When I wander through Harrods, the food halls and the luxury accessory departments is where I normally spend most of my time. The delicious looking macarons, presentable sea food bars and tall champagne flutes at the champagne bars are normally what steals my attention – foodie at heart. Often noticing people perched on tall stools surrounding smaller versions of well known luxury restaurants. However, I never thought about dining in one of Harrods resident restaurants until I was invited to try out Pan Chai.
Pan Chai serves Pan-Asian cuisine, dishes are created by executive head chef Ian Pengelley. Serving the very best of the Japanese cuisine such as sushi, sashimi and tempura but also adding a mix of Malaysian specialities like beef rendang or Korean beef bulgogi.
The setting of Pan Chai is so extravagant. In the heart of the Harrods food hall, the chefs prepare your sushi rolls and sashimi in front of you. Along with stunning displays of fresh fish and lobster.
I think sushi chefs are incredibly talented. Just watching them slice fish so finely and working together rice, seaweed and various ingredients together into a phenomenal looking dish.
Whilst we were admiring the chefs, we were picking away at edamame and sipping wine. The edamame were cooked to perfection with a light sprinkling of rock salt on top. Deeeeelicious!
I was in a bit of a pickle when ordering, Sofia is a huge seafood fan and I on the other hand am not… at all. However, I felt this was a good time to push myself beyond my palate and try some different things.
When I was looking at tempura, I was hoping there would be vegetable tempura like in the brunch at ROKA, but it was all seafood based. So, we ordered the soft shell crab tempura instead.
The tempura was crisp, light and not greasy. I absolutely loved the soft shell crab too, it tasted so good (I was pleasantly surprised at myself!).
Once we had finished the tempura, our California rolls and vegetable rolls were ready. Along with Sofia’s hamachi and botan-ebi sashimi and ikura sushi.
The rolls were both delicate and divine. I didn’t try the any of the sushi or sashimi, but Sofia absolutely LOVED it!
We thought we should try the meat dishes Pan Chai had to offer, so we ordered chicken teriyaki off the grill menu and some wagyu beef rolls.
The wagyu beef rolls were my absolute favourite. We both agreed we could have ordered another plate of it (but i’m glad we didn’t, as we were both so full!). The teriyaki chicken was tasteful, a mix of crispy areas and tender chicken under a sweet teriyaki glaze, served with a light side salad.
We were both completely and utterly stuffed! Absolutely amazing food and attentive service and friendly chefs behind the counter who regularly checked up on us.
I would definitely go back again and that’s saying something from a boy who doesn’t eat much seafood.
Pan Chai
Harrods Food Hall
Ground Floor
87-135 Brompton Road
Knightsbridge
London
SW1X 1XL
Until next time…
