Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Food in London 4 - Camino: Cruz del Rey

Camino is a restaurant that I've been meaning to write about but I was only able to come across writing about it now.

It's a restaurant that I found in a booklet about good restaurants and stuff, and since I've always wanted to try Spanish food, and it had some pretty good reviews, I decided to try it out! And thank goodness I did! :)

Here's the restaurant's site: 


My friend and I have visited this restaurant twice and we really enjoyed the atmosphere of the place! The first time we went, it was for lunch and the place wasn't crowded but it wasn't completely empty either. It can be somewhat easily missed because it's not out there to be easily viewed, but luckily, we found it - Regent Quarter! It's a Tapas Restaurant so most, if not all, of the meals aren't too big!

The first thing Shammara said was, "Ooh, it smells good!" And it sure did.

For lunch we ordered:

Alegrias (Fiery roasted peppers, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, chapata bread) for starters:
There are only a few chapata breads given with this starter, but you can ask for more! It was a fairly simple dish, just seasoned spicy peppers, but the slow occurring spiciness - slowly but surely it made your tongue hot -  was so good!!! There's something about spicy food that makes it so addicting!!


Shammara and I both ordered the same meal - Gambas al ajillo (Tiger prawns, chilli, garlic, olive oil, white wine):

This was really good but at the same time, really salty. When we went back for a second time though, Shammara ordered the same thing and she said that the saltiness might be a "one time thing." Which is reassuring because it was fairly salty but nonetheless, tasty. The chilli is also not the chilli stew many people may think about - it's the chilli pepper that is in the meal.

Because I was curious and hungry to try more things - that day I ordered two more dishes:

(1) Ensalada de Cangrejo (Potted cornish crab and chabata bread)
 This was pretty good too but not as good as the Alegrias. It was just an average taste - nothing too particularly special about it. It was cornish crab with, I THINK, some cheese.



(2) Arzua Ulloa (Soft cow's cheese, fig & almond cake, chabata bread)
This was seriously so delicious!!!! It was more like a dessert than another side dish because of the sweetness of the fig and almond cake. The cheese and the cake really paired well because the cheese wasn't really that salty - it was really smooth and creamy, somewhat reminding me of Brie. I thought that it would've tasted even better with wine. This is a picture of it from the second time I had gone because the first time, I forgot to take a picture because it was just so delicious!!!

The second time that I had gone, I got the Arzua Ulloa as stated above, Agua de Valencia (Santa Teresa Rhum Orange, fresh orange juice, topped with brut cava), and Huevo con calabaza (Roasted butternut squash, sauteed potato, free-range egg, sage, truffle butter, Manchego):


The drink was nice and refreshing. What more can I say? Haha. Now, onto the "meal" - it was written on the menu that this was for sharing but when I asked the waitress if it's okay to order for just one person and she said that it was completely fine - which it was, but wow there were a lot of potatoes. Haha. I actually expected there to be more butternut squash than the potatoes. It wasn't salty and the it was really good. There are also three various topping choices: Chorizo, Jamon Teruel, or Manchego - and Manchego was recommended by the waitress and it was a great pair with the dish. It was a pretty good dish, but warning - lots of potatoes. Maybe if I ever decide on getting it again, I'll ask for more butternut squash instead of potatoes...

Overall, this place was really delicious and the vibe of the place is really cool. At night, which is when we went for the second time, it was packed!!!! They also have a bar, which was left of the restaurant, and it was PACKED - it was written in the booklet where I found this place, that they also occasionally have bands playing but when we were there were no bands but the music was nice. The whole atmosphere seemed really nice - lots of groups of friends; this place seems to be a place befitting for both family and friends, but with children, I think lunch time would be better - and really different compared to when we went during lunch; they have a sun roof so it's really bright but at night, the place is really dim!

I definitely recommend this place and I would totally go again.  

No comments:

Post a Comment