Caravan

11-13 Exmouth Market,

London. 

EC1R 4QD. 

020 7833 8115

www.caravanonexmouth.co.uk/

LM: STB usually plans out their visits in advance - this was an exception borne of some fairly horrible days at work and a need for strong liquor and food. We'd both heard good things about Caravan but previously been unable to get a table; tonight was our lucky night as we booked easily.

SN: Caravan has two outlets in London, the Exmouth Market establishment describes itself as a restaurant, bar and roastery (the latter referring to their coffee roasting facility).  It's a short walk from Farringdon or Kings Cross - DO NOT let that walk put you off - it's worth every step!

Caravan is just round the corner from Paesan which we visited a little while ago. The difference in the ambience was marked and as we sat there as night fell it turned from a busy day-time eatery to a proper busy restaurant. Then slowly back into a dimly lit but atmospheric bar for the revellers who mooch about Exmouth market and the service matches the mood.  Its a rather magical place.

The culinary prestidigitation starts immediately with a cup of gazpacho which appeared as soon as we were settled.  Its a nice touch on a close Summer evening.

LM:We started with cocktails, olives and the most divine cornbread with chipotle butter and lime.

CCVC was sharply refreshing with a kick from the clove vodka and calvados; if we hadn't been having wine I'd happily have drunk a bucket of it. Tap water was regularly brought around to top up our glasses, always a nice touch.

SN: My lavender gin cocktail "Lavender French 75" was a bit more floral than I anticipated - not quite my thing but a perfectly good cocktail.  The bread though was a marvel of moistness, subtle flavour and explosions of corn and lime.  The olives were just too mouthwatering for words.

LM: I haven't had cornbread before but was intrigued; I couldn't say if it was technically perfect but it was bloody delicious, soft and warm and studded with sweetcorn, moist from the butter and lime. Olives were gorgeous, soft and buttery, and vanished in a flash. Service was prompt too - none of this nonsense waiting around with empty plates for half an hour - and friendly.

SN:  I was impressed that the restaurant has to keep it's wines caged down stairs such is their potency, so I chose a 2008 Barbera D'Asti from the wine list as a heady but lightish red for this feast.  I thought it would be good value for money given its age and it proved to be still pretty full-bodied and complex

- sometimes older Italian reds collapse into a metallic mouthwash but this was holding up very well.  I have a soft spot for Barbera: this was a cut above the usual experience, a real treat.

SN: We had excellent guidance from the staff about the portion sizes for small and large plates.  Since we were mostly sharing we plumped for 5 small plates to share; 4 vegetarian dishes, two portions of French fries and one meat for me.  It was a good balance and left us with room for pudding.

LM: We chose small plates:

Nepalese vegetable momo was the first dish to come out, service with a spiced tomato dip. I haven't had momos since the Nepalese restaurant we used to frequent at university and I've missed them - I could quite happily have eaten these twice over - lucky for SN I managed to save one for him. SN: I'm blessed with a most considerate dining companion

Asparagus, wild garlic aioli and parmesan crisp - simple but well executed - the asparagus was plum and tender with no toughness and the parmesan crisp was more like a crumble which went beautifully. SN: it's a beautifully balanced dish - too much garlic in the aioli would have clashed with the asparagus but the relative weight of these three string tastes was beautifully judged.

Sweet Potato inari pocket with sesame chestnut mushroom and som tam was unlike anything I've tasted - according to google it's a deep fried tofu pocket usually filled with rice, in this case it was full of a deliciously smooth and sticky sweet potato puree. The mushrooms worked well in counterpoint, preventing it from being too sugary. SN: I loved this - next time we'll order one each :)

Courgette with goats curd, piquillo peppers and sherry vinaigrette was probably the least exciting of the dishes we ate - again, good quality ingredients beautifully presented but for me it lacked the wow factor of the other dishes. That said it was nice to have something plainer with all the flavours going on! SN: I'm a big fan of chunk barely cooked courgette - I hate it's watery incarnation.  I found this light and filling and whilst not intense it had so much going for it.

SN: BBQ Beef Brisket, bourbon shrimp butter: sometimes my adorable veggie fri

end doesn't know what she's missing and this was a bit of a wonder.  Slow cooked roast brisket is a robust meat but so full of a gentler beef flavour.  Some will want steak.  Some will baulk at the texture too but it just adds to the attraction for me.  It's accompaniments, layered on top, were a BBQ sauce rich in smokey chipotle and then a magnificently counterpointed shrimp and bourbon butter - all together it combined like a most wonderful treat - taste explosions are over-done and generally over-rated (unless they're actual tiny explosions in the mouth as we experienced at Club Gascon many moons ago).  This was a flavoursome, hefty, and hearty the diner willing to go that far.  Boy, was it worth it.

LM: I want to wax lyrical about my dessert before I forget too - I've been incredibly lucky with my picks recently and this was way up there. Madelines with almond butter and tangy citrus marmalade were one of the nicest things I can remember eating for a while - soft and fluffy with just the right proportions of butter and fruit to slather all over them.

SN: I had a Chocolate mocha pot with pistachio cream and sable biscuit dessert which was way off my usual diet allowance but I lapsed. It was delicate and well balanced -as all the dishes were.  The presentation wasn't quite what we'd seen earlier but with crunchy, short, biscuit made for a nice contrast.  So enthused was I about the flavour that I forgot LM doesn't like coffee...

We ended with a glass of Monbazillac 2007, Domaine De L'Ancienne Cure - delicious end to a meal where flavour ran through everything.  The restaurant had changed character in the time we took to eat our way through these finely honed and well judged combinations of flavours and textures.  

The portion options worked well for us and the service was good humour, attentive but not over-bearing.  We sat and chatted long into the night - a midsummer vigil of taste and characterful cooking.

This is a restaurant and a menu to savour and surroundings which are unassuming, never pretentious, adaptable and with service that is spot on.  It's well worth a visit.

I ended on a strong black coffee which they roast themselves on a machine next to the wine cage.  Like everything here it's unprepossessing, and of the finest quality.  It doesn't take much to get me back to a good restaurant where I feel at home and cosy - but I hope we go back soon.