NZ burger becomes London's finest at $146

Hamburgers made with New Zealand meat are being sold by a London restaurant for 55 pounds ($146) each, it has been revealed.

Zuma in fashionable Knightsbridge sells the 200g slabs of wagyu breed cow with an order of fries to the city's rich and famous, the Daily Mail newspaper reported.

Restaurant owner Rainer Becker said he introduced the burger after a request from James Bond star Pierce Brosnan, who ordered wagyu beef while the two dined in Japan.

A spokeswoman for the restaurant said: "Our wagyu beef comes from New Zealand, where the cows are reared on beer and massaged until they weigh three-quarters of a ton, more than double the weight of an average cow.

"The meat rivals foie gras for richness, tenderness, calorific content - and cost. It's also the only beef proven to reduce cholesterol levels."

The burgers work out at $10 a bite, or the equivalent of $600/kg for the beef, and have been labelled London's most expensive burger.

Restaurant manager Russell Norman said: "55pounds  is a legitimate price. Wagyu beef is reckoned to be the best in the world. It doesn't make a difference whether it comes to your table as a steak or as a burger - it's still the best."

The burger is served with tomato, onion and skinny-cut chips.

The Evening Standard newspaper sent one of its reporters, Ed Harris, to put the burger to the test.

He reported: "Becker brushed my burger with oil and cooked it over a grill in view of the dining room.

"The meat is certainly juicier than an ordinary beef patty. You could eat for three or four successive evenings at my local curry house for the same amount, but it really is a very good burger."

Longtime wagyu beef promoter Ken Lopes, of Mangonui in Northland, said it didn't receive enough recognition by New Zealand farmers.

"We should be exporting a lot more wagyu," he said.

- NZPA