A couple of years ago we went to Grain Store (now sadly closed) in Granary Square King’s Cross for dinner and we came across Caravan Kings Cross. We had a quick look at the menu, and it was intriguing enough so we immediately added it to our list. But for reason it kept getting pushed down the list. A few weeks ago though, I saw a picture on Instagram on the duck confit and that really peaked my interest. I booked dinner last week Friday.
Caravan King’s Cross perfectly merges elegance with an industrial warehouse vibe. Like a warehouse, the restaurant is extensive, with ample room for coffee bar in the middle of the room and a somewhat open kitchen as well. There is also terraced seating outside looking out into Granary Square. Caravan serves cuisine seemingly from all over the world and their breakfast and brunch menus are almost as intriguing than the dinner menu. We booked for dinner, so it was the all day menu for us.
What we ordered
For starters, I ordered jamon and smoked san simon croquettes and smoked pulled ham hock small plate; Shiima ordered house sesame labneh and flatbread. For mains, I wanted to order the secreto iberico but our very jovial waiter advised me that the pork was mostly fat, so instead I ordered the baked cod with chat masala dhal; Shiima ordered squash and stilton (and quite a bit more) pizza, with fries. Yes, she ordered fries with her pizza lol.
The Food
Starters
The croquettes were enjoyable, but I’ve had better. Nothing about them stood out, but it passed all the benchmarks. I didn’t really like the smoked pulled ham hock either. It was tossed with celeriac, pickled mustard seeds, cress, and buttermilk… and the most prominent flavour was the mustard seeds, which I’m not entirely enamoured with.
We (yes, we lol) really enjoyed the sesame labneh with freshly baked flatbread. As you’d know if you’re read a few of our previous reviews we love freshly baked bread, but the labneh was delicious as well and the zhoug it was served with was perfectly spicy.
Mains
Shiima’s really enjoyed her pizza. Along with squash and stilton cheese it was topped with charred romano pepper, stracciatella, and pickled onion. The base of the pizza wasn’t tomato, which Shiima was surprised by, but she quickly got over that. I didn’t quite enjoy the pizza, because I thought there were too many toppings on it.
My baked cod was good and I especially enjoyed the chat masala dhal and cumin yoghurt. The cod was light, flaky, and simply seasoned.
Fries were lovely too lol.
Dessert
For dessert we ordered chocolate delice, but swapped the miso ice cream for vanilla, and ginger cake, but swapped out the rum syrup (we don’t do alcohol) for brownie ice cream.
We really didn’t like the delice… it simply didn’t taste nice, so we moved the vanilla ice cream to the ginger cake and both enjoyed the warm cake, which tasted of ginger but wasn’t overpowered it. My brownie ice cream really was just vanilla ice cream with little bit of brownie. Nice, but I was expecting something a tad different.
Verdict
Caravan King’s Cross was a lot of fun. The restaurant is relaxed and uniquely beautiful, the service, particularly our waitress, really attentive and friendly, and the food hit and miss… but mostly hit. I recommend for dates, business meals, relaxed but fun meals with friends or family, and large groups as well. Also for breakfast and brunch. Caravan is also fairly priced.
Cuisine: International
Dress Code: Casual
Shiima and Amen’s Star Dish: Sesame labneh & flatbread
Price: £30 – £40 per person (excluding alcohol)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Caravan King’s Cross
1 Granary Square
London N1C 4AA
Reserve at OpenTable,
or call 0207 101 7661
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