caravan

i went there for breakfast. the service is not very good. when we were waiting for a table (which took it about an hour) we ordered coffee and it came about 15 mins later.

the menu has changed so they don't serve pancakes anymore. but anyways great food.

the food is pretty good by london brunch standards. but it is just too busy on the weekends, usually the case if you want a decent breakfast at a trendy place where you can't book. don't bother going after 11am, you'll need to wait at least an hour.

caravan is an eclectic restaurant located in the recently revitalised neighbourhood of king's cross. as you will soon notice, i've had a little food tour of restaurants in this area (reviews coming soon). this time round, i was joined by kw for an evening chow. i absolutely loved the atmosphere at caravan. the restaurant actually used to be an old grain store evident by its large space, tall ceilings, wooden interior along with the industrial and warehouse-y vibes. to summarise the ambience, i  felt like i was eating in rather a sophisticated and rustic canteen (if only schools could adopt those vibes).

food was good but the service was bad!
we arrived after work around 6pm and were waiting for a table of 5 as we had not booked. it was almost 8pm and we still weren't seated! we weren't allowed to order snacks or food at the bar without losing out place on the waiting list for a table.
i guess this is a good sign that they were so busy, but also not great for a group of 5 starving people (2 were pregnant!)
we finally decided to forfeit out place on the waiting list, in order to get some food at the bar.
the food we had was good! everything was fresh and tasty. check the pics! i would recommend the fried macaroni and cheese.

this place has that 'quirky' shoreditch vibe but without any of the charm. everyone who works there seems to think they are too cool to serve you. the wine selection is poor and i didn't even stick around for the food. the whole atmosphere was dripping with pretention and people thinking they were so 'hip' as they were in a bar with flour bags lining the walls. seriously, give it a miss.

trudging up past king’s cross station might not imply we were on our way to a tempting brunch spot. indeed, the walk that snaked between an ominously empty steel skyscraper and a cordoned off building site (for the new google office, apparently) didn’t exactly invite a welcome response from my companion. yet we were rewarded for a schlep past the station when we came across an idyllic river scene. think barges, sprinklers and children playing (look it was last summer okay. i know it’s grey and cold and miserable outside right now. don’t look out the window.) and there it was. caravan king’s cross is a hipster’s wet dream. within the confines of this converted victorian grain store’s bare-brick interiors was a multitude of servers; all tattooed, bespectacled and called theo (probably). not a was in hair in place nor a shirt tucked in. i like that. we came here for brunch, although they have an impressive all-day menu by the looks of things (which i will be sure to review at a later date).

been here innumerable times and the place is an all-time brunch favourite! never disappoints...be the food or the coffee. there is almost always a wait but it's totally worth the wait, believe me you!

the dishes are original and bursting with flavours! my favourite is the baked eggs with tomato ragu and sourdough bread!! the caravan fry up is quite good too if you are after a traditional fry up!!

order a fresh juice or coffee while you wait and enjoy a delicious meal when your table is ready ;)

birthdays are always good to be celebrated but sometimes the organising of such an event can require some time. hence together with a friend, we decided to plan a birthday dinner for a close friend. originally grain store was suggested but as it was fully booked even though the booking was tried to be made a few weeks before the event, the next option was caravan next door.

i was thoroughly impressed by the experience at caravan on my visit this week. the food was delicious and surprisingly generous and the service was very attentive and smooth. we went against standard protocol and ordered 3 small plates each (greedy but this was after a long gym session!) and these plates were very well portioned. no tinsy tapas here. my plates happened to be all vegetarian and they seemed enticing and i think that i chose well. the quiona, root vegetable and broccoli salad was moistened by a lovely green goddess dressing; the tofu and noodle salad was also greatly helped by a punchy asian dressing and the crunchy peanuts added necessary texture to the dish. then finally the kohlrabi and fennel salad acted as a great palate cleanser: clean, crunchy and with a nutty and moorish hit from sprinkled walnuts. it may be a little bit pricey (about £20 a head with service) but the food is definitely worth it!

went for a light late lunch and so the place was pretty empty which resulted in excellent service. shared the cornbread which was fab, excellent level of heat with the jalapeño. i had the burrata, sat on a bed of tomato sauce and pine nuts. it wasn't the dreamy dish i had hoped, the tomato was a bit too strong and i've had better burrata elsewhere. the cold brew coffee was wonderful and a great interactive experience.

