Some Spanish restaurants cook from every region at once. The Campaner is built around one region. In its own words, the idea is to "bring the soul of Barcelona and Catalonia to London."
It sits at Chelsea Barracks, at 1 Garrison Square, SW1W 8BG. This post covers what the restaurant's directory record actually says, and then explains the Catalan dishes that help when you read a menu like this.
A Barcelona group's first restaurant abroad
According to its listing, The Campaner comes from the company behind Martinez, a restaurant it describes as opened over a decade ago "in the mountains of Barcelona." Once that restaurant was established in Spain, the group looked to London, and The Campaner is described as its first venture outside Spain.
The listing frames the London opening as a return to the group's Barcelona roots. So the listing presents it as a Catalan kitchen rather than a pan-Spanish tapas bar.
What the kitchen says it cares about
The record is specific about sourcing. The team says it builds dishes around organic and locally sourced ingredients, with "a special focus on exceptional meat quality" and on locally sourced eggs and milk. It also describes its cooking as honest and genuine.
That is all the record says about the food, so we will not guess at individual plates. The current menu is on the restaurant's website, linked from its profile page.
Catalan dishes worth knowing before you go
If Catalan menus are new to you, these are standard dishes of the region. They are general background, not a list of what The Campaner serves on a given day.
- Pa amb tomàquet: bread rubbed with ripe tomato, olive oil and salt, a staple of Catalan meals.
- Escalivada: peppers, aubergine and onion roasted until soft, then peeled and dressed with olive oil.
- Botifarra: a Catalan pork sausage, often grilled and served with white beans.
- Crema catalana: custard flavoured with citrus peel and cinnamon under a layer of caramelised sugar.
You will also see the phrase mar i muntanya, sea and mountain, on Catalan menus. It means a dish that puts seafood and meat together in one pot, such as chicken with prawns.
Opening hours and practical details
The Campaner's listed hours are 11:00 to 22:00 on Sunday, 12:00 to 22:00 on Tuesday and Wednesday, 12:00 to 23:00 on Thursday and Friday, and 11:00 to 23:00 on Saturday. No Monday hours are listed. Hours change, so check with the restaurant before you set off.
Other Catalan-leaning listings in the directory
- Gaudim, Breda: its record describes Catalan food and drink built around "everything between mountain and sea."
- Lunya, Liverpool: its record describes an independent, staff-owned restaurant focused on Catalan and Spanish food culture.
- BCN Taste & Tradition, Houston: its record describes traditional Catalan cuisine served in a 1920s home in the Museum District.
For more on the region's cooking, see the dish pages linked above, or browse the full The Campaner profile for the address and contact details.
