Burger King Serves Up $190 Burger

It comes topped with foie gras

(NEWSER) - For two years, Japan's fast-food lovers were forced to go without Wendy's. Now the chain is back—with a bang. Its first new store to open in the country will serve up the Foie Gras Rossini Burger, which, yes, is topped with foie gras and costs 1,280 yen, or around $16. The Tokyo store will also serve a Truffle and Porcini Grilled Chicken Sandwich and a wasabi-avocado burger, reports the Wall Street Journal . The paper explains that Wendy's pulled out of Japan in 2009, shuttering its 71 stores. More»

Foreign buyers are pouring in money to escape volatility at home

(NEWSER) - The market for London's most luxurious homes is skyrocketing as foreign buyers, seeking safe investments, swoop in to purchase the city's priciest residences. Sales of properties worth more than $8 million spiked 31% to a record 262 in the past year, reports Businessweek . House-hunters hailing from the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia are investing upward of $1,900 per square foot in posh London neighborhoods as a way to escape volatility in their home countries. More»

California chain in-N-Out Burger wins top honors

(NEWSER) - The people at Food & Wine , given the taxing task of singling out America's best burger, from roadside joints to posh restaurants serving Kobe beef burgers, have picked the top 25. First prize goes to cheeseburgers from West Coast chain In-N-Out Burger , famed for its made-to-order burgers of Harris Ranch beef—and its employee-centered personnel policies. The rest of the top 5:

• Minetta Tavern, New York City. Its Black Label Burger, made from a blend of dry-aged rib eye, skirt steak, brisket and short rib, is topped with caramelized onions.

A controversial bit of luxury, in a bun, for $6.50

(NEWSER) - The Double Down it's not: A French fast-food chain will sell a cheap foie gras burger, mixing high and low cuisine for a brief holiday promotion, Reuters reports. Consumers will be able to get a bit of duck liver in a conventional hamburger for about $6.50—a steal for the normally luxe spread. More»

It's surprising, considering they smell like 'a locker room'

(NEWSER) - Truffles: They’re a featured ingredient in a $1,000 bagel or the similarly priced “Golden Opulence” ice cream sundae . So what is it about these mushrooms, the white truffle in particular, that make people willing to spend $2,000 a pound on them? They’re rare—only available a couple months of the year from a limited area in Italy, and they have to be foraged by pigs—but does that make up for their smell? One chef describes it as “disconcerting. It conjures up images of a locker room.” More»