one might say that for a foodie i should have explored kings cross new restaurant scene a long time ago .apparently it is quite a foodie destination hot spot with grain store, caravan, dishroom etc...well i was busy eating and dining everywhere else and my only connection to kings cross so far has been the eurostar terminal.so i was pleasantly surprised to find that,  caravan is not just some hipster, fashionable," try to be somewhere impossible to get to" place to eat but actually rather good.to be honest i ended up there because grain store was full and caravan had seats at the communal table by the  bar. i had not booked and it was packed.so the sophisticated lady and i ordered a few cocktails and a few dishes  to share ,tapas style..i must say that our waiter was very friendly and efficient despite the full house and we never felt our "shared" table was a downgrade from the "bookable" tables. in fact it made the experience all the better: proper rustic feel in an industrial, factory like restaurant.the caramelised pork belly was melting in the mouth with crispy skin and a delicious bourbon shrimp butter. the wine cooked beef shin was good but to me was not rich enough. black pudding and apple was disappointing as a bit rubbery. the ham rock croquettes were fantastic though: delicately spicy inside served with a mustard mayo. so good we ordered another plate. the soft shell crab was the big let down: oily and rubbery. i  washed this down with a carafe of pinot noir from languedoc as i was the only one having wine. this was disappointing. however i have only myself to blame as i ordered the wine.the wine list is interesting from a variety perspective and has cheap options but failed to entice me and i went for the grape rather than the producer...ouch! for desert we shared a roasted pineapple, coconut icecream, lime & rum syrup. this was very very good: perfectly syrupy pan fried pineapple with rum and coconut icecream, coconut shreds and that refreshing lime twist cutting through the sweetness.all in all a good experience although the food was hit and miss. i still enjoyed dining there: would i go back ? yes....if i happen to be in kings cross again....

kings cross is fast becoming one of london's premier dining destinations. alongside bruno loubet's grain store and the always excellent dishoom sits caravan in granary square. like the other two it's a beautiful space - large and utilising its industrial heritage to create a pretty sexy, welcoming restaurant that sits overlooking the square itself (i'd recommend al-fresco dining on a sunny day if you can swing it).

brunch here is much-hyped but i stopped by for a weekday lunch instead. it didn't disappoint. we began with excellent coffees (jet lag needed fighting) and then moved onto food. the menu seemed antipodean in how wide-ranging it was. oriental-inspired dishes and ingredients sat alongside indian and western ones to name but a few. split into small plates, large plates and pizzas, we stuck to a range of the former two. crispy soft shell crab with red lentil dahl and yoghurt was excellent as was the pork belly (i only got in one bite it was gone so rapidly). a large plate of black bream with samphire was nothing special - better was a slowly cooked beef cheek dish that was rich, unctuous and fatty. some of the lighter small plates we ordered balanced out the richer plates well: a kohlrabi salad comes to mind, as does a runner bean, feta and olive tapenade dish. the cocktail selection was also solid, although few can butcher an aperol spritz.

all in all, lunch at caravan was rather good. the wide-ranging menu with its many influences made for interesting eating, with hits and misses. arguably though it was the restaurant's vibe and decor that stood out - i'll be back for what is supposedly one of london's finest breakfasts (or brunches on the weekend)

caravan has a reputation for putting on a good brunch spread. although they don’t take reservations at weekends, if you’re not battling a hangover it’s easy to get there just before opening at 10am. we did exactly that on a rainy sunday morning, joining a small gaggle of equally clever diners outside the restaurant.

i first went to caravan in kings cross a couple of summers ago with friends, and loved it. but being a bit out of the way (it’s tucked away behind the station in the granary building), it’s not the most obvious place to think of going – but it’s always worth it. we took a long (2 hour) walk along regents canal from our flat in east london to kings cross, so we’d certainly worked up an appetite by the time we arrived! as always, it was incredibly busy (you can’t book a table for brunch at weekends) and there was a rather ridiculous one hour wait for a table. luckily they told us we could also eat at the bar, where conveniently, two bar stools were sitting there with our names on them.

back before i lived in london, i used to pass through kings cross every week.  it was a pretty bleak place.  dark grey unwelcoming streets.  food?  there's a mcdonalds...  when the olympics arrived, so did a big pile of money - and places like caravan are the result.

set back in an old warehouse building, caravan fits a lot of use cases.  i'd stop in here, connect to the wifi and enjoy delicious coffee all afternoon.  i'd catch up with friends here and enjoy delicious cocktails.  i'd grab a delicious meal.   or... i'd do all three!

if the weather is right, the courtyard is ideal to relax in.  service was efficient and cheery.  after an hour or so enjoying a couple of beers we managed to get a walk-in table for four (i will add, though,  that i think you should book if you can) and ordered food and cocktails.  i had an earl-grey infused gin cocktail which was seriously good.

we ordered three starters to share - which was plenty.  the garlic bread with yoghurt, the chickpea chips (out of curiosity) and the curried suede.  all three were delicious.  for mains we went for pizzas and steaks - both of which were stunning.  i'd expect few people to resist the pizzas they see being served to others as they look incredible.

the desserts were maybe the weakest point of the meal - with an interpretation of a 'black forest gateaux' being a little to 'out there' for us.  i finished with a flat white instead and was not disappointed.

our waitress was friendly, jokey and swift.  we had a great evening - our best meal of the year so far.  and vic reeves just so happened to be having a drink in the courtyard as we left...