The Harrods Experience
Everybody knows the iconic Harrods building and it’s guaranteed, top 5 places for tourists to visit when they travel to London. I love the idea of Harrods but often just want to pass by quickly – Hurricane Deborah – whizz in, buy something and fly out.
The reason for this is that I hate tourists. Yes, I know they help the economy but there is something highly irritating about a group of tourists who stop in front of you just to take a picture of something irrelevant – nearly killing you in the process, often on the escalator down. Something about the “tourist title” instantly makes you an annoying arsehole in someone else’s country. I travel a lot and that’s why I do my best to be ‘more local, less arsehole’ – a mantra to live by.
Harrods is full of tourists, mainly the Chinese and Middle Easterns. This is evident in the employees they recruit with the majority being able to speak Mandarin or Arabic.
As you know, I vowed to do things slightly differently this year and engage in activities I normally wouldn’t. One of those tasks was to spend a day in Harrods *says a silent prayer* More accurately, an afternoon… but really, that is enough time in this place.
Since it was a dreary, wet and miserable Sunday in London, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to spend time in a place that is likely to offer everything under one roof. Perfect cover from the rain – although it would be one expensive metaphorical umbrella, as I was about to find out.
I don’t doubt Harrods’ ability to offer luxury, but this is really evident from the moment you step in; the décor, produce available and the service offered. The Harrods building itself is so iconic, and the main display windows, highly Instagrammable.
When you walk through the heavy doors, you’re met with a stern looking security man – who is clearly doing his best to look unwelcoming and mean, either that or he is extremely constipated. I don’t know what this achieves but hey-ho, that’s the first ‘Harrods face’ that greets you when you walk through the famous doors.
For my first stop, I always head to the Foodhall. Is it any surprise that it’s my favourite part of Harrods? – rhetorical question really. I had a few tasks on my checklist that I wanted to tick off. Harrods chocolates (own brand) and some snacks. I selected a few pieces of chocolate which worked out to around a £1 per chocolate. Not cheap but expected, and not shocking so far.
I then headed to the fruit section and my eyes instantly became wide like flying saucers. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m fruit obsessed. Harrods have displayed their fruits in such a way that it made me want to buy everything – a bouji marketplace if you will. The only other place that had a bigger impact on me was the ‘La Boquiera’ food market in Barcelona and supermarkets in S.Korea. There is an obvious difference with pricing as well. Here the fruits came up to £27 for (wait for it) a tiny branch of lychees, one passion fruit, two blood oranges and a handful of strawberries. 12 lychees totalled to £14 meaning each lychee cost me £1.17… I’m not going to lie, I expected to eat one and instantly look ten years younger and lose 10lbs (and fly).
After the Foodhall, the next stop is always the Beauty department. At the moment, it’s really confusing as beauty brands are spread out across three separate rooms and it’s always so tricky to find the White Hall (my favourite room of all three). You literally need a tour guide, and a compass to find this bloody room – but this is a common problem with Harrods which I find to be one big maze. However, I have heard they will be completing a huge beauty hall renovation in March/ April of this year so watch this space!
Although Harrods has almost every beauty brand you would want to shop at, I specifically headed to Hourglass due to the new launch of the lip oils in different shades. My review of Hourglass will be in a separate blog as that’s another subject altogether.
With all the shopping, and weaving in and out of tourists, I became hungry and looked for places to eat. Harrods have a lot of options, with deli counters, the Fresh Market Hall and restaurants. Rather spontaneously, we decided to try out the Chinese restaurant called Chai Wu on the 5th floor. This was a rather risky decision considering I am a Chinese food aficionado and rather unforgiving of poor quality. We knew it wouldn’t be cheap, c’mon it’s Harrods after all and not Debenhams; hence why our expectations were much higher.
Upon entering the dimly lit restaurant, we were told we would need to order immediately as the restaurant was about to close – we went one hour before Harrods closed. We ordered everything that sounded delectable to us including half a portion of Peking duck, Alaskan King Crab leg, and their Dim Sum platter. Needless to say we ordered two cocktails including a gin cocktail for my companion and a predictable whiskey one for me.
The cocktails arrived first along with the dim sum. The cocktails were absolutely delicious and though we enjoyed the dim sum “platter” (6 pieces), you can find just as tasty (if not more), in China Town London for a fraction of the price. In fact, just to really get the point across, we paid £38 for 6 pieces whereas in China Town, you could literally eat a whole meal of dim sum for a similar price.
The duck was delicious with extremely fatty pieces, which we loved but not sure if this is for everyone. Although as any true meat lover knows, the fatty pieces on the meat contains the most flavour. My mouth is salivating as I write, thinking back on the perfect marriage of the fatty duck, hot steamed rice bun, with hoisin and chilli sauce slathered inside. The second course of duck was duck fried rice, but this was somewhat disappointing as it slightly lacked flavour and dried quickly.
Though the portion of the Alaskan King crab was fit for a 5-year-old, the tiny morsel we did receive was extremely delicious. It is so difficult to find a restaurant that serves succulent crab meat leg. The last one I enjoyed was in Hawaii but again, the difference in price is astronomical.
Last but not least, we had to order the dessert platter – every noteworthy restaurant I’ve been to ALWAYS has good dessert and I expected nothing less from this restaurant. I was right and it was so good, with a combination of ice-cream, cake and chocolate – all the components that make things good in life.
Just before leaving Harrods, I decided to nip to the toilet before heading home and came across a conversation which was the highlight of my day in Harrods. I noticed a large group of Orthodox Jewish people in the elevator hallway and happened to see a large Chinese man (tourist) approaching the Jewish man. I assumed he was going to ask for directions but instead said “I really like your style, where is it from?”. The man seemingly unperturbed but equally unimpressed responded with “I’m Jewish”. The Chinese man refusing to give up his quest in finding out more information about this ‘fashionable stranger’, didn’t understand what ‘Jewish’ meant and asked him “I really like your hat, where do you buy it?” This was my moment to escape to the toilet and sit on the toilet whilst cringing that a fellow yellow (Asian person) had said this in public. It wasn’t racism but simply ignorance.
Spending time in Harrods for an afternoon felt like a parallel world. But for a department store, it is truly special and one of a kind. Harrods unlike most department stores, is an experience and as they say…there’s only one Harrods.
Until next time xo
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All photos are mine and taken by me. The only exception is main picture of the Harrods building - Photo credit: courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk
