London is being flooded with restaurants clamouring for our attention to try out their latest bottomless brunch offering. How does one stand out in such a crowded market place? Camino Bankside have plenty of reasons for you to take notice of their weekend brunch menu.
The rustic, earthy feel of the restaurant just lends itself well to a long, relaxing brunch over the weekends. They even have a giant map of Spain on their first floor for you to check out the regions where their artisanal ingredients come from.
Of course, weather permitting, it is best to sit on their summery outdoor terrace, which is ideal for alfresco dining. During our visit, we were lucky enough to see a risotto master class taking place from the Camino team. I’ve attended many cookery classes myself, but I’ve never seen an outdoor cooking master class before and one which was brimming with Spanish food-loving aficionados.
The bottomless beverage of choice here are Vilarnau reserva cava or cava mimosas and then you can choose 3 tapas dishes from their extensive menu. There are options for you just to have a light meal if you are coming for an early breakfast or something more substantial if you are looking for a more filling lunch. They use a combination of premium locally sourced ingredients such as Clarence Court Old Cotswold Legbar eggs, with their rich creamy yolk offering a dense flavour to specialised Spanish produce like Idiazábal cheese, piquillo peppers and Serrano ham.
Opting for the filling option, we ordered their signature black rice which was beautifully infused with cuttlefish, squid ink and alioli. The texture is notoriously tricky to perfect, but they have cooked it with just the right amount of moisture to make this one of their most popular dishes on their menu.
Their gambas ajillo is also another customer’s favourite with plump, juicy prawns which are marinated with garlic, chilli and white wine. Although the dish is crying out for some fluffy, soft bread roll to soak up the sauce.
You couldn’t visit Camino and not try out their classic Serrano ham offerings, so we opted for their Serrano ham croquettes. It was crunchy, it had intense flavours, it had the familiarity of a croquette but every aspect was just that little much better than your traditional affair.
The same could be said of their mini Ibérico burger. Whilst it is reassuringly familiar, the patty had richer flavours than your local gourmet burger stall offering and the Idiazábal cheese, caramelised onions and alioli no doubt helped to make the dish even more flavoursome. You don’t even need to order patatas bravas, as the burger dish comes with potatoes with brava sauce.
Also with Tate Modern opening their new extension which cements its place as one of the top 5 attractions in the UK, you can expect many more visitors to be flocking to Camino Bankside for brunch before heading off to the ever popular galleries of Tate Modern.
baldwin@townfish.com