Tapas and Spanish wine at Bankside, the latest Camino is open

Jul 21, 15 Tapas and Spanish wine at Bankside, the latest Camino is open

I was invited to visit the new Camino at Bankside recently and what a lovely evening it turned out to be. Although it was your typical English summer (read, cloudy and not that warm) we opted to sit outside to begin our tapas adventur

starting with Spanish almonds at Camino Bankside London

starting with Spanish almonds

The menu was created by Executive Chef Nacho del Campo. He hails from the Basque region so there are some definite influences from this part of Spain. We started off with chipiriones, which are one of my favourite tapas. I have to say these were fatantastic – light and cruncy but not greasy.  The bar has a good size selection of sherries and so we opted for a fino and a manzanilla to go with the chipirones. I love sherry and it’s such a great wine to pair with tapas.

chipirones & sherry at Camino Bankside London

chipirones & sherry

We also ordered a plate of jamon croquettas. I don’t know how they do it but at Camino they manage to make croquettas that don’t fall apart at the first bite and are awfully toothsome. I could have eaten the whole plate by myself but I saved room for the next plate.

The restaurant has 3 distinct areas downstairs, a long bar to stand at, as they do in Spain, a jamon counter, where you can watch them carve up the jamon and a dining area which is decorated with Spanish tiles and features high counters and bar stools. For me, I found it to be very reminiscent of the more modern tapas bars in Barcelona. But, back to the jamon.

long bar at Camino Bankside London

long bar

evening at the bar Camino Bankside London

evening at the bar

The jamon they have is not just any old jamon. They feature D.O. Teruel and D.O. Guijuelo ham, aged 20 months and 24 months respectively. They also have a 32 month aged and and a 36 month aged jamon from the legendary producer, Cinco Jotas. The 36 month aged jamom is extremely intense, for me a bit too much but my dining companion loved it. I let her finish off the plate. I later found out that you can have the jamons carved for take away – good to know if you live in the area.

jamon before Camino Bankside London

jamon before

jamon after Camino Bankside London

jamon after

One of the dishes I discovered while I was living in Barcelona last year was fideaus. It’s the Barcelona version of paella- made with noodles instead of rice. Personally, I prefer it to the traditional paella. Camino’s is garnished with one of the biggest prawns I’ve seen in a long time. I loved it, my only complaint is that I wish the aioli that accompanies the fideuas was a bit more garlicky!

fideuas with giant prawn Camino Bankside London

fideuas

In a nod to his Basque heritage, Chef Nacho has included Txigorki, which is the Basque version of cheese on toast. Made with goats cheese and tomato, this is one decadent cheese on toast, sooo good. I could go for another one right now!

txigorki goat cheese and tomato on toasted bread Camino Bankside London

txigorki

Of course, we had plenty of wine to wash the tapas down. Camino has an excellent but not overwhelming Spanish wine list. Many of the wines are available by the glass and our server, Mario was very helpful in making suggestions to pair the wine with our food.

dining area Camino Bankside London

dining area

I think that Camino have done a great job in bringing Spain to London yet again and for those who work in or live around Bankside, you’re very lucky to have this new addition to the scene. For my part, the next time I’m at London Bridge and fancy tapas, I won’t mind making the short walk to Bankside.

upstairs at Camino Bankside London

upstairs at Camino

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