caravan

o and a and i met at caravan in exmouth market for brunch on sunday. as is the trend these days we couldn't make a reservation so we waited at the bar. it was very busy and we did have a considerable wait. what was nice though was that we were kept updated on the progress on our table. o ordered a filter coffee to start with. the bar was a wonderful place to wait at. the centre of the counter had a little structure which held ceramic coffee filters. every time a filter coffee was ordered hot water and a cup would be added to the structure and you could watch the coffee drip its way through. caravan is a family friend place as well and the music does well to mask the ruckus of children. 

o and i ordered the baked eggs, tomato and pepper ragout and greek yoghurt for two with a side of sour dough toast. a went for the corn bread french toast with avocado and bacon. we also ordered a round of coffee, a cortado for me and a macchiatoni for o and a. the spanish like their cortado as an afternoon drink. it is essentially an espresso with a small amount of milk to cut through the strength of the coffee. so although the coffee is quite strong, it's also quite creamy. o and a's macchiatoni seemed to be a spin on the macchiato. a large amount of foam with a shot of espresso at the base, a macchiatoni is served in a small glass. we were told that the way to drink a macchiatoni is to whisk it and drink it really quickly. apparently the coffee rises through the foam. o liked his whilst a said that she didn't really want to drink her coffee very quickly. i'm not too sure i'd want to have my coffee as a shot. 

our baked eggs were served in a stainless steel dish which i associate more with indian cooking. nonetheless the deep reds of the ragout, the sunflower yellow of the yolks and the whites of the egg and the greek yoghurt stood out well. our slices of toast were generously large and served with rounds of butter. 

we finished on a fruit salad of kiwi, pineapple, banana and melon with a vanilla yuzu syrup which i didn't think much of. in fact i couldn't detect the yuzu and vanilla at all. so aside from the salad caravan was really good. i'd recommend it for brunch provided you are willing to wait a bit.