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CARTAGENA | Carmen Cartagena is considered by many to be the best restaurant in the city, and by the time you’ve worked your way through the seven course tasting menu it’s easy to see why.
Hidden behind an unassuming facade in Cartagena’s old town, the restaurant surrounds, and opens into, a spacious tropical patio full of greenery. To the side is a separate dining room, and upstairs a rooftop dining space with views to the ocean.
The couple behind Carmen is Rob Pevitts and his wife Carmen Angel. This is actually their second Carmen restaurant, the first being one of Medellin’s best restaurants. Pevitts and Angel are graduates of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy in San Francisco, and they bring all of their knowledge to Carmen. The food combines contemporary techniques with the freshest local produce and flavour elements from across the globe. The result is a unique, distinctly Colombian menu.
The food at Carmen is fantastic, and it’s hard to pick out just a few favourites. The ‘Playa Blanca’ – octopus, rock shrimp & white fish ceviche, fermented coconut tiger’s milk, edible sand, red caviar, coconut rum sea foam, and cilantro is a stand out. As is the Carimañolas, a yuca & achiote croquette with a liquid foie gras & black truffle center, seasonal fruit bigarade, and Caribbean créme fraîche. Assorted textures and flavours combine wonderfully, and each dish brings a new flavour sensation to the table.
Indulgent, delicious, and a must order for meat lovers is the ‘Trio des Res’. You get a generous serve of three kinds of beef – tenderloin, cheek & braised tongue, served with bone marrow & Parmigiano Reggiano 24 raviolo, allium & port, and corozo palm fruit. There’s a lot going on in this dish, and it comes together wonderfully.
For dessert the Maui is a must try. It’s a macadamia nut financier covered in 70% cacao ganache, coconut cloud, honey & lavander ice cream, and rum caramelized pineapple. A true taste of the tropics.
There’s an extensive wine list, with about 11 wines available by the glass. It is, however, hard to go past the innovative cocktails, which are as interesting and unique as the food. Try the ‘Pirate’s Booty’, a mixture of Sailor Jerry spiced rum & local Medellin 12 year rum, fermented coconut, salted caramel syrup, orange, clove & cinnamon bitters. The ‘La Vie En Rose’, vodka, rose & cucumber syrup, rosemary liqueur, lime, grapefruit, and cardamom bitters, is also delicious.
Service is fantastic, with each dish described as it’s being served, and waitstaff who are more than happy to go into more detail about any ingredients or dishes you might want further information about. For those not looking for a seven course degustation, Carmen also offers a five course degustation along with an a la carte menu.
If you’ve only got time for one meal in Cartagena, Carmen is the place to go to.
Carmen Cartagena
Calle 38 #8-19
Cartagena
Bolivar
Colombia
Telephone: +57 5 6645116
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Mon, Wed – Fri: 12:00pm to 3:00pm; 6:30pm to 10:30pm
Tue: 6:30pm to 10:30pm
Sat – Sun: 12:30pm to 3:00pm; 6:30pm to 10:30pm