Caravan Kings Cross

Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES… Was my first thought when we arrived bright and early this Saturday morning! Caravan has been on my brunch hit list for so long now and I finally discovered the answer of being able to get a table — get your arse out of bed on a Saturday!
We arrived and were third in the queue, the queue that by opening time ten minutes later was around the block! The doors opened and we were kindly shown to our table! (The third table to be seated — YEY).
We were soon greeted by a friendly American waitress who offered up some water. We were waiting for a friend so this was a very casual affair (she was 45 minutes late) but the waitress never batted an eye lid and allowed us to order at out leisure despite the place obviously becoming rammed!
First we ordered a fruit scone and a round of toast and jam for starters (brunch starters are now a thing). They arrived quickly. The toast was thick slices of grain bread (as requested) with a pot of butter, fresh raspberry jam and marmalade! The raspberry jam was to die for and complimented the grain toast and butter deliciously! Who knew toast could taste this good. The scone then arrived and WOW what a scone — it was huge! We thought it was burned at first but, of course, it wasn’t! It was freshly baked, and beautifully soft and buttery in the middle! We slapped on that jam and tucked in with traditional English flair!
And now to the main event! I hadn’t had avocado for a while and I couldn’t wait to try pretty much everything on the menu that went on it or with it so I had the avocado with chilli on toast with a poached egg and sides of streaky bacon and mushrooms. NOM.
One thing I must point out at this stage is Caravan know what their doing, their food comes out fast and fresh and the door is ever revolving with new customers when and where possible. It’s an art and they nail it.
Our mass order arrived quickly and my oh my was it worth the wait. Another slice of grain toast stacked high with delicious fresh and chunky avocado and chilli flakes — an avodream! The poached egg was cooked to perfection and when you combined it with the crispy salty streaky bacon and mushrooms I hate a brunch fit for a queen! I won’t lie, I ate every mouthful and I’m not ashamed! It was just wonderful and everyone else agreed!
The coffees are also made and served fresh and are apparently fantastic!
Go there, get out of bed on a Saturday morning and go! It’s worth your alarm going off, trust me!

We came here for breakfast and were super happy with the quality of the coffee as well as the food. Its a casual environment but still feels hip. I suspect we would have needed a reservation for anything except mid-​week breakfast — it was quite popular. All the egg dishes are fantastic — and the roasted tomatoes are particularly flavorful.
The have free wifi (just ask for the password). A little bit pricey for what it is, but after a long-​haul flight I was thrilled with the quality and comfortable environment.

The food was really good. The cornbread with chipotle butter was awesome. The chicken breast with adobo was very good although I added salt and pepper to mine… It didn’t have enough of a punch til I added the s&p but after it was super good. The champagne with absinthe infused berries was good, the tofu and green beans had a nice sauce. The Dante’s reserve was really sweet… Too sweet, the white negroni was too bitter for my taste. The service started fine but the wait staff changed and our second server ignored us for about 30 min at a time until the host came up and asked us if we needed anything at which point we mentioned that we’d been waiting for drinks for a while. He gave them to us on the house so that was nice.

Went here for brunch and absolutely loved it! It’s the closest we’ve found to an American-​style brunch place with great coffee and food at a reasonable price. The jalepeno corn bread was amazing. They don’t take reservations for brunch, so we got there right when it opened and were seated right away but it did fill up.

Food is really nice just pruce is a bit high. Oats porridge is really tasty and I liked it a lot! I thought it may not be enough for me but I was actually stuffed after I finished it. Quite nice placeto meet up with friends for brunch! And I like the square in feont of the restuarant (´ ‘)

I had heard about Caravan long before I managed to sit inside. Friends had frequently spoken excitedly about how wonderful the brunches were and yet how long the queues also constantly appeared to be. I’m not usually a person who likes to queue for my brunch as I am of the belief that there are enough stellar places in London that you simply don’t have to. And also that a queue isn’t usually indicative of good food but a buzz with tourists.
Caravan dispels all of this!
I have finally sat and brunched there and I can tell you that it is worth the wait. (Well, maybe up to an hour. Anything more than that is ridiculous for anywhere.) We arrived just before it opened and were sat immediately. I would say the worst thing about this place is being forced to choose what to have.
We ordered :
The cooked breakfast
The pumpkin waffle
The kimchee pancakes
…and a lot of coffee.
All were absolutely delicious. Some even surprisingly so. I have no idea what they do to those tomatoes but I was thinking about them all day after we left.
If you are lucky enough to get a table for brunch then you are in for a treat! The service was impeccable and the prices more than reasonable. Wake up early one morning and treat yourself!

