Looking down into Studio Frantzen. Seats to aim for in this main section of the restaurant are the two-seater booths - but the counter seats will give you a good view of the kitchen action.
What can you tell us about Studio Frantzen?
Coming from Bjorn Frantzen, whose Stockholm restaurant is on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list, Studio Frantzen is Harrods' latest new restaurant. It's also what will probably become the signature restaurant in the Knightbridge store. It sees Bjorn Frantzen take his own style of Japanese/Swedish cuisine, while also mixing it up with a little British influence for an experience that's certainly high-end, but not quite into what we'd call fine dining territory as it's more aimed at the Harrods crowd. Oh, and it's BIG.
Where is it?
It's taken up a fairly huge area on the fifth and sixth floors of Harrods (head in entrance 5, closest to the tube, and go all the way up the escalators to find it). As well as a new bar, there are two large dining rooms and a frankly massive terrace area, taking over a space that used to be reserved for private shindigs. Harrods, particularly when compared to other stores like Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, was definitely in need of some rooftop space. Studio Frantzen has delivered that and then some.
It's probably easiest to take you through the new spaces through photos, so here goes:
First up is the bar. Even if you're not having dinner at the restaurant, this is a useful drinking spot to know about in Harrods.
As well as the main restaurant space (see the top of the page) there's another huge room at the back - this has some handy booths for four at the side and the room at the back with the wine wall can become a private dining room.
If you're looking for something semi-private, there are these tables. Alas, that glass brick wall prevents you getting a good view of the restaurant below, but if you don't want anyone gawping at you while you eat, then it's worth thinking about.
And then there's the new rooftop terrace - currently nice and weatherproofed for the winter months.
That terrace really is very big indeed.
It's actually a lot bigger than we thought it was going to be. There are three spaces - a bar at the front, then the restaurant section, followed by another part of the bar which has the best views (you can see Big Ben, The London Eye and The Shard from there). As more and more people discover the terrace area, this is going to be place to be in Harrods. Getting a table by the window will be a much sought-after prize.
So for a drink before dinner it's best to come straight to the restaurant?
Absolutely - for either pre-or post-dinner drinks, you're ideally going to want to be on that terrace. We actually saw a lot of people head up there after eating, so if you come for a meal here, we'd recommend having a quiet word with your waiter to call upstairs and save you a space on the roof.
The cocktails themselves are well worth a look, carrying on the theme of the restaurant with Nordic ingredients front and centre.
Some of the cocktails on offer with the favourite being the one front and centre - The Västkusten (Linie Aquavit Sherry cask, mastic, mandarin, citrus, mezcal, £17)
Onto the food - what can we expect?
They describe the food as "Nordic with Asian influences" and that approach does come through in the menu. It's a much bigger menu than you might think - perhaps geared towards multiple visits from Harrods regulars. With that in mind, it's very much priced at the Harrods crowd. Here's a taste of what we ordered:
Warm laminated milk bread à la croissant with blond miso butter & borage honey (£9).
On the left, ”Swedish” oyster with garum, pine & fermented lingonberries (£5 each), and on the right a Grilled oyster with smoked butter sauce, herring caviar & dirty seaweed oil (£5.50)
Roasted Orkney scallops with scrambled duck egg´s, black winter truffle, beurre noisette, crispy lichens & smoked pea soy (£28) - those eggs have more the consistency of polenta and the crispy lichens on top are fabulous.
Tartar of tuna & red deer - vendace roe from Kalix, white kombu, wasabi-infused cultured cream, fermented Mirabelle plum & warm ginger butter (£29). Certainly a dish which presents the Nordic/Japanese theme very well, with a lovely citrus taste to it.
Salmon tataki with crispy fish scales “furikake” on grilled avocado - this comes with a massive (and gorgeous) salad of daikon, cabbage salad, spring onion emulsion & ponzu so you honestly don't need a side with it (£32).
Sweden vs Japan - braised beef brisket, grilled Japanese wagyu, lemongrass jus & Japanese mustard (£85) - yes, it turns out that brisket and wagyu do go very well together.
Anything else to highlight?
Other dishes that were on our shortlist to try were the grilled lobster with curry & brown butter hollandaise (although that's a punchy £85), and we've heard good things about the Salad “bonito- Caesar” (with grilled guinea fowl, miso-togarashi dressing, romaine lettuce, basil, mint, toasted pine nuts, soy braised pork belly “kakuni” & black garlic croutons) which is prepared tableside.
The sides also deserve a special mention, there are a good few to choose from, all significantly different from what we're used to seeing in London restaurants. In addition to an excellent butter & sake braised greens (£8) and a deep-fried hasselback potato with whipped browned butter & cream cheese (£9), both of which we'd strongly recommend, we also had:
Sake braised maitake & oyster mushroom with macadamia nuts & shiro kombu (£10)
And what about dessert?
The Nordic/Japanese influence continues, but here you'll also find a little more British influence - there's a sticky toffee pudding, for example. Here's what we had:
Caramelized banana with rhum and raisins ice cream and frozen foie gras (£14)
Another nod to British food culture is this "After Eight" tart (£14) - essentially a chocolate tart matched with deeply minty ice cream.
What about drinks?
Outside of the cocktails, the wine list is one that's fully managed by The Frantzen team, so you're going to see wines here that you won't necessarily have come across in Harrods before (although the wine shop in the basement is always worth a quick visit, particularly during the sales).
The list is primarily European-focused (with a small selection from the USA too) and prices are as you might expect from Harrods, although an entry-level price of £40 a bottle isn't actually too bad for Knightsbridge. Much of the list heads upwards from there, though. If money really is no object, it'll be a bottle of the 2007 La Tâche, Monopole, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti for an eye-popping £15k.
Overall thoughts
Harrods have been getting more and more serious about their food offering of late and getting in such a big-name chef to head up their signature restaurant is a big move indeed. Studio Frantzen gives the store a much-needed destination restaurant and, most importantly, one where the food really is worth the visit alone. The menu here reads extremely well and even though we barely scratched the surface, from what we had it's clear there's a lot of talent in the kitchen besides the main man (who was away when we visited).
When you add to all that the ace in their sleeve - the rooftop terrace - it's clear this is going to be a massive hit for Harrods.
More about Studio Frantzén at Harrods
Where is it? 5th Floor, 87-135 Brompton Rd, London SW1X 7XL (enter door 5)
How to book: Book online
Find out more: Visit their website and follow them on Instagram @studiofrantzenlondon
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Studio Frantzen. Prices correct at time of publication.
Subscribe to be the first to get the news from Hot Dinners
