Caravan Bankside

Well travelled food and mighty fine coffee, in an old grain store. Open all day for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, take-out coffee, pizza and baked goods.

CARAVAN Restaurant, Bar & Coffee Roastery

http://www.caravanrestaurants.co.uk

The Caffeine Chronicles: Caravan Bankside

Since Caravan opened its second site five years ago in Granary Square, a five-minute walk from my desk, I've regularly enjoyed breakfasts, lunches, dinners and especially coffee breaks there.

There were three espressos on offer (house, guest and decaf) and seven single-origin filter coffees, available brewed through the Aeropress or Kalita Wave, all roasted in Caravan's King's Cross HQ.

I've been on a bit of an Ethiopian coffee kick lately (I blame the unseasonably warm weather in London, which has since dissipated) and the Deri Kochoha washed coffee sounded lovely, so I ordered it as a Kalita pourover.

After flipping and flopping among several of the brunch menu options, I eventually settled on the avocado toast with a poached egg.

(I'm sure the avocado toast would also have been great but even I like to diversify my brunch portfolio at times.)

Caravan Bankside - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

“London’s most interesting brunch dishes” – “light pastries and wholesome porridge to unusual spicy and savoury options” (not to mention “fabulous speciality coffees”) – help drive a “vibrant” buzz at these “funky” hang-outs, with the “bustling industrial-style” Granary Square outlet vying for top popularity with the smaller Exmouth Market original (Bankside has yet to make many waves; and there’s also a new City branch is opening in October 2017, in the new ‘Bloomberg Arcade’).

The eclectic dishes can seem too “keen to be innovative at the expense of polish” though, or just plain “weird”.

Caravan Bankside | All Day Dining In A Former Metal Box Factory

Caravan | Bankside Restaurant When you go into a Caravan for brunch, it’s easy to get carried away.

Taking over an old metal box factory, the restaurant is peppered with original 19th century features and has a warm, industrial feel.

The breakfast and brunch menu ranges from small plates, like rosewater poached quince with sesame labneh, to more hefty offerings, like the slow-roast pork belly and kimchi pancakes.

The Metal Box Factory | 30 Great Guildford Street, SE1 0HS Like being in the loop about London’s newest bar and restaurant openings?

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Caravan Coffee Roasters presents: How to brew an Aeropress ...

Join us at Caravan Bankside to learn how to brew with an Aeropress.

The Aeropress by Aerobie, is one the most versatile pieces of brewing equipment you can own.

Our 90 minute workshop is the perfect introduction to specialty coffee; we'll tell you where our beans come from, how we roast them to bring out maximum flavour and ultimately how you can make the best brew at home.

Tickets include a bag of Caravan Coffee Roasters filter, plus you'll be able to access special prices on any brewing equipment you'd like to get your hands on.

Housed in an old metalbox factory, Caravan Bankside is a short walk from London Bridge & Southwark tube stations.

Well-travelled food at Caravan Bankside - Southwark News

This newest addition to the Caravan chain is housed on the ground floor of an old metal box factory in Bankside Caravan started life in the vibrant Exmouth Market and quickly expanded to include a King’s Cross restaurant, and more recently a branch in Bankside.

Next we had a flow of small dishes, including a red quinoa and buckwheat grain bowl with stem broccoli, sweet potato, peanuts, and miso-tahini dressing (£8); bittersweet pan-fried mackerel (£8.50); a Burmese chicken salad (£7.50); and braised oxtail in a creamy sauce with black beans and chilli (£8).

The Burmese chicken salad was oozing with flavour in a turmeric, chilli, and lime dressing – however, served fridge-cold, its sharp taste meant a few mouthfuls was enough for us.

The base was a good consistency, and it could be down to personal taste, but the fusion of portobello mushroom and porcini ricotta was too much for me on one pizza and a section of the crust was burnt.

A few friends around the table sharing the tapas-style dishes will have a great time – and the attentive service makes it a safe choice for a memorable evening.

Caravan Bankside | Restaurants in Southwark, London

Third outpost of the fusion staple, in a Southwark ex-factory.

As you’d expect, the food at this third branch of hawkers Caravan is sound – with a broad, globally peripatetic menu branching ever wider from the Antipodean fare it first made its name with in Exmouth Market all those years ago.

Snacks of cornbread and peanut wontons – practically humming with the earthy funk of blue cheese – are reliable staples harking back to those early menus, and Caravan succeeds best when merging East and West.

Also in a simple kale, pecorino and truffled umeboshi salad that was nevertheless an open-hand slap of flavour, liberal with the cheese and lousy with the salt-sweet of pickled plum.

If Caravan keeps rolling out offshoots like this, then we should be grateful.