Believe it or not, strangely for most of my youth, I hadn’t tried sushi. Sashimi?! Forget about it.
For all of those years, I never realised what I was missing. By the time I found myself at university, I was about to discover an entire world of new foods from around the world. My friends were slightly more worldly than me at the time. I ate sushi, Thai food, Indian, Burmese, Ethiopian. I lived in a city where you could find most dishes across the globe at any given day.
Nearly eight years later, this have certainly changed from my first global food experiences, and now living in London? Well I’m totally spoiled for choice.
I’ve already tried the incredible Mango Tree at Harrods, so when the opportunity arose to visit its sister restaurant Pan Chai? Well, of course my answer would be yes. I was about to discover how incredible their selection at Harrods is.
Found on the ground floor, amongst a maze through Chanel, Alexander McQueen and Hérmes, through confectionary heaven, you’ll stumble upon Pan Chai. But remember, the restaurants amongst the food hall aren’t built for size, they’re selective and so is their menu. I’d definitely recommend off-peak times to ensure you can snare a seat.
We were greeted warmly by their staff. Genuinely, every time I dine at one of their restaurants, (check out my previous experiences at the Mango Tree) the staff are incredible. I can’t say enough for how well they conduct themselves and make you feel fantastic as a customer.
We started with drinks.
I opted for the Pinot Grigio, Joe for the Tiger beer.
Then? We ordered it all. Way too much for two people, way too much for a family of four. We went in hard on this menu. I’d say I’m sorry, but they were very encouraging for us to eat, eat and eat.
The sashimi comes out with this phenomenal presentation. They knocked it out of the ball park. Amazing, melt in your mouth flavours, we couldn’t get enough and Joe and I casually battled it out like true adults for the last piece.
From sashimi we moved onto the Snow Crab Salad. Gorgeous presentation (that’s a running theme at Pan Chai, by the way), and delicious.
We were also looked after by the fabulous Cammy from Pan Chai, she was so brilliant about making sure everything came out on time, along with her colleague, although unfortunately I didn’t grab his name. They are super stars, and I genuinely can’t recommend visiting enough just for them.
But we didn’t come to Pan Chai just for the service, say hello to my favourite, sushi rolls.
We decided on the Harrods Roll, made with fresh snow crab, avocado and spicy mayonnaise roll, topped with chopped seared scallops, orange and black caviar and spring onions. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.
Along with the Harrods Roll, we had the Black Dragon roll made with Tiger prawn tempura, cucumber, avocado roll with caviar and unagi sauce.
Honestly, I’m writing this post and I’m supremely disappointed that I’m not eating this again tonight for dinner.
After the sushi, we somehow thought we could keep eating, another two courses to come my friends!
Tempura. Rock shrimp tempura. It’s like bites of buttery melt in your mouth goodness.
Last but not least on the menu, we tried the Grilled Plum Sea Bass.
OH. MY. GOD. Yep, Grilled Chilean sea bass marinated in plum juice and miso paste. I can’t even.
While my photos may not be the most gorgeous of all time – the lighting in the Harrods fool hall means I’m turning the settings WAY up on my camera to get my shots. This place, Pan Chai, is top on my list of where to dine in London for your sushi and sashimi fix.
What are your London musts for sushi?
Kelly xox
I need to try it! It’s getting so much blogger love at the moment.