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Food and fun at Harrods

By Mara 8 Comments

Chocolates at Harrods

When you’re thinking about eating in London, especially with kids, the gourmet section of a department store may not top your list. But you might want to think again. The Food Halls at Harrods are not only fun as a dining option, they are as beautiful and enjoyable as any museum – perhaps more so because of course you can eat the things you are looking at. I absolutely love the Victorian excesses of this space, complete with peacocks and painted ceilings.

Peacock sculptures in the Harrods Food Halls

The brass and glass display cases are gorgeous and gleaming – I’m convinced they must have an entire crew dedicated solely to removing fingerprints. My absolute dream would be to stroll through here with a chauffeur from somewhere like Eden Private Staff in tow, piling jars and bundles into his arm to stock the larder of my country estate. With that said, it was pretty fun to let the boys stare in wonder at the displays.

If its sweets you crave, well, you’ve come to right place, whether you’re looking for more traditional treats like marzipan or Turkish delight,

Marzipan at Harrods

Or prefer cupcakes or whoopee pies in exotic flavors like coconut mango or strawberries and cream.

Cupcakes at Harrods

Whoopie pies at Harrods

There is also of course just about any kind of chocolate you could possibly desire, along with a huge range of teas and coffees. And the selection of old-fashioned British candy is huge, as are the lollypops.

Retro candy at Harrods

Giant lollypops at Harrods

Travel-with-kids tip: I was very proud of myself for discovering a fabulous traveler’s secret. Harrods has a Left Luggage office in the lower ground floor where you can check bags for £3 apiece (about $4.50). That’s less than half of what it costs at the train station! I definitely recommend making use of Harrods as a place to stash your bags if you are heading out of town from Paddington and want to do a little sightseeing in the Knightsbridge area first. Also, they don’t want you traipsing through the store with your bags, so you should plan to leave them while you shop if you are stopping on your way to the airport.

The boys of course loved looking at all the candy. But the food is so interesting, varied, and beautifully displayed that sweets weren’t the only source of fascination. We spent a lot of time exploring the fish counter with its ice sculptures and shimmering scales:

Fish counter at Harrods

Fish in the Food Halls at Harrods

Another popular destination was the prepared foods area, where we selected a picnic lunch for our train ride to Bristol later that day. Matt and I chose a variety of Mediterranean and Asian salads including cold sesame noodles that were piquant and silky. The boys went with their old standby of sushi.

Sushi at Harrods

Sushi counter in the Harrods Food Halls

Travel-with-kids tip: The Food Halls can get very crowded, but if you arrive right when the store opens at 10 a.m., you’ll likely have the place to yourself even during high tourist season.

If you’d rather eat in, the Food Halls also have a number of counters where you can watch your food being prepared before you eat it.

In addition to lunch, we also purchased breakfast, although unlike one large family we didn’t do so at the ice cream counter. The boys watched goggled eyed as a little boy with huge dark eyes demolished a tremendous pile of ice cream, bananas, whipped cream, and hot fudge served in a boat-shaped dish. Denied that pleasure, they instead chose croissants from the impressive selection of pastries.

Pastries at Harrods

Although if we had wanted to, we could have had a strictly American meal of donuts.

Donuts in the Harrods Food Halls

I share this yummy post as part of Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick. If you aren’t hungry yet, stop by – I’m sure that one of the posts there will send you to the cupboard for a snack.

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Filed Under: Eating, Eating on the road, England, Family travel tips, Kid-friendly recommendations, London, We've been here

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Comments

  1. Natalia says

    November 10, 2010 at 11:13 am

    I have to admit, I just can’t stand Harrods. However, show me the food hall of any decent Japanese department store, and I am in heaven … many an evening I made a meal (literally) of all the samples on offer … no idea what I was eating half the time 🙂

    Reply
  2. Cindy says

    November 10, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    I am sooo hungry now! Thanks for the detailed tour. It’s been ages since I’ve been there. I want tea & cakes!

    Reply
  3. Kymri says

    November 10, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    In London now and it’s dinnertime, might just have to hit Harrods!

    Reply
  4. Sonya says

    November 10, 2010 at 4:42 pm

    Love London! I always have fun browsing Harrods Food Halls. Today, I included your blog in my “10 Family Travel Blogs You’ll Love” post on TravelingGreener.com.

    Reply
  5. Anna says

    November 10, 2010 at 7:40 pm

    Great post. I LOVE Harrods, I could spend hours there. It’s amazing at Christmas. Our equivalent in Edinburgh is Jenners. Every year they put up the most amazing Christmas tree (http://www.edinburghspotlight.com/2009/11/feature-jenners-christmas-tree/). Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas?!

    Reply
  6. Mo Othmna says

    July 3, 2020 at 10:36 am

    Even the Egyptian escalators were fun. The food hall is not to be missed. A lovely and welcoming place for a visit.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Day 6 | the world in thirty days says:
    April 16, 2016 at 10:44 am

    […] Babylon we walked to Harrods so I could see the store and particularly the famous food hall, where I continuously asked Greg why we didn’t have anything like it in New York.  I was […]

    Reply
  2. It’s London Baby! – Vicky Hewson says:
    May 26, 2020 at 2:47 am

    […] https://www.motherofalltrips.com/2010/11/food-and-fun-at-harrods.html […]

    Reply

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I'm a family travel expert & award-winning writer who loves to eat. Explore this site and you'll find lots of stories about my adventures, and family travel tips. More about Mara

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