Camino Monumento

This has been a favourite spot for mine since it opened, getting on for a year ago. I have also been to the Canary Wharf one and the food at both is very good. The staff are delightful and cannot do enough for you. At lunchtime, when I walk past, the place is packed but, like many restaurants in the city, in the evening, it's pretty quiet. The bar is busy though so there is some atmosphere. It's not by any means the cheapest place and it's easy to crank up the bill if you order a few pricey dishes with some wine or sherry. For good authentic tapas in the city, I still don't think it can be beaten but it's a shame there aren't a few more diners there in the evening to give it a little more atmosphere. Perhaps a deal or two might bring people in… but if that compromised the quality, I'd rather be amongst the select few dining there.

The food here is pretty good, actually. The highlight for me is the earthy, truffle-scented huevo con calabaza, and they've finally put boquerones on the menu, the lack of which was inexplicable. I'm glad they've seen the light.

Unfortunately, the service is haphazard at best, and it seems to be getting worse rather than better as time goes on. I've had lunch and dinner here around 5 or 6 times – I'm a loyal type! – so I'm not talking about a one-off experience. For example, it's become a standing joke with my colleagues that if you order bread, you don't ever get it; if you don't order it, you will without question get it… and will be charged a stonking £2.75 for the privilege. That's unacceptable, to be honest. Have the decency to hide the bread cost in the rest of the menu!

I also find that the noise level is so loud that it's almost painful. For some reason, the main dining room has been designed so that the curved ceiling actually focuses sound waves right back at you, making easy conversation nigh on impossible. Even if you choose a table sited next to the wall, it's pretty bad. The front room (to the right of the bar) is a bit better, and I would recommend that you try and specify a table here if you want to have any voice left afterwards.

For me, then, the poor service and the noise level outweigh the quality of the food – and I reckon this may be the case for quite a few others. When this restaurant opened, the queues were long and constant. I notice now that they have pretty much disappeared. It's a real shame they haven't sorted out the service, as they're likely to find that their custom will be drifting away. I think I've had my last lunch there for a while. Their next-door neighbours, Haz, on the other hand, have not altered their consistently reliable proposition, and will no doubt be welcoming many disillusioned ex-Camino customers back to the fold in the coming months.