Harrod's

Posted on 2007/05/13 10:12:12 (May 2007).

[Saturday 5th May]
Had a rather good cooked breakfast this morning - it all just seem to come out really well.

A large part of the day went on the computer - I was determined to make use of the bank holiday weekend to get Cheese as close to a usable state as possible.

We did head out at the end of the afternoon though - Chie wanted to pop over to Harrod's to buy a cake (or cakes) for her birthday. We ended up buying a few bits and pieces while we were there - including:

Lemon pistachios - I can heartily recommend these, although if truth be told I think I slightly prefer the cheaper and more artificially flavoured ones available in a little shop near St. Paul's Cathedral.

We even managed to secure ourselves a jar of Guinness Marmite - I had thought this had sold out all over the country, but either another batch has been released, or else Harrod's were holding some back. I thought I had heard at one point these were going for ten pounds or more on eBay, so had briefly considered buying all the jars they had in Harrod's to sell on, but actually when I checked just now it appears the prices aren't really that crazy. Incidentally I'm not sure I could really tell a huge difference in the taste - Chie presented me with two slices of toast, one with conventional Marmite and the other with Guinness Marmite on, and I couldn't determine which was which. Having said that the test may have been tainted by the fact that brown bread was used.

...and of course we also got the all important cakes, plus a few other bits and pieces.

Overall I was surprised by how food at Harrod's really didn't seem to be that expensive - I guess this is the first time I've ever done anything resembling proper shopping here. On comparing the prices of things in Harrod's to good quality things in a normal supermarket it really didn't seem to be that much more. They just stock a lot more things that are rare or of a very high quality, and so are naturally expensive. Yes the morels were something like a hundred pounds a kilo - but do any normal supermarkets sell morels? (Incidentally, no I didn't buy any, although was severely tempted - but Chie's presence ruled this out)

I have a memory of coming to London as a young child, and visiting one of these big famous department stores - I presume it was Harrod's, although it might have been Fortnum and Mason's. As is the way of young children in shops, I saw some kind of sweets (I vaguely recall them being some kind of speckled chocolate buttons) and determined that I really wanted them. However, I was told "No, the things in this shop are for rich people". After my initial reaction of "Well why the bloody hell did we come in here then, if we weren't actually going to buy anything?", it was something of a shock to realise we were actually relatively poor. I think much of my extravagant nature in more recent years may stem from that single moment. Whilst I don't exactly do my weekly shopping in the food halls of Harrod's, Fortnum and Mason's or Harvey Nick's, I'm not adversed to popping in now and again to buy the odd thing I particularly want. In an extremely shallow and materialistic way it feels great to not have to put that metaphorical bag of chocolate buttons back and the shelf and think "we can't afford this".

Here we go with the differing memories again! I can only remember taking you and Adrian to Paddington Station, meeting Vera there, the Paddington Shop (which was a long way from the station) and Hamleys. My only recollection of visiting Harrods was as an impoverished student in the 60's and that Bisto gravy browning caught my eye at £3 a packet. After paying my Hall rent I had £4 per week to live on, so it certainly seemed phenomenal.

Posted by John's Mum at 2007/05/13 10:49:07.

Hmmm I think they've probably changed their pricing policy since then - regular brand name products aren't massively more expensive than elsewhere. Now had that been gravy browning hand crafted by an ancient commune of monks living in a secluded part of Tuscany, one might have understood it...

Perhaps the policy in those days was to overcharge simply to try and stop poor people shopping there, as that might discourage the wealthier clients. Nowadays they don't really care whose money they take... and good for them!

Posted by John at 2007/05/13 14:44:09.

They never used to bother with cheque guaranteee cards either, and lost millions!

Posted by John's Mum at 2007/05/14 09:18:52.

Not that your mother would ever pass a dud cheque, you understand.........

Posted by John's Mum at 2007/05/14 09:19:21.

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