Harrods, to some, is that temple of retail luxury in Knightsbridge and to others, its just the local shop. When I lived in Hans Crescent, this was where I bought my milk. Then, the food halls were not really more expensive than supermarkets.
It’s recently been revamped. Not just the food halls, but the whole of the ground floor and several others above. My friend who hadn’t been to Harrods in a while said. “it’s looking a bit like Selfridges”. I used to know exactly which door to go in for the shortest route to the department I want but no more. They have screwed it all up.
What else is new in Harrods? Quite a few new places to eat, including the new Bao Kitchen (4th floor). Bao Kitchen is a casual Chinese eaterie, unlike Chai Wu (5th floor) which has a more fine dining menu.
Bao Kitchen 4th Floor Harrods
Baos, rice bowls, noodles and bubble tea. You wouldn’t expect to find this in the middle of Harrods.
To start, there is the very on-trend Bao menu consisting of several choices from the Grilled Wagyu, Char Siu, Lobster and Beijing style duck. If you don’t fancy that, there is also a dim sum menu. We had a Wagyu bao and some dim sum to share.
Dim sum at Bao Kitchen
The shrimp and chive dumplings were delicate and delicious but the XLB were disappointing. They had a thick wrapper and didn’t have much soup filling.
For mains, the menu is starting to resemble a casual Cantonese diner, like those in Chinatown with the roast ducks hanging in the window.
Roast duck, roast pork and char siu
Here you can order a plate with a trio of roast meats: roast duck, char siu and crisp pork. You can order each of these separately too. The rice bowls are a choice of each of the roast meats with rice and vegetables which is what we call “fast food” in Chinatown. But of course Bao Kitchen serves an elevated version of these.
We ordered family style, a triple meat platter and some teriyaki broccoli to share.
If those choices did not thrill you, in the grill section, you will find grilled rib-eye, lamb chops, poussin or lobsters.
Wan tan how Cantonese fried kway teow
A surprising find in the noodle section is what they call “Wan Tan Hor”, stir fried flat noodles with seafood (£26) also known as Cantonese fried kway teow. This is a reflection of Eddie’s Malaysian roots as this is a favourite late night street food dish. The real name is Wat Tan Hor which translates to silky egg hor fun rice noodles, a runny eggy sauce with seafood over some deep fried hor fun.
I was pleasantly surprised that this noodle dish was so well done. A nice char to the noodles, a well balanced sauce and the most important part, they served it the essential condiment, pickled green chillies.
We chose to try this instead of the recommended Szechuan Dan Dan noodles and was not disappointed. Other Chinese favourites like wan tan noodles and tom yum noodles are on the menu too.
They don’t have a dessert menu but there is a separate menu for bubble tea. In lieu of a carb heavy cake, we opted for a bubble tea to go instead.
Bao Kitchen is a great addition to the dining options in Harrods and even Knightsbridge as a whole. Gone are the days when the only place for noodles was at the Pan Asian Canteen above the Paxton Head pub.
Do go to Harrods. Do eat at Bao Kitchen. Do try the Wan Tan Hor. Do grab a bubble tea and then spend a couple of hours shopping like an oligarch.
Bao Kitchen
4th floor Harrods
87 Brompton Rd
Tel: 020 7730 1234
EatCookExplore was guest of Bao Kitchen
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