Camino Tapas Bankside

I'm going to let you into a little secret, well actually it's not really a secret at all but I have only mentioned this a rare fer times; I am half Spanish. Even though I wasn't raised by my the Spanish side of my family I am very much passionate about the culture and the food of the country. Lets be real is there anything better than picky sharing food? I don't think so, and that is essentially what tapas is. It is a way to share food with friends and enjoy a variety of flavors instead of committing to one dish. I for one am definitely a sharer as otherwise FOMO  (fear of missing out) gets the better of me. A few Saturdays back Dan and I headed to Caminos bankside for a date night and boy did we enjoy that meal. Prior to this I had yet to find a really good Spanish restaurant and I finally think I have. So as always with tapas the idea is to order more than one dish and here is what we ordered: 

1.

 There has never been a time that I have not ordered Patas Bravas at a tapas restaurant. How could I not? Crispy, fluffy cubes of potatoes, smothered in a spicy tomato sauce and topped with fresh Garlic Aoli. The potatoes were well cooked, the sauce wasn't too spicy but also flavouful and the Aoli, well you just can't go wrong with that magic stuff. What I liked best about this dish most that it was hot when it came out - it was piping which is always a thumbs up in my book no one likes soggy luke warm potato 

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2.

Next up we ordered the Ham and Cheese croquettes, this were just so good. Gooey balls of cheesy potato and ham goodness. The breadcrumbs weren't heavy and they were a golden colour which was really appealing to the eye.

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3.

Cheese was clearly something we fancied that night because we opted again to try the ARZÚA ULLOA basically fried cheese fritters served with a helping of sticky, tomato and chilli jam. The cheese is mild, and pleasant, these were nice but I wouldn't order them again or at least I wouldn't order two cheese dishes.

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4.

GAMBAS AJILLOPrawns with garlic, chilli,white wine  are a must try when at any tapas place, they may not seem it but they are actually really easy to get wrong. Over cooked prawns are a no no in my book and these were perfectly cooked. The garlic and white wine was strong but not overpowering, I only wish I had ordered bread to mop up that gorgeous garlicky goodness.

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5.

Moving away from the carbs, we went for the PRESA IBÉRICA 'Shoulder of Ibérico pigwith sweet potato mash' This was actually something that I had never tried before on a Spanish menu. Pork is a popular dish in Spain and this dish was light, however I will warn the meat is cooked to a medium taste which really isn't how I like to eat pork, it didn't taste bad at all but I would have preferred it a little more cooked. The sweet potato mash perfectly complimented the flavour of the Pork.

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6.

Not something I was expecting to be on a tapas menu but of course Dan ordered it because he is the burger king. The patty is made of Iberico Pork and topped with Idiazábal cheese and served with another helping of  patatas bravas. I found this quite rich and again the meat was medium, Dan however was a huge fan and said he would order it again.

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7.

Last but in no way least we opted to try two desserts and my choice was of course Churros because, hello have you ever had them? Nothing bad to say about sugary, chewy doughnut goodness which is then dipped in a hot chocolate sauce. The other dessert we opted for was Creme Catalana which was basically a Spanish style Creme Brulee , with flavours of cinnamon, orange and vanilla this honestly beat the Churros to the post for me. It was so fresh and perfectly balanced that it really hit all the spots.

FINAL THOUGHTS 

As spanish tapas goes this is pretty good and actually as a brand focuses on creating a menu of authenticity whilst also being modern which I am always a fan of. There are a number or branches of Camino in London, the Bankside where I attended was really lovely and the staff there were topnotch. If you are looking for a reasonably priced, relaxed atmosphere and a place to share food with your pals Camino's is the perfect place for you. You can find their website and menu here oh and also they do a smashing bottomless brunch option which I will definitely be going back to try! 

Muchas Gracias to Camino for inviting me to try their menu, as always my views and opinions are my own! 

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