About Caminata
Caminata" is one of the cosiest and welcoming restaurants & lounge bars in Balham. Part rustic farmhouse, part funky loft Caminata’s interior is quite simply fabulous with its exposed duct work, bare brick walls and comfortable furnishing. Frequently displaying original art work "Caminata" introduces established and up and coming artists to our clientele in a simple and enjoyable way. Our menu is an eclectic mix of rustic gourmet and urban cuisine combining traditional stone baked Italian pizzas with delicious pasta and salads with varied selections of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes too.
Opening Hours
- Monday 18:00 - 23:00
- Tuesday 17:00 - 23:00
- Wednesday 17:00 - 23:00
- Thursday 17:00 - 23:00
- Friday 17:00 - 23:00
- Saturday 12:30 - 23:00
- Sunday 11:00 - 00:00
122 Reviews
Lovely food, lots choice even for me as a picky vegetarian! Excellent value and good service. Busy so definitely make sure you book in advance.
Caminata never disappoints. Great food, service and atmosphere. Also have some new items on the menu - even more reason to revisit very very soon!
A bit of a local institution, and rightfully so! Fabulous service, delicious food (amazing pizzas!) and a decent wine list - my favourite Balham restaurant. A great atmosphere and you're always really well looked after
Caminata is always a treat, from its fantastic food and wine to the impeccable service. Giuseppe never lets us down! One of our favourite restaurants in the area.
This was one of the best meals that I have had in a very long time. I tend to avoid booking Italian for dinners out as a lot of restaurants are fairly underwhelming and make me think that I could have cooked what I ordered at home, but I went for Italian on this occasion as we were a large group and Italian tends to suit even the fussiest of diners. I was so pleasantly surprised that I have been telling everyone about Caminata ever since. The food was absolutely delicious. There is a really wide variety of options on the menu, not just your usual Italian options, and an absolutely fantastic specials menu. I ordered my whole meal from the specials menu and it was to die for. The wine and the beers flowed and we had a fantastic evening catching up. The price was very reasonable considering we all had three courses, plus wine, beer, coffee and digestifs, and also considering the quality of the food. I would recommend the restaurant to anyone and cannot wait to go back!
I've just moved to Balham and this restaurant is right at the top of my road. I have had the £6 takeaway pizzas and they are delicious so I was really excited to eat in. I went on a Thursday so I used my Tastecard - two of us had starters, mains, shared a dessert and a bottle of wine and it came to just over £50. The atmosphere was great, service was friendly (even when my Boyfriend set fire to the menu) and the food was amazing. I can't recommend this place enough. The only drawback is that I now walk past every day wishing I was going in!
Lovely food, friendly service, perfect evening. I have only found Caminata recently and have visited so often that I've tried practically everything on the menu! Never been disappointed and they have updated the menu regularly so I can always try something new or go back to my old favourites. I recommend the Gnocchi :)
Evening in Caminata was a great experience, staff was very friendly and helpful with menu selection, food was very good and waiting time very short. i would recommend Caminata to all my friends
Just one word - SUPERB!! Quite honestly one of the very best meals we have ever had. The food was to 'die for' whatever we had, Gamberoni All’aglio, Calamari Fritti, Rabbit Casarecce - Homemade Fresh Tagliatelle Pasta, Piscatory Fresh Seafood Linguine, Fresh Tagliatelle Pasta with Prawns. All of it was beautifully cooked and presented with super flavours. Front of House was also outstandingly excellent with very attentive, friendly, and overly welcoming service. All-in-all, a superb evening. We will return!! (Living down in Bournemouth, can you please open another restaurant down here!)
Four of us had dinner at La Caminata last night. They have an extensive menu with friendly and attentive service. We all thoroughly enjoyed our meal and it was excellent value as well. Overall, a very good experience which I can highly recommend.
The atmosphere was buzzing and the staff were lovely. The pizza that I ordered was too much for me (I have a small appetite) and they instantly agreed to cut it in half and box it up for me to take away. The other half was delicious! My friend had pasta which he thought was very good and his Tiramasiu was eaten very quickly....definitely recommend this and will be going again for sure.
I had a girls celebration for my birthday here , I have been twice before and love the genuine Italian welcome and freshly prepared food .It is in every bodies price range and everything tastes delicious .Only one comment to be negative from one of my group which was lack of a different type of desserts from the usual ! ( they offer Typical Italian desserts that are lovely though ! )Good night was had by all .
Great restaurant - friendly staff, amazing food and a beautiful little restaurant. I dine at Caminata frequently and am always impressed. Generous portion sizes too and decent house wine
I have been here many times and the food is always delicious, the service amazing and the staff always very friendly. I would definitely recommend you go to Caminata!
We've been here before. Food, prices and service are all fabulous. And local. Unpretentious. Manager could let her staff go a bit. We were asked twice if we wanted to order dessert when we had already spoken to the waitress about it and wanted to rest a bit so almost ended up with two desserts.
The booking process was easy despite being a larger group. The Restaurant was cosy and very welcoming. The service was excellent and we managed to have all types of dishes, (pasta, pizza and meat and all were lovely. The place has a great atymosphere and service to match. Well worth a visit.
was great. there is a nice food and atmosphere.we fill very comfortable .the staff is very friendly.we will comeback again soon with my friends in Caminata.
I highly recommend Caminata to all - lovely authentic Italian food, reasonably priced menu with decent portion sizes and the restaurant has a great ambience
Fab food (home made tagliatelle!) and great service from Giuseppe! Can't believe that after 11 years in South London I've not been to Caminata before!
Fab food. Great Service. Lots of choice on menu, including always changing specials. Will definitely be going again! Always enjoy the dining experience at Caminata.
