Camino

My favorite tapas place – and lets face it, there are plenty to choose from in London now. The restaurant is lovely and with views over the river in good weather you can sit outside close your eyes and feel like you are in Spain, E14 rather than Canary Wharf!! The food is consistently good with some more unusual tapas to try and the menu does change – I am hoping they bring the baked crab back – and are some lovely and unusal wines on the extensive Spanish wine list. If, like me, you are not familiar with many of them ask the waiting staff – they are friendly and knowledgeable and every recommendation I have tried has been spot on! The only negative is both times I have been there just for drinks on a Friday night it has been almost impossible to get a drink – last time I waited 20 mins and we gave up and had wine and tapas in the restaurant instead!

t’s not often I travel across town to a restaurant. I’ve traveled the country and even to another country for a meal, but venturing into The City is uncommon. It’s not foreign territory, still under a London postcode, and I know what it looks like because I’ve seen the map in the Eastenders opening credits. The City is a little frightening though. All the buildings are tall and seem to pierce the clouds, their large windows reflecting lunar to create a world of a thousand mirrors.

By the docks – a transformed area once home to labourers and thieves – there is now a formed wealthy borough of Chief Executives and Gynecologists. There are shiny new projects where once stood timber yards and rackety boathouses that have become relics and museums to a bygone era. We’ve reached a fashionable stage where the term “dockyard” is now being replaced with “quayside.”

The enterprise zone continues along The Thames and has been recreated into a winding high-street that houses the usual dining suspects: Zizzi, Gaucho, Browns, Slug & Lettuce, Carluccios and La Tasca, that sit-in among bore, blanket global tastes.

Camino is located (I’m told) along Westferry Circus in Canary Wharf, but for all my searching and navigational skills I couldn’t find it. Neither could my iPhone Map App or the half-a-dozen strangers I stopped to ask. The place is truly concealed, its location is cryptic coordinates attainable only to those traveling with a previous habitué or if you’re one of The Goonies.

I arrived late and was seated by the prettiest Brazilian waitress this side of the Andes. Camino’s menu is expansive, winding through the Spanish regions from Galicia in the North down to Alicante and Jerez in the South. Rape a la Llama certainly has the strangest name on the menu and not least because it contains Cornish monkfish. The menu states that all fish are from sustainable sources and that “most are caught of the British Isles.”

The Rape a la Llama is a kind of winter stew – like Fabada Asturiana – and is made using white beans (fabes) and butiffara sausage. It’s a clever pairing between meat and fish and works well.

Grilled octopus was a sight. A long, tangling tentacle sat looped on golden mash potato, finished with paprika. It wasn’t tough or chewy but soft and seasoned and lifted by the spicing of paprika.

Parrillala Mixta is truly where the action takes place (the Mixed Grill of the Spanish world): 6oz rib-eye steak, 6oz black pig shoulder blade, chicken romesco, 4oz butifarra (Catalan pork sausage) and 4oz morcilla (black pudding) was served with mixed leaves and Navarran red piquillo peppers. For only £19.75 per person it was a delightful feast, an example of traditional Spanish platter and a demonstration of Spanish fine cuts and how to present.

There was a party at the bar. Those banky-wanky-types in borrowed suits, knockin’ em back and spurting karaoke lyrics. This presented some commotion on the night but luckily I wasn’t finished on the food front and I could address my focus towards some tangy, smoked chorizo with Asturian cider and a tortilla de patatas omellete that was puffy and soft, a Spanish staple.

I followed this with arroz negro con calamares made from cuttlefish squid ink and aioli. The black Calaparra rice was as dark as the city night; sticky and creamy, tummy filling, but aided down with gulps of Inedit beer, a cold, cloudy beer developed by Ferran Adrià (see what Ferran once wrote about me here).

A final dish of Jamón ibérico was exceptional. This is the finest ham in the world, from acorn-fed black pigs that are free to roam in the oak forests of Andalusia. The exercise and diet has a significant impact on the flavor of the meat. The ham is cured for 36 months to produce a dark red colour and marbling effect. As I ate I tried something that I’d read Ferran Adrià would do when picking at Jamón or Guijuelo ham, instead of wiping the fat from my fingers, I rubbed it on my lips, waited a moment, then licked it off. “Nothing tastes like ibérico fat at body temperature,” Ferran reportedly said.

For the life of me I can’t remember the menu name for the dessert and am unable to locate it online, but it was a sweet platter of miniature pickings from the dessert list repertoire, an un poca de todo I’m told by the waitress, meaning ‘a bit of everything.’ There was ice-cream, and chocolate cake, some crunchy stuff and a cracking crème brulee (rema catalana), so creamy it would make you sigh.

Camino is a sure thing where the waitresses are as lip-licking as the food. If you can find it, then you should visit. I can draw you a map.

I was not keeping my hopes up too high… Spanish tapas has room in the UK eating market place but good ones are few a penny in my view. Camino has prime location next to Gauchos on the waterfront near the Four Seasons hotel. Divided into 2…nice open roomy bar as you walk in and the eating area on the right. Bar was spacious and lively. The clientelle seemed to range across the board in age…and there was no evidence of sillly loud drinkers . We booked for 8.30 pm…warm welcome…escorted to our table…again a nice atmosphere…lively buzz in the air … I'm going to get the negatives out of the way first as they were my initial impressions after all . It did take a while for them to get to serve us and ask us for drinks. We could see they were stretched from the onset…and by the time we sat to actually getting our food was a good 1 hour 15 mins…My first impression of the food menu.?… Not a lot of choice… Now I have that out of the way.We move on. We had a couple of decent bottlles of Tinto…not too expensive… the food we did order was pretty good. Lovely meat platter for 2 which consisted of a sliced up steak…spanish black sausage…chargrill quarter of chicken and some spicy pork salami/sausage. ( a bit expensive for what it was…£30 ..one hungry man could have done it ) …lovely Langostines in garlic n butter…ration of fried Croquettes with jamon ( they were nice ) … plate selection of hams and salami also touched the spot.,,,ration of baby fried squid. For 4 of us…round of pre dinner drinks…2 bottles of red…and the food… £235…Hhmmm …not that cheap. Will I go there again ?.. Yes..I definately will…Lovely staff…but perhaps next time I can see myself actually sitting in the bar area and having a more traditional stand up wine and tapas eveningl. The slow service I'm sure was a one off…and I'm sure when we go back we will be recognised and will be forgotten. I still think they could add a few more bits to the menu…Definately worth the visit… Can see this place being very popular in summer.

The service at Camino was amazing- All staff were helpful, friendly and full of personality which created a fantastic atmosphere. I also thought the value for money was brilliant as you could order small tapas dishes which were fab for sharing with Friends. It was probably the best tapas ever tried in London!!
Overall a great restaurant with fantastic food, wine, atmosphere and staff. Looking forward to my next trip :)

Smashing venue! Great views of The Thames and The City in the distance. It's a real pleasure going to the new Camino in Canary Wharf. Fresh air, fine Spanish (affordable) wine and simply delicious tapas. Try the black rice or the octopus – amazing. Look forward to visiting again very soon