I’m back dining in Harrods, again! I know I said this is my favourite department store in London, but I never expected to be dining in it more times this year than in the last five. But I do love it here. A department store full of glitz, glamour and with a carrier bag so iconic tourist flock from across the globe to purchase even the smallest of items to strut around on the streets of London with. The reason for our yet again return was to visit another of Harrods many restaurants on the fourth floor, Bao Kitchen.
Bao Kitchen serves up an authentic and modern taste of Asian cooking, filled with just about all of my favourite things. Decor wise, it’s a bit stark and not overly cosy, but it fits in nicely with the floor it’s located on and service is impeccable. As we settled in and looked over the menus, we sipped on a delicious glass of chilled Champagne. The perfect way to begin any Harrods experience. For those looking for something a little different, the restaurant also serves a selection of Chinese tea’s and the ever popular bubble tea.
Our Asian journey here started with a selection of dim sum and two of my absolute favourites were these pictured above. Prawn dumplings with truffle oil and the most amazing Alaskan king crab dumplings. Both were packed with flavour, incredibly juicy and the toppings of truffle and caviar added a nice touch of luxury.
I’ve eaten my fair share of tempura lobster (mostly at Harrods) and I think this may well be the best yet. The golden crispy batter, surrounding the most succulent morsels of sweet lobster. Even more heavenly once dipped into the spicy mayo dipping sauce. The dish was a little high price wise, but worth every penny given how good it was.
One of the specialities of the restaurant (given its name and all) are bao buns and each were a delight to eat. Well worth ordering is was the crispy chicken with sweet chilli sauce and pickle radish – all contained in a soft pillowy bao. Though perhaps better still was the roasted Beijing style duck with hoisin sauce, scallions and cucumber.
As for the larger dishes, we ordered two. Lamb and black cod. The grilled lamb chops with bulgogi sauce were portion wise, very generous indeed and putting their size into perspective really wasn’t easy – but trust me when I say come hungry. Nicely grilled and with a touch of smokiness running through them, this will be every meat lovers dream. The baked marinated black cod with miso and sweet soya glaze was a really nice dish, but unfortunately we found a few bones in the fish. A little more care and this dish wouldn’t get any complaints from me.
We didn’t see any desserts on the menu, but by this point we had barely any room left. I really enjoyed our meal at Bao Kitchen and whilst the restaurant aesthetically doesn’t look that inviting, the food and the service is. There is much more on the menu here and so I’d definitely return to explore it further. For fans of bubble tea (or Champagne) and all things Harrods then stop here, take a seat at the bar and simply enjoy. Bao Kitchen can be as casual or as luxurious as you decide to make it.
I want everything that you ordered! This is my kind of food!