$203K Christmas dinner has no takers

This post comes from Jodi Gralnick at partner site CNBC.

Here's a Christmas dinner that may be too rich -- even for the rich.

A British chef has been offering what is being billed as the world's most expensive Christmas dinner -- at $203,250. It's a one-of-a-kind four-course meal for four people, cooked by Ben Spalding (formerly of Per Se, now head chef at John Salt in London), and features $4,000 melons and a $60,000 bottle of Champagne.

Fully 80% of the proceeds will go to charity.

But in Britain, where class warfare and government austerity have led to a backlash against excess, the dinner has stirred controversy. And so far, there are no takers.

While some people "have salivated over the prospect, these are budget-conscious times, and no one has yet committed," said Marcel Knobil, the founder of VeryFirstTo, the website offering this so-called Ultimate Christmas Dinner.

And, in fact, Spalding has had to defend himself on Twitter against some outrage at the extravagance of the meal. While acknowledging it's a "hideous amount of money" and "anything costing that much is nuts," he tweeted "charity/ies will benefit from this massively if this sells. Only way I would agree to it, plus great fun."

The menu, of course, includes caviar and truffles. There's $10,000 worth of edible gold leaf, and that $60,000 bottle of Piper Heidsieck 1907 Champagne is to be served in diamond-studded champagne flutes.

Among the other ingredients:

• Akbari pistachios ($8,100).
• Wagyu beef ($7,300).
• Kopi Luwak -- coffee beans that have been excreted by the Asian palm civet ($4,900).
• Yubari King melon from China ($4,100).
• Densuke watermelon, grown only on the island of Hokkaido, Japan ($4,100).
• Diva vodka, described by its manufacturer as "diamond-sand-filter​ed." It's served in a bottle filled with Swarovski crystals. ($3,200).
• 150-year-old balsamic vinegar ($1,675).

Next to all that, the rare-breed turkey looks like a bargain at about $800.

If he doesn't get any takers, Spalding tweeted that he'd "spend the day with my young family and two babies."

More on CNBC and MSN Money:

• 11 outrageously expensive fast foods
• Are the Brits less charitable than Americans?
• Personal services of the 1%
• Smart Spending on the go: Get our app for Android or iPhone
• Welcome to the new recession
• What it means to be rich