Caused a bit of a contretemps this review… my wife was all about ⁴⁄₅ stars… but this is my review and it gets 3 for the following reasons.
Good:
Superb Dining room, everything a casual 2016 London experience should be…
Atmosphere to match (even on a weekday lunchtime)
Interesting and varied menu, something for vegans to meat eaters alike
Not so good:
Service, whilst friendly, was woeful in terms of getting the orders right… several dishes arrived and had to be sent back as not what we ordered
Puddings, subjectively I thought a pretty poor offering and not great, tried most of them as ate with a group and just ‘meh’
Pizza’s…not the best… chewy, sloppy and in my opinion not that tasty.
Go for the atmosphere and dining space, not for the culinary experience

I had bookmarked this restaurant during my quest of the best avocado toast in London. I arrived too late for breakfast but thought I’ll still try it.
Menu is pretty extensive: small plates, starters, main, sides… There’s a size for every stomach.
I was pretty hungry and there was so many good things on the menu that I went for 2 small plates and 1 side. Spoiler alert: the plates are not small.
I took the ham and cheese croquettas and the burrata with tomato relish with a side of corn bread (with real corn inside it, topped with melting better) and it was absolutely delicious.
Service was fantastic: I had a train to catch and only had 45min to eat and they brought my plates in less than 5minutes. They were also super friendly and nice (they even did my coffee to take away so I could enjoy in the train)
The place is a bit loud, especially at lunch time but it’s mainly people talking about how good the food is.

After a light brunch, we came here to get our coffee and cake fix. Although the place was not full, we were no allowed to seat in the main restaurant as we were not dining. Luckily, there was space on the large communal table at the back, behind the coffee bar. We were impressed by the space and quality of coffees. Unfortunately they had a power failure the night before we visited so for those of us who ordered tea, the milk that came with it was questionable. After going up to the bar twice, we managed to get some safer looking milk. The cakes and pastries got thumbs up all around, but a theme for Kings Cross (or the whole London in general it seems) is that you will not be getting value for money — a small portion (2 – 3 bites-​full) of cake for £2.50!
From reading the other reviews on here, I think I’d get a better experience from dining so I’ll be sure to re-​visit and re-​review!

Will have to go back to try the full menu but as far as it stands, yes I am a fan. Beautiful space, very popular, mixing a restaurant, a bar, and a coffee place all under one big roof. You can see everything at once, so that is why it is and looks crowded.
We sat at the bar at the back and ordered drinks and plates to share. Everything was great from the octopus, to the burratta, not forgetting the artichoke salad, camember etc. Perfect. Nice staff, eclectic customer crowd, steps from King’s Cross. This place is in a semi industrial building, next to the canal which gives you the possibility to get a nice walk after lunch/​dinner.
Will have to go back to try breakfast, lunch and dinner by ordering the full plates. Really recommend it.

Super-​dope spot!
Definitely a hip, prime people-​watching spot… much of that thanks to the renowned Central St. Martins art/​fashion school students studying being next door. The venue as a whole is huge, though the bar area could be larger. Sexy industrial chic décor with decent wines– I need to check out their food, but for now it’s certainly a gem in the King’s Cross area.

Good things first: the food was lovely, sitting outside in the last of the Summer sun was charming and all the servers were friendly.
Bad things: the friendly service was a bit so-​so. I arrived before friends; told it would be an hour. Popped back with friends to check; seated immediately. Great for lunch, less good for service. Everything else was just a bit slow and haphazard — a friend ordered a savoury muffin and it arrived before our other food and apparently couldn’t be heated. All a bit odd.
I’ll give Caravan another chance, but probably only the one more.

Disclaimer — I was only in Caravan briefly, for coffee post lunch at Dishoom. Somehow we came through the wrong door and seated ourselves, possibly skipping a queue (oops…we didn’t mean to…). We immediately all commented on how much we liked the space — high ceilings, loads of light, attractive settings, all very promising. It was also notably pretty full, which at 3.30pm seemed quite impressive.
I only had a coffee, so there’s not loads to go on, but I was pretty disappointed — it was bitter, perhaps even burnt, so that rather took away from the experience. My friend’s hot chocolate was apparently fine, but quite small for the price tag. My boyfriend ordered a dessert that turned out to be pretty much a scoop of mascarpone with cherries. Not terrible, but kind of odd and artless.
If I go again, I’ll update, as the menu did look enticing so the food might be worth a try.

