Harrods is a luxury department store in London, England. It opened in 1905 by Charles Digby Harrod, replacing the first store on the grounds founded by his father Charles Henry Harrod in 1849, which burned down in 1881. With 100.000 m2 of selling space, it is the largest department store in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Harrods is one of the most famous department stores worldwide, attracting 15 million visitors annually as of 2023. Concerning the company, the present-day legal entity, the Harrods Group, was established by the Fayed brothers in 2006. It was sold to the Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, in 2010. And that is the reason there are Harrods stores here and there in Qatar.
In January 2021, ,during the 2nd wave of Covid19, I had a long stop-over in Doha airport. Pretty much all the food stores were closed, but Harrods Tea Room was opened 24h! As I have never been to Harrods in the UK, I decided to at least visit this one in Doha. Outside of the UK, Hamad international airport is the only airport in the world that has a Harrods Tea Room! It opened in mid-December 2019.
My next stop would be in Incheon South Korea where I would spend the night in the airport, having just discovered a new virus variant in the country, I wasn’t sure if the restaurants would be open so I had decided to eat some good food in Harrods in Doha. You scan a QR code and you have the menu in your mobile. Prices were not more expensive than any other eatery in the airport so if you have decided to eat something during your stop-over in Doha, this is an excellent choice.
I started with one of their epic teas. In 1834, Charles Henry Harrod began trading as a tea dealer and grocer in London’s East End, before opening a store in Knightsbridge in 1849. Selling and serving the finest teas has been a core part of Harrods’ heritage. All teas come from the same plant, camellia sinensis, with different varietals according to the region of provenance. Classification – black, green, blue (oolong) or white – is determined by how the leaves are picked and processed.
The tea was lovely and I continued with a Quinoa salad. With young leaves salad greens, guacamole, cashew nuts, sunflower seeds, lemon & mustard emulsion, the salad melted in my mouth, especially after eating so much of airline food until then. After the salad, I got a spaghetti with cherry tomatoes, basil, rocket, parmesan cheese & cold pressed olive oil. I am a big spaghetti fan and this one was very tasty. For the end, I got the Harrods signature fish & chips with tartar sauce, mushy peas & mint. Everything was very delicious!! As I could relax for a long time after food, Harrods Tea Room made my stop over in Doha really enjoyable.
Additional information
GPS coordinates for places in this post, click on them to be redirected to the exact point in google maps Click on the names to be redirected to their official websites (if applicable).
Harrods Tea Room Hamad international airport : 25°15’42.8″N 51°36’45.8″E
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