Harrod's Food Halls, London

While Fortnum and Mason was pretty, it was nothing compared to Harrod's - whose food halls rivaled those in Japanese department stores. They were amazing! There are 4 halls total -- 1) Prepared foods with a few mid-range counter restaurants (dim sum, sushi, and tapas); 2) Coffees, teas, biscuits, etc. 3) Fresh produce, butchers, seafood, poultry; and 4) Candy and the casual eateries - pizza, gelato, deli.

Not only are the halls themselves beautiful, with lovely mosaics, chandeliers, etc. the food is also artfully presented. These pictures don't do it justice, but here you go.

Fortnum and Mason, London

We had a stop in to the super hoity-toity food store Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly, 300 years old and counting, holding Royal Warrants as Grocers to HRH the Prince of Wales and HM the Queen. Known for its prettily packaged gift hampers, teas, biscuits, confectionery, and wines, the store was like a Tiffany's for food.


Fortnum and Mason
181 Piccadilly
London
W1A 1ER

Food section of Takashimaya, Tokyo

I think it's hard if you've never been to Japan to conceive of just how amazing the food sections in department stores are. Forget all your notions of the gourmet sections of Bloomingdale's or even Harrod's. Instead imagine all the floor space devoted to clothing, devoted to food. Imagine, say, the entire Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market, plus an entire Whole Foods, in the basement of a department store.

The variety is astounding -- everything from fresh butchered meats and fish, to bento boxes, to top-of-the-line (and price tag) fruit, to French pastries, to barrels of gizzards and hearts, to mountains of fish roe, to steamed buns, fresh omelettes, freshly steamed tofu, and on and on. You could make a meal just from going around eating free samples. If I lived near a place like this, I could buy a different thing for dinner every night and not repeat myself for years. Words don't do it justice, so here are just a sampling of pics:

More mochi than you can imagine:


Western breads and pastries:


Overpriced fruit -- the perfect melons for $200 a pair!


Fresh seafood:

Prepared foods (including quite possibly the best omelette I've ever had):