89 Turnmill Street, where the latest outpost of the tapas group Camino now resides, is a building with a particularly rich and fascinating history, even by the standards of Clerkenwell. Built in the 1870s as a workshop for a manufacturer of scientific instruments, and then subsequently a pyjama factory, it has been a restaurant since the turn of the millennium.
Its most recent inhabitant was a branch of Iberica, so it seems only fitting that its latest tenant is the similarly themed, similarly upmarket Camino, which has one of London’s most stylish and interesting interiors to contend with, all floor-to-ceiling windows, original Victorian tiling and a general sense of steampunk grandeur. It’s a wonderfully exciting place to visit, but can the food and wine match up to it?
As with many of the city’s better tapas spots, the menu can be divided up into the traditional and the innovative. As my wife and I sip on a gin and tonic apiece (mine comes with Gin Mare and has a sprig of rosemary; it’s superb) it seems obligatory to order some of the staples of the cuisine. Patatas bravas, ham and cheese croquetas, pan con tomate, a particularly fine arroz negro: all these things are the stuff of high-quality, well-prepared cooking, and go down a storm. But there are more exciting and innovative things if you search, too.
On the ‘Seasonal’ part of the menu, there are some rare treats including mushroom and butterbeans mojo verde, some excellent – slightly fiery – chorizo mini-tortillas (the talos de chorizo) and even a very well-priced pan-roasted seabass in romesco sauce, yours for £11.50. And this is before we even get into the carnivorous delights of the charcoal grill; a 200g rib-eye steak, served with chimichurri, is rich in flavour and texture alike, and although an ordered iberico pork never materialises, and then rather shamefacedly arrives just when we’re about to have pudding, it looks superb.
In truth, we’ve ordered rather too much – three tapas per person, the recommended amount, will definitely do – but the wine that we try, a couple of excellent glasses of Rioja Blanco and a particularly fine bottle of Rioja Reserva (also available by the Jeroboam, if you’re in especially bibulous mood), is as top-notch as everything else we enjoy.
We’ve just space for a couple of desserts – my wife opts for chocolate truffles and our daughter Rose is delighted with her salted caramel ice cream, whereas I, forever a Freudian rather than a Jungian, take full measure of my dark chocolate cigar, especially when paired with an espresso martini. We leave just as the Saturday night crowd are getting in full swing, but it’s a tremendously fun, lively spot, another palpable hit for the Camino group, and, in an area punching above its weight with terrific restaurants, a true destination place.
Camino, 89 Turnmill Street, Farringdon, London EC1M 5QU. For more information, menus, and for bookings and details of other Camino restaurants, please visit www.camino.uk.com.
