'I tried the £28 Harrods sandwich - I'll be sticking to Billy Bear ham'
The humble sandwich has long been a classic lunchtime meal. It's something you can easily make at home if you've got a couple of slices of bread and something to stick between them, and it's relatively inexpensive too. Well, that is if you don't decide to spend almost £30 on a sandwich from Harrods.
Yeah, you read that right. The luxury department store is charging a staggering £28 for their Wagyu Steak sandwich, meaning someone earning the National Minimum Wage would have to work for almost three hours just to afford the lunch item. But, is it worth the hefty price tag? Daily Star reporter Layla Nicholson got her hands on one to see what all the fuss was about - read on to see what she thought...
The sarnie is filled with Wagyu steak (Layla Nicholson/Daily Star)
It also comes with mushrooms and truffle butter (Layla Nicholson/Daily Star)I reached Harrods just before the doors opened at 10 am and stood among those eagerly waiting to burst through the department store, which is home to luxury bags and jewellery galore. But, bedazzled accessories were not on my shopping list – I was in pursuit of an edible bank breaker.
The security opened the doors and wished me a good morning – and it certainly is if I'm going to treat myself to a £28 sandwich. I navigated the maze of luxury products and scents before I finally made it to the Dining Hall where, I hoped, the sandwich filled with cuts from the tasty Japanese cow awaited me.
'Lunch to go' shone above an ovular counter full of baguettes, sarnies and croissants. The £12 caviar croissants are elegantly laid adjacent to a stacked-to-precision pile of Wagyu steak sandwich offerings. After I did a bit of theatrical umming and ahhing, an apron-clad staff member greeted me with a big smile and asked how I was – well, obviously doing pretty fantastically if I could splash out on a £28 sandwich.
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Of course, I asked how they were before I ordered my Wagyu Steak Sandwich hot, not cold. If I'm spending £28 on a sandwich, then I will be racking up Harrod's electric bill. I was then handed a ticket with my order and paid at the self-service machine as my truffle buttered steak heated. Not too long after, I returned where I was given the most expensive sandwich I've ever purchased in my life, along with a smile.
Layla had to eat her sandwich outside (Layla Nicholson/Daily Star)
She enjoyed the sarnie but couldn't get over the price (Layla Nicholson/Daily Star)"Enjoy," I was told. Oh, I will have to for that price. When walking around an establishment like Harrods, I always feel out of place as deep down I know I'm a pleb no matter how zhuzhed-up I look. But, I felt like I actually belonged with as I sauntered around with my £28 sarnie.
Despite paying £28 for a sandwich, there is nowhere to sit in the dining hall. Just to make sure that I wasn't imagining a lack of seats through my newfound insanity, I asked a member of staff if there were any seats in the hall. But with a big smiley expensive department store grin, the counter staff told me there was nowhere to sit. So, a bench outside Harrods with a pigeon for company will have to do.
And, my temporary feathered friend shall not be getting any crust from this sandwich because 1. Too expensive 2. It would be difficult to get a review from a bird. I took the Wagyu Steak Sandwich from the brown box secured with a plastic lid and gawked at the lunch offering for a couple of moments – might as well take it in before it gets demolished.
The bread felt soft and the truffle butter slightly oozed from the sides while the juices from the steak began to drip on my fingers as I gave it a little squeeze. But, this was certainly a sticky situation I was happy to be in. I opened my gob wide and took my first bite of the sandwich where my taste buds instantly tingled with delight.
I let out an audible "Mmmm". The porcini and truffle butter perfectly accompanied the Wagyu fillet slices just enough to fit in my mouth without having to chow down. The meat was neither chewy nor tough, but that perfect 'melt in your chops' consistency. The flavours of the porcini and truffle butter, the porcini mushrooms and the steak were powerful together while the beer-braised onions added to the overall taste without being too pungent or dominating. Well, I expect nothing less for £28.
Gold mustard mayo sounds impressive, but it's not an element of the sandwich that took centre stage. Oh, and you can't have a 'posh' sandwich without a sprinkling of rocket – which made me feel somewhat healthier devouring the 1,040-calorie sarnie. Despite the Wagyu steak being the centrepiece of the sandwich, I like to think that the bread itself can be a maker or breaker when it comes to rating sarnies. And the sourdough passed a nice crispy crust but soft and light elsewhere.
The Wagyu is the point of enticement, but the entire sandwich together certainly is a showstopper. Although I only managed to eat one half of the £28 sandwich, I'm saving the other half – or £14 – for dinner. So, I enjoyed it. But is the Harrods' Wagyu Steak Sandwich worth it?
As a society, I don't know why we've accepted the absurdity of sandwich inflation. Why do sandwiches need to be 'posh'? And cost an arm and a leg? So saying that, although the Wagyu Steak Sandwich was delicious, it's not £28 worth of delicious. I question whether a single item of food is worth £28 of deliciousness, to be fair.
But, at least you're getting exemplary customer service – which I expect when you're paying out that much money. For that much money, even if you didn't enjoy it, I think you'd have to pretend to yourself you did – although I didn't have that problem.
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I won't be back in Harrods anytime soon. Well, certainly not for a sarnie, but perhaps to gawk at £30 Christmas baubles. For now, I'm going to buy some Billy Bear ham whack it in some wholemeal along with a slice of Cathedral City and wrap it up in tin foil – just like a proper sandwich.
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