Tapas & Tate

The Tate Modern has just opened up a new building, I do love a visit to the Tate and so definitely had to go and check out the new area.  The new building is entitled the Switch House has a twisted pyramid like shape and has ten levels all the way up to the top, which will house a whole array of modern art. At the top there is a viewing platform which I was excited to go up, but before all that, it was time for food.

As it was lunch, Danny and I went for a stunning tapas brunch at Camino just right opposite the Tate Modern. It was a lovely sunny day so we took a table outside on the terrace and got ready to fill our bellies with lots of lovely tapas. Camino means  ‘path’ or ‘journey’ in Spanish and it refers to owner Richard Bigg’s first road trip across Spain in a tiny black Mini. Armed with a map and a camera, he fell in love with the country, so much so that he quit his uninspiring City job as a trader and decided to continue travelling.

A number of years later with his business partner Nigel Foster they opened their first tapas bar Camino in Kings Cross. Camino now has four venues as well as two bars, with the newest being Bankside where we visited, which opened last year.

Camino have a full menu of Spanish delights but we were here to try the brunch menu. £25pp, with 3 tapas dishes each from the menu and bottomless Vilarnau Reserva Cava or Cava Mimosas, yes that’s right bottomless Cava. Well as much as you can drink in two hours anyway. I absolutely adore Cava, much more so than Prosecco, so this was an absolute treat.

We ordered 3 dishes each, but decided to share between us, as tapas is all about sharing. We chose the Baby Aubergines, Jamón Duroc ham, Mini Iberico Burger, Chorizo and the Crispy Baby Squid. We were going to order Patatas Bravas but were kindly advised that these came with the mini burger, so we added on the Black Pudding. This is one thing that never went unnoticed at Camino was the service, our waitress was absolutely lovely and nothing was too much trouble at all. It really made you feel relaxed and to sit back and enjoy the good food.

Now onto the food, the baby aubergines are definitely for the aubergine lovers. They were served with a fiery pesto which worked well with the cooked peppers and onions. Another dish that worked well with the peppers was the black pudding. This was my first time trying black pudding and I did like it, I’m not sure I would order it on the regular but you could tell this was a really good version of the sausage, which Danny confirmed. The chorizo sausage was cooked with sweet baby tomatoes, slow cooked red onion and piquillo, as you ate it the flavours were combined very well and at the end you got a light taste of the rosemary.

My favourite dish was the crispy baby squid, which came served with alioli and lemon, I can be pretty picky about my squid, as I detest big rings and when it isn’t fried enough. This was small bites that were fried to perfection and just so moreish, I loved them. The serrano ham was served with toasted bread pieces which was a nice touch and not always something that comes with ham, which was delicious. Lastly the burger, which I recommend ordering, this is one mini burger, served with patatas bravas and the burger is filled with cheese and caramelised onions.

Not forgetting the cava of course, I’m not sure how much we quite managed to have in the end, but we definitely left a little woozy or is that boozy. If you aren’t having the brunch deal, then I recommend trying the cocktail special, which is a blend of Pedrino tonic water, mint, strawberry and cucumber, a take on the classic Pimm’s. Its light and refreshing and if someone hadn’t told me it wasn’t Pimms I’m not 100% sure I would have known.

We finished our meal with Churros of course, dipped in chocolate and perfect.

After our tapas brunch we headed to the Tate Modern to check out the new building. There isn’t too much in it as of yet, there was a couple of exhibitions open which we had a look around and the building itself is impressive from the outside.

My main excitement was for the viewing platform with a 360 view across London from the River Thames. This is on Level 10, which is a bit of a nightmare when waiting for the lifts, my tip, go straight to the top in the lift and then take the stairs down to each of the other levels. From the top you can view the Shard, SkyGarden, St Paul’s and more.

I highly recommend brunch at Camino and of course taking in the Tate view afterwards. Brunch at Camino is available at weekends 11am-3.30pm.

To book Camino or view the menu visit camino.uk.com.

For more info on the Tate Modern visit www.tate.org.uk.