In our last video, we talked about why a bowl of bird's nest soup at a restaurant can run over $100. Since then, a lot of people have asked us the same question: does Ten Lei Yen charge that much too?
No. That $100+ figure is a restaurant price — it includes the dining room, the service, and the restaurant's own margin stacked on top of the raw ingredient cost. It was never our product's price. So in our newest video, we walked through the real math, step by step, using our own best-selling grade and our own current listed price.
The math, in plain numbers
Bird's nest gets served two honest ways, and we want to be exact about which one any price refers to:
- Standard serving (a daily ritual or dessert-course portion): 3-5g of dry nest
- Whole-nest bowl (a generous, banquet-style main course): one whole nest, 8-14g — the equivalent of 2-4 standard servings
In our newest video, we walked through the math using 5A (AAAAA) White, our best-selling grade, sold today at $475 for a 250g box of about 28-31 whole pieces.
$475 ÷ 250g = $1.90 per gram.
Whole-nest bowl — this is the number the video quotes: one whole nest per bowl, and a 250g box holds about 28-31 pieces, so $475 ÷ 28-31 pieces = $15.32 to $16.96 per bowl, about $16. That's the same figure said on camera, because it's the same math: one full nest, one bowl.
Standard serving: 3-5g of dry nest at $1.90/g = $5.70 to $9.50 per serving.
Not $100 — not on either measure. About $16 for a whole nest simmered into one generous bowl, or $5.70 to $9.50 for a lighter, standard 3-5g serving. Both numbers are correct at the same time, because they describe two different portion sizes, not two different prices for the same thing.
What it looks like across grades
We believe in pricing transparency across every tier we carry, not just the one in the video. Here's both tiers, straight from our current listed prices:
- 5A (AAAAA) White: $475 / 250g ($1.90/g) → standard serving $5.70-$9.50; whole-nest bowl (28-31 pcs/box) ~$16
- 5A (AAAAA) Golden: $540 / 250g ($2.16/g) → standard serving $6.48-$10.80; whole-nest bowl (28-31 pcs/box) ~$18
- Red Label, Super Dried White: $650 / 250g ($2.60/g) → standard serving $7.80-$13.00; whole-nest bowl (29-32 pcs/box) ~$21
- Blue Label Supreme White: $750 / 250g ($3.00/g) → standard serving $9.00-$15.00; whole-nest bowl (22-26 pcs/box) ~$31
Every number above comes straight from our current listed prices — nothing estimated, nothing rounded in our favor. Whichever way you portion it — a full whole nest for a generous bowl, or a standard 3-5g serving — real bird's nest costs a fraction of what a restaurant bowl can run.
See the full breakdown
Watch the full video for the complete walkthrough, including how to tell a genuine whole nest from an over-weighted one, and how a traditional home-cooked pot compares to bottled or instant alternatives.
Try it yourself
Ready to do the math with your own pot? Shop Blue Label Supreme →
