Caravan was almost full when myself and Ms H arrived, which was good to see, and there was a real buzz about the place, which was encouraging, writes Michael Holland.
Water was poured and menus were handed over and our order for an Old Fashioned and a Campari Spritz quickly followed. The menu was quite small but very seasonal; packed out with all the vegetables that you expect to see right now, plus others I had never heard of.
We shared a pan-fried mackerel, dressed very nicely in a mango-chilli-lime combo, with what was labelled as a Thai salad, though with its abundance of flat-leaf parsley, sliced onions and slivers of nuts, it looked quintessentially English but the flavours that erupted out of it were quite definitely from the East. It was an absolute joy.
As was the mountain of spiced cauliflower that came with a strange dressing of harissa, tahini and pomegranate! Odd but very agreeable.
We ordered a glass of wine each (Vermentino, Les Vignes and a Piquepoul for me) and waited for our main courses – both continuing with fish. This is the time when Ms H comes into her own, the time when she can natter about friends, colleagues and family members, each tale accompanied by spot-on impressions of the protagonist of every story. Quite hilarious, and I’m sure she does one of me when I’m not around.
I had the baked miso cod. Perfectly cooked. With a simple addition of lettuce and mashed sweet potato, plus a thinly sliced vegetable, sweetly pickled, which I could not identify. A quick scan of the menu revealed it as daikon(?)
Ms H’s crispy sea bream seemed to have the same accoutrements as the mackerel starter – English identifying as Thai – And she deemed it as ‘delicious’.
More conversation and impressions followed before we were ready to share caramelised brioche, which was much, much better than I thought it could ever be.
And so ended our lovely two hours of fine dining.
Even with the concise menu, there are so many other good dishes that will attract people to return for more. I mean, who can go through life without trying a Dingley Dell pork schnitzel? Not me, I’ve already rebooked!
Dining at Caravan was truly excellent. The service was impeccably unfussy, the drinks were divine (I also had a dessert wine), and I’ve come away with a penchant for pickled daikon and a need to source some of the exquisite basil cress we had.
Caravan London Bridge, 30 Great Guildford Street, London, SE1 0HS
Website: https://caravanandco.com/
Three courses, sides and drinks for two: £127.30
