Camino

«¡Socorro, jamón!» Is the punchline that almost always comes up whenever we’re in a Spanish speaking country, or recounting to others my stepmother’s almost hilarious grasp of the language. She was on a six-​week trip in Costa Rica around fifteen years ago, driving along a dirt track, when a wild pig suddenly darted in front of the vehicle causing her to scream «help, ham»!
Never in a million years would I have guessed that I might actually have a use for that phrase until I was invited for a jamón carving masterclass at Camino, Bankside. The lovely folks at Zomato (by far my favourite food app) invited me along to their #ZomatoMeetup for a night of cava, tapas, and jamon carving.
The Southwark location is really well situated, a short walk away from London Bridge station. Camino has a laidback, contemporary feel to it — I really liked the tiles downstairs in particular.
We sipped on Cava, and munched on their delicious tapas while the others were working their magic on the hams. I had Manchego with quince jelly, tortilla de patata (a Spanish potato omelette), and copious amounts of delicious ham while the others had pan con tomate (bread with tomato and garlic) and chipirones a la andaluza (squid with aioli and lemon). I had the fortune (or misfortune) of getting five flaming hot padron peppers in a row, much to the chagrin of others who were drying to try one of the hot ones themselves!
The tapas were lovely — the portion sizes were extremely decent, and the tortilla in particular took the edge off of the saltiness of the ham.
Speaking of ham, after we had finished our tapas, we were given a masterclass with Chef Nacho del Campo.
It was really fascinating (and absolutely right up my street) to find out exactly how to prepare and cut the jamón properly. We practiced on a Jamón Iberico Cebo, which had been cured for 24 months. In our masterclass, we learned how different parts of the ham taste, depending on how marbled it is, and how to start of the joint, as well as how to get those beautifully thin pieces of meat. Nacho made it look completely effortless — I managed to get the hang of it by the end (meaning I didn’t, unfortunately, end up using my stepmother’s phrase!)
My favourite fact from the evening was finding out that the higher quality the ham, the more likely the fat will dissolve into liquid form when you rub it between your fingers. The more you know!
I had a wonderful time at the masterclass, and really felt like I’ve learned a valuable skill! At £30 a pop, it would be a really nice gift for a foodie, or a little treat for yourself.

Waited 15 minutes for someone to take our order and decided to leave. The place looked like a nice place to eat, but the service was horrible.

I’m one of the most indecisive people when it comes to ordering food from a menu. I like ordering lots of different dishes and then sharing it out amongst whoever I’m with — that way I can have a nibble of this and that and I don’t suffer the dreaded food envy if I make a bad choice.
For this reason tapas is one of my favourite types of foods — so when I was invited to the launch of Camino’s newest outpost in Southwark, hungry and excited, I put on my loosest trousers and frogmarched myself straight there.
You may of heard of Camino before, they serve up creative and seasonal Spanish tapas from their sites in Kings Cross, Blackfriars and Monument. The newest restaurant located beneath the Blue Fin Building, stays true to the brand’s ethos providing delicious plates created using locally sourced or Spanish produce. As soon as we got there mouthwatering plates of food were paraded around the room so we got straight down to some serious eating…
Wedges of Manchego cheese and ‘ibores’ goats cheese, Riojan chorizo and roasted piquillo peppers (my favourite, massive chunks of chorizo which were bursting with flavour), padron peppers, Wafer thin slices of iberico ham, Black rice, cuttlefish with squid ink and alioli (AND BREATHEEEE), Crispy fried baby squid garnished with a dollop of alioli and a squeeze of lemon andddd ‘Rodaballo’ — pan-​roasted turbot wrapped in serrano ham. Lucky I wore those elasticated trousers.
All the food served on the night was delicious. Really big bold flavours but served in bite-​size portions making them ideal to share with a group of friends.
Camino is a great place to go with a group but it would also be a lovely place to go with a date. The wine list, particularly the cava, is brilliant so if you ever find yourself over by Bankside — make sure you pop in!

Came here for the soft launch and was pleasantly surprised. The quieter, more secluded upstairs portion of the restaurant accommodated our friends (who had a baby and a buggy) perfectly. We ordered a selection of tapas and, while the potatoes and aioli didn’t thrill (to be fair, it’s difficult to thrill with patatas bravas), the mixed meat selection was divine. Tender, rare, and juicy slivers of steak cooked to perfection appeared on a board with a spicy sausage and a range of delicious breads to mop it all up with. We shared a bottle of Rioja and chatted away the afternoon; staff were attentive, but not intrusive. Friendly and happy to make recommendations. I’d definitely return.