It's always good to have a reliable list of inexpensive restaurants for casual dinners in between paydays and Camino has just been added to mine. I recently visited the King's Cross branch on a busy Thursday night and liked the buzzy atmosphere, the courtyard bar and the cheap and cheerful tapas.
The restaurant and bar group - owned by the man behind Cargo and the Big Chill Festival, Bar and House - has 5 branches around London, having opened its first in 2007. The menu, created by Head Chef Nacho Del Campo, offers a typical selection of tapas and sharing platters, made with Spanish and British ingredients and cooked on genuine Basque country charcoal grills.
We started with some huge green olives then chose the jamon serrano and pan con tomate, chorizo, the arroz negro, a black rice dish made with cuttlefish, squid ink and alioli and charcoal grilled octopus with saffron mash, along with a crisp bottle of Albarino. The standout dish for me was the churros for dessert, which were perfect - freshly baked, rich and creamy chocolate and sprinkled with chunks of pistachios.
If you're a fan of hearty Spanish food and don't mind a fairly noisy crowd, you should check it out (it's worth visiting just for the churros alone). When you've finished dinner, head over to Bar Pepito next door for a nightcap, the group's specialist sherry bar with 19 of the best sherries from the 'sherry triangle' region of Spain. ¡Salud!
Camino King's Cross, 3 Varnishers Yard, The Regent’s Quarter, N1 9FD
See more restaurant reviews & London features
