LONDON—They arrived in their finest to dine on the world’s fanciest bugs.

The plump and still alive black ants came to the table in sealed glass jars, crawling around dollops of cream on a cabbage leaf.

For a moment, banker Andy Brown wasn’t sure if he could go through with it.

“But I thought I’d better since everyone else was doing it,” he said.

They tasted like lemongrass with a bit of crunch.

Believe it not, this is the hottest ticket in town.

As an Olympic treat to local foodies, the management at the five-star Claridge’s hoteltransformed its ballroom into the world’s most exclusive pop-up. Denmark’s Noma has been voted World’s Best Restaurant for three years running. For this past week, celebrity chef René Redzepi’s quirky culinary imagination has been working out of a London kitchen.

Priced at $305 a pop, the block of 3,600 tickets for the 10-day event sold out in less than 2 hours.

Diners began arriving for “A Taste of Noma at Claridge’s” shortly before noon. Claridge’s is hidden off a residential street in the historic Mayfair district, which has a similar feel to Toronto’s Yorkville.

Leading up to the ballroom’s soaring double doors, pots of lavender and rosemary lined the black and white checkered hallway. Men in suits and women in pearls sat at dozens of boringly chic table settings — a simple, rolled white napkin on every plate with a thick white candle at the centre of each wood table. Dimly lit chandeliers that movie stars and royalty have danced under dangle romantically overhead.

Physicist Stephen Hawking was there opening day. Several guests on Friday said they spotted Britain’s wealthiest man, Lakshmi Mittal, in the room, although a spokesperson for the company would not verify that.

The insect course has garnered the most attention, but the rest of the menu is just as elaborate. Lamb neck comes with peas but on top of hay — “because that’s what they eat,” Redzepi explained. Caviar on a sweet scone with crème fraîche and crushed raspberry tea. Vegetables in edible soil and grass.

The ingredients came from all over the United Kingdom and Redzepi provided each diner with a printed source list: The cream for virgin butter hails from Essex. Lettuce from Kent. Tea from Cornwall. Carrots from Norfolk. The hay was found at Holly Hill Farm in Hertfordshire, although Trent Park Stables also got credit for “advice on finding the right hay,” the sheet read.

The ants and a few other select items were shipped from Europe. Redzepi carried the “thousands and thousands” of ants himself from Denmark.

Noma, which receives 100,000 reservation requests each month and sits 450, began experimenting with insects earlier this year. Redzepi loves their natural citrus flavour, which he says is actually the folic acid they produce as a natural defence mechanism. Redzepi wanted to include something signature from home, but other than the bugs, the idea was to showcase local cuisine.

“We were trying to be British for two weeks,” he said during a quick break from Friday’s service. “A lot of people thought that we were going to transport all our ingredients to England. I thought that would be almost insulting. We sort of dabbled into British culture and explored.”

Redzepi was contacted by Claridge’s four months ago. The hotel wanted to do something special for the Games and was wondering if the renowned chef was interested in collaborating. It was perfect timing. Noma was closing for long-planned renovations.

So Redzepi and his team of 110 got to work planning the menu, which has mostly been a hit with diners.

“It was very, very unique. I mean, it was a surprise. Ants. But it was unique. Very sensual,” said Jane Grenfell, whose husband Simon — a banker — bought the tickets.

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She particularly enjoyed the poached oyster in buttermilk and caviar scone.

The comedy of the situation — elites eating bugs — didn’t escape Brown.

“I just kept thinking I must be on Candid Camera. They’ve told us to eat ants and we’re falling for it,” he said. “I can say it’s the first time I’ve ever eaten something that moved.”