It was a beautiful day so we chose (along with pretty much everyone else who was there) to grab a table outside in the sunshine. It had a really nice buzz with everyone chatting excitedly and the sounds of the children playing in the nearby fountains. They also had these really cute, cosy blankets for people in case it got cold.
We ordered some peach bellinis — because brunch — and perused the menu. I fully intended to be original but I’m sorry I just can’t help it, when I see a mention of avocado I just have to have it and so poached eggs on toast with a side of avocado were swiftly ordered by myself while Victoria went for the caravan fry with scrambled eggs.
I won’t lie the service was pretty slow due to the fact that they were so busy but after our order had finally been taken the food arrived in no time at all and was quickly scoffed. My biggest gripe was that there was only a single solitary piece of toast which really wasn’t enough to go around and especially not for the price I paid but the eggs were cooked to perfection and the avocado with its chilli kick was fantastic smooshed into the sourdough bread.

They don’t take brunch reservations but it’s usually not a long wait and you can sit at the bar, sip a coffee, and chat with the charming baristas in the meantime. The atmosphere is the coolest thing about the place anyway. They transformed the old granary in a stylish fashion and it’s a pleasure to just take in the space. Caravan is famous for their speciality coffee so I ordered a long black but it wasn’t really to my taste — too sour and lemony for me. Even in the soy cap I had later on, that strong aroma still kinda bothered me. But I’m not questioning the quality of the coffee!
I shared the avocado on sourdough and the quinoa dish with my friend. The latter was spiced interestingly and I didn’t dislike it but it also wasn’t particularly amazing as a dish.
I still feel like I’d come back for the food and above all for the ambience.

My friend and I treated ourselves to brunch here last weekend and again we were so impressed with the food and service.
We arrived at 10.45 without booking (not sure if you can book?) and new we would be up for a wait. They took our number and we ordered a coffee to go and sat outside in their outdoors seating and chatted/​played cards til they called us (we were in no rush) but just be warned on the weekends you’re going to have to wait to get a table!
While we waited we looked at the menu so we knew exactly what we were going to get when we sat down!
Exactly 45 minutes later they rang us so we dashed inside and were seated right away!
As there was so much on the menu to try we decided to share everything and get one dish at a time. To start we ordered the kimchee pork belly pancake which was sooo good! Pork was delicious and full of flavours. Pancake isn’t so pancakey but tasty all the same. I couldn’t have eaten the whole thing though! We also ordered the apricot mimosas which were good but nothing amazing! Next up was the pumpkin waffle with ricotta, peppers, pecans and maple syrup. I thought this dish was going to more of a sweet dish but it was actually savoury! Interesting flavours and worth trying but again couldn’t eat the whole thing. Finally we had the coconut bread with lemon curd and strawberries! My favourite by far! Would definitely have again to myself! Overall had a lovely brunch — the waitress was very friendly and we weren’t rushed at all! Will definitely be back for brunch but looking to try the bbq beans and the baked eggs next time!

Coffee gets the two thumbs up. Décor and setting does too. And the cakes and breads look pretty darn delicious. You will get the disclaimer if you would like to sit outside that you will not be moved inside if it starts raining (no matter the amount of empty tables are inside). But if you can, sit outside and enjoy the people watch. It is a bit of a windy spot so fingers crossed you don’t get a crowd of smokers outside the eating area blowing ash on you.
The food is ok. It is a little on the pricey side for what they are putting out. Breakfast finishes at 11:30 mid week then it is a pizza or small plates menu. I don’t love the menu but there are some good things on offer but they’re not quite there. And if you are ordering a couple of the small dishes to share (recommended) then you need to consider which flavours will go together because I don’t think they all go.
Wine list by the glass especially for whites (and there is about 7) needs a review. They are all in a similar flavour spectrum: lighter, acidic, non oaked, probably a touch mineral or herbacious. Would love to see one aged white or a fuller bodied something.
If I come here again it will be for a bottle of wine (not glass) with selections from the cheese and meats menu. Goats cheese and nuts and honey was amazing. You will need to order bread to go with it and pay extra though.

