Camino London

So I’ve had a mini break from the blog, absolutely nothing to do with a minor Breaking Bad addiction…but I’ve made it through so here’s the latest food adventure, from down south.

On a recent trip to London I was lucky enough to stumble upon a real treat in the form of Camino.

About a 2 minute walk from King’s Cross, tucked away in a little courtyard that feels lovely and secluded, we found this gem.

Perhaps it doesn’t have everything of a true Spanish tapas bar; it doesn’t have the raucous laughter, the cramped and dimly lit atmosphere, or the large groups of people standing, smoking, sipping red wine, spilling out onto the street. But it does have the right flavours…

The first thing to say is the wine was fantastic, I really miss a truly great, drinkable Rioja in the UK, where it’s totally commonplace in Spain and a key part of almost any meal. I don’t claim to have any wine expertise but we had a mid range priced Rioja and it went down an absolute treat.

The tapas was a delight and took me right back to the flavours I’d tasted in my favourite little, grubby tapas bars in my days as a madrileña.

We ordered a platter heaving with Spanish delicacies from little oily pimientos de padrón, classic patatas bravas with a lovely thick garlicky alioli, grilled chorizo to goats cheese on tomatoey toast. Each of these treats were made with attention to flavour, my particular favourite was the super creamy croquetas de jamón which were possibly even better than many I’d had in Spain, and used real cured jamón. Bloody tasty.

image

As that just wasn’t enough for us we also went ahead and ordered another dish, a thick squid ink enriched creamy paella with pieces of seafood. It came with more alioli on top and was incredible.

image

Finally, and suitably inebriated after gulping down the whole delicious bottle of wine, a full cheese board seemed the only fitting way to end the meal. It was one heck of a cheese board, heaving with delicacy Spanish cheeses of all kinds from the predictable manchego to more unusual smoked kinds plus fabulous membrillo (quince jelly) and cherry jam. It came with some homemade buttery, crusty bread that makes me salivate just thinking about. Cheesy, bready, buttery, comforting goodness.

image

Riquísimo! Thanks Camino I’ll be back!

Leave a Reply