The dining room at Cometa
What do we need to know about Cometa?
It's all change at Carousel, where their wine bar has been transformed into a brand new restaurant. Cometa, they say, is a contemporary Mexican seafood spot. To signify the change, they've brought in low wooden room dividers and more comfortable seating conducive to a longer stay. On a cold Tuesday night, it all looked pretty inviting.
Where is it?
You'll find it at the front of Carousel, the events space and bar that's at the southern end of Charlotte Street, on the same stretch as the Charlotte Street hotel and the Ninth. It's closest to Goodge Street station, but also not far from Tottenham Court Road.
The entrance is the same one for Carousel and Cometa
Where's a good place to meet for a drink first?
You're spoilt in this part of town for decent drinking holes. Not only does Carousel have its own mezcal bar, No 23, but it's right next door to Vagabond Wines, another good option.
What kind of food are we talking?
Think Mexican flavours and techniques applied to British seafood - the chefs in the kitchen are Carousel co-owner Ollie Templeton, José Lizarralde Serralde (Relæ, Nicos, Meroma) and Alejandra Juarez (Estela, Máximo, Makan). The menu takes a blessedly different path from the current trend towards a vast array of options. Here it's crudos, otros, platos (from the grill) and postres for dessert.
There are only a handful of choices in each section, so if you're here in a group there's a good chance you'll be able to work your way through the entire menu. Here's a taste of that:
Oysters come with two types of salsa - a pipette filled with Mexican hot sauce petreleo and rasurado salsa, which was amazing.
Sea bream, Meyer lemon and sesame aquachile (£17) - memorably good.
Lobster flauta with bean puree, Spenwood cheese and xnipec (£28) - one of those dishes that photographs don't do justice to, these deep-fried tortillas were generously filled with lobster.
Main courses from the grill are priced higher - think £50-£80 range and they are designed to share. We thought ours was probably the weakest dish of the night and, having looked at everyone else's Insta pics, think we should have gone for the ex-dairy sirloin with bone marrow or seabass with mole verde instead.
Grilled monkfish (£60) marinated with chintextle smoked chilli paste and served with a smoked butter sauce.
Anything on the menu for vegans or vegetarians?
It's definitely a strongly seafood-focused range of dishes, with just a smattering of veggie options. That said, one of those was one of the best dishes of the night.
Tempura pumpkin with guacasalsa and jalapeno (£16) - a perfect combination of textures with particularly good house furikake scattered over it.
Room for dessert?
Make room because we had all three and if you can manage it, we'd suggest you do the same. The 'citrus bonanza' is probably the one out of the three you could drop, because you'll definitely want both of the following:
Dulce de leche creme caramel (£9) - the description alone should be why you order this. It lives up to expectations.
Chocolate, guajillo and hazelnut bunuelo (£10) - a Mexican take on a mille feuille with the layers being bunelos and the cream being swapped out for a chilli/chocolate filling instead. Fabulous.
What about the drink?
Cocktails, as you'd imagine here, are strong - we were a little surprised by how much we loved the Manzanita below. The wine list is interesting in the best possible way and our bottle of orange Garcia Perez wine (£75) was the perfect foil for the dishes we chose.
House margarita (£13.50) made with sweet tamarind and lime and a gorgeous Manzanita (£14) made with Sabasolo Mexican corn whiskey, apple, dark sugar and lime.
Overall thoughts:
Carousel has long had a fruitful relationship with Mexican chefs who played a big part in the rotating residencies here. In Cometa, they've taken that a step further to come up with a thoughtful restaurant that really plays both to the strengths of Mexican influences and British produce. Its creation reflects the best of this city's culinary scene. You should go.
More about Cometa
Where is it? 19-23 Charlotte Street, London W1T 1RW
How to book? Book online
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @cometa.restaurant
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Cometa. Prices correct at time of publication.
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