Service was outstanding, so helpful and fast. Almost too many delicious sounding options on the menu, I'm just going to have to keep going until I've tried them all. The restaurant was recommended to me by someone who had lived in the area and I was not disappointed. It was made even better by the fact it's on tastecard.
My family and friends had a amazing time! The atmosphere was calm and romantic. The personal was friendly and professional, answered any questions we had regarding the menu. The service was quick! And most important the food was amazing and freshly cooked. Definitely recommend the restaurant. Will definitely return.
All in all, I couldn't fault the food, or the service. But I asked for my pizza to be made on the new charcoal dough, and unfortunately this request was forgotten about. Also, i believe they use garlic oil instead of garlic butter, and it meant the garlic bread wasn't that 'garlicy.' I'll definitely be back though, as the waiter was very apologetic about my pizza, and took it off the bill.
Friendly, buzzy neighbourhood Italian. Really good fresh crispy calamari. Simple, unfussy tasty pasta. And a really white excellent chocolate fondant. The wine last is a little short but the Vermentino we had was rather good value and overall the evening did not break the bank. Well worth a visit for a relaxed meal with friends and family.
Great service and a wonderful atmosphere. The food is brilliant and i would highly recommend getting the Arancino for a starter -absolutely fantastic. Have been coming here regularly for the last year since I moved to Balham and it's definitely one of the best in the area.
Caminata is a good local restaurant - the food was good and it had a lovely atmosphere - staff were friendly and efficient. We would visit here again.
Always great service and great food. Perfect for a casual catch up with friends or a date night alike. I've been so many times but this time I had the prawn linguine and it was divine. They did gluten free pasta for my friend.
As always the food here is very good. On arrival it always feels as though it may be a bit cramped and busy but once you are seated it all works very very well. Feels like a family-run outfit which I like.
Second visit to Caminata. The meal and service was excellent. Sour dough pizza's are really nice and authentic. Will definitely return. Pricing is also reasonable.
Lovely restaurant. Staff really friendly and attentive. Driven past many times but never thought to go in. Pizzas HUGE and lots to choose from. Definitely recommend you give it a try, and hopefully like me , you will be pleasantly surprised.
It was really good - the food was unbelievable and the service was impeccable. The rigatoni con pollo was especially good. We had three courses and a bottle of wine, which came to £50 so good value for money
Excellent food and a great atmosphere. Only advise I can offer to any potential diners is to sit away from the doors, it can get very chilly if you are sat right next to the central doors. Not the fault of the restaurant, just an observation.
Excellent restaurant and great food. We went with a taste card so it was outstanding value too. The staff are Good and if you're lucky enough to be looked after by Giuseppe, you'll be in for a treat.
The staff are lovely, the food is absolutely delicious, there's also a good choice of wine on the list too. It's a lovely environment and we thoroughly enjoyed a special family meal there. Can't wait to visit again!
Great little place in Balham, perfect for a bank holiday meal with the family. We had a few issues with ordering drinks (they didn't seem to have anything we wanted - no house red wine) but everything else was great. The food was delicious!
This is one of my favourite restaurants in Balham. Lovely atmosphere, really welcoming and relaxed. Excellent at catering to our coeliac guest- the staff were very knowledgable about gluten free and could adapt dishes as necessary.
Great food and great service. My only complaint is that we were sat near the door and as they had so many deliveroo deliverys people were in and out and it was freezing! Also meant my food got cold very quickly as well.
A Beautiful little authentic Italian restaurant. The staff are really attentive and the food is freshly made and delicious. I am already planning my next visit! A great place to go for a romantic meal.
It's really difficult to make a decision about what to eat at this restaurant as everything sounds amazing! We weren't disappointed as the food was amazing. The staff are friendly and helpful too. Highly recommend.
Great food, service was friendly but not pushy. Wine list is pretty decent and not over priced. Dinner for 2 including starters, mains and a bottle of wine for £50! Will definitely go back again.
Really lovely pasta dish beautifully cooked and really tasty, nice buzzy atmosphere and friendly staff . Gets busy so I would recommend booking. Only just discovered been twice and loved both times, will be back
this is a great, small Italian restaurant in Balham. The food is excellant and great vulture for money. The service is very good and the staff very helpful and friendly. Will definitely be back.
Booked birthday party for 8. Staff extremely friendly & helpful - stored our own champagne and cake in fridge 😛 generous and delicious dishes for all. Our favourite Italian restaurant in South London.
Lovely staff, didnt rush us, delicious food, offered a suitable alternative for our wine choice that was out of stock. The restaurant seemed full quite early, hence a very popular choice. Highly recommended.
Fantastic service with even better food and wine. Never disappoints and always a great apromsphere. Has become our favourite place for a special occasion. Plan to try the take away pizza very soon!!
Really lovely dinner, food excellent, and service was polite and friendly. Location is pretty good too, just a couple mins walk from Balham tube stop on Bedford Hill. Will definitely go back!
Great experience as always with Giovanni and his team. Fresh and traditional local Italian cooking and hospitality at its best. We keep going back, as do many others in the Balham area.
Lovely buzzing family restaurant. Great, simple Italian food. I had the Prawns and Tagliatelle which was very tasty. My husband had a hand and mushroom pizza. He said it was really good.
Lovely meal, great atmosphere and good service. Everyone enjoyed their food, huge portions and amazing wine, we will definitely return! They also brought out the birthday cake we had brought with us
We had such a wonderful evening, great food, great service, great wine, great atmosphere! We will definitely be back - and a huge thanks to the massively entertaining & attentive Guiseppe!