I thought this place was alright… but it wasn’t so good that I’ll be rushing back (this might be good news for other Unilocalers, as everyone else seems to love it!)
The good parts:
— I like their style — it’s good to bring a little of East-​London-​style-​warehouse-​ness to Kings cross.
— The brunch menu sounds amazing! I wanted to order EVERYTHING!
— My brunch was really tasty — I tried the courgette and sweetcorn fritters
— I like that they take your number and call you when you’re table is ready. It meant we could chill in the sun by the canal and chat, instead of standing in a queue like the breakfast club.
The less good:
— Expect a wait… We arrived at 11:30 on a Saturday, and waited 45mins for a table… and then waited another 45mins for food. Service is slooooooow.
— Staff were friendly, but it was hard to flag them down as they were so busy. I’m not sure how they managed to be so busy, and so slow at the same time.
— Although the food tasted good, it was all cold. My friends waffle had absolutely no warmth… and mine was luke-​warm. That was pretty disappointing after waiting for 1.5 hours!
I don’t think I’d come back unless it was really early when maybe we’d have a chance of hot food.
p. s. I just edited this three times because I can’t decide between 2 or 3 stars… but I setted on two because I don’t like paying £20 for cold cooked brunch, even if it is tasty.

Wonderful!!! Great choice for exciting brunch ideas! Especially kimchi pancakes! Bulgur fattoush also wonderful!
Great Bloody Mary & coffee too!!!
Located right in the heart of newly renovated Kings Cross — but be prepared to wait a little — very popular indeed!

This place is popular, really popular. We came for a Sunday brunch and were told it was almost a 2 hour wait. The other option was to hawk the bar and grab a seat when they came available. Not wanting to wait two hours we waited for a seat at the bar and after 10 mins a couple of stools became available. Waiting for a stool is pot luck, nobody is monitoring it so if someone comes in after you and grabs the next available space… Tough luck!
The place is like a old ware house with functional tables, chairs and benches. It seats a lot of people but there are still massive ques.
We ordered a couple of coffees while we checked out the menu and they were actually really good. It’s a hot spot for Ausi’s, which usually indicates the coffee will be half decent.
The menu has a good amount of choices and I would have been happy with pretty much any of the options but opted for the jalipino cornflour bread with black beans and a fried egg. My wife went for a pumpkin waffle with fresh fruit.
The food came out quickly… Possibly a little too quick! But mine was good! Unfortunately my wife’s was a bit on the salty side (salty waffles!!!) We also had to ask for additional syrup as the amount it came with wasn’t sufficient.
Although the staff were very accommodating (think cool hipster sorts) there was a definite feeling of once you finished its time to leave and give up the seat.

Ausgangslage?
Ankunft @ Kings Cross: Regen. Kein Wunder, schließlich sind wir in London. Trotzdem habe ich keinen Schirm bei mir.
Entscheidungsgrundlage?
«Es gibt hier ein richtig gutes Café, aber dazu müssten wir 3 – 4 Minuten durch den Regen laufen. Sonst gibt es hier am Bahnhof natürlich auch noch viele andere Cafés.» — Welch Frage?! Natürlich wähle ich den Spaziergang durch den Regen und wie sich herausstellt: zurecht!
Ergebnis?
Ein bißchen nass geworden. Lange nach der Tür gesucht. Die befindet sich nämlich nicht wie wir dachten im Inneren des Central Saint Martins Colleges sondern außen. Also nochmal in den Regen, aber — nochmal gesagt: das war es wert.
Endlich drinnen erschloß sich mir, dass es sich mitnichten um ein Café im üblichen Sinne handelte, sondern durchaus als Restaurant anzusehen ist. Nachmittags um 14:00 Uhr war es unmöglich ohne Reservierung einen Tisch zu ergattern.
Gott sei Dank waren wir ja aber zum Kaffee trinken da und den gab es im hinteren Teil an einem einzigen großen Tisch. Guten Kaffee, ungewöhnlich im Glaskännchen serviert. Dazu Wasser satt und Milch für den, der mag. Es hätte auch Süßes gegeben, aber danach war uns nicht — es muss verdammt gut sein, denn die Theke war fast vollständig ausgeräubert, dabei hatte der Nachmittag ja gerade erst begonnen. Ein bißchen laut ist es, aber dafür gibt es jede Menge zu beobachten und so was liebe ich ja :-)
PS: Das Frühstück soll hier ganz formidabel sein. Habe ich mir für den nächsten London-​Besuch gleich mal notiert.