Only in London would a retailer think there be a market for a £85 ($148 US) sandwich. Now I love Selfridges Department Store, but this makes them seem even more out of touch and exclusive than they really are or should desire to be.

Most expensive sandwich in London goes on sale
Monday, 10th April 2006, 17:54
LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) – London’s most expensive sandwich went on sale at Selfridges today and at £85 and 2,000 Calories it promised to lighten pockets and expand waistlines.
The McDonald Sandwich is the brainchild of Selfridges chef Scott McDonald, who said the idea came to him while taking the train home three weeks ago.
He said: “I wanted to say ‘If money was no object, what would you put in a sandwich?’.
“It wasn’t just a case of using the most expensive produce, the flavours are exceptional, they marry really well.
“You get absolutely amazing taste from every level as opposed to a taste explosion.”
The main expense of the sandwich is the Wagyu beef, which is flown in fresh from Japan, and comes from cows that were massaged and fed on beer.
Other ingredients include fresh lobe frois gras and black truffle mayonnaise.
Mr McDonald added: “Tasting it you would probably think ‘Bloody hell, that’s rich’.”
The first person to buy the sandwich was food buff Jan Gedzisz, who was taking it back to the office to share with his boss.
The 61-year-old widower said: “I’m feeling very peckish so it should go down well.
“My friends will say that I am absolutely mad spending £85 on a sandwich, but if it’s very satisfying then that’s OK. I’m a big food fan.”
Selfridges had received seven pre-orders for the 21-ounce (595g) meal, which takes about ten minutes to prepare.
Catherine Ashton-Stones, 23, a trainee journalist from Cumbria, got to sample the sandwich and said: “It was really like a meal in itself.
“I do feel quite full even though I only had a really small section.
“The bread was really nice but would I pay £85 for it? I don’t think so.”
Not every shopper in the posh Oxford Street store was prepared to pay that much for a sandwich.
Retired Brian Tiernan, from London, said: “You must be joking. You can get a suit for that much.
“Even if I had a pension as big as Tony Blair’s I wouldn’t spend it on an £85 sandwich.”
Joyce Holt, from Essex, also retired, said she wouldn’t buy one “in two million years”.
She added: “It’s a bit ridiculous, isn’t it?
“Two slices of bread and some filling. I’d be very surprised if they sell one a day.”
Heather Bonnie, a 23-year-old university lecturer from Workington, said: “I’d only spend £6 in London for a sandwich.”
Rosemarie Gillard, a doctor’s practice manager from London, said: “I wouldn’t pay that for a steak, let alone a sandwich.”