi-snob gripe: When ordering the chef's selection (listed at $58), insist on one or two pieces at a time, to ensure cool fish and warm rice. I watched in disbelief as a dozen pieces were crammed onto a single plate. To be fair, it's a practical step, because the dining room was too crowded to accommodate coordinated piece-by-piece service.

My Wednesday-night meal -- four dishes plus five pieces of sushi -- cost $114.

Soto is at 357 Sixth Ave., near Washington Place. Information: +1-212-414-3088.

(Ryan Sutton is a writer for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Ryan Sutton in New York at rsutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 22, 2007 00:09 EDT