Since our first visit to Carmela Horno y Cocina a few weeks after its opening in 2021, this relaxed but high-end eatery has become our absolute favourite place to dine out in Pereira on our weekly date night.

What I love about Carmela, is that it is fancy enough to go on a night out, but also relaxed enough to visit with friends for lunch, or even breakfast! Carmela combines an artisan bakery / patisserie with a high-end gourmet restaurant and like Emilios, is one of the few really decent restaurants in the city that open early for breakfast. They bake and sell a wide range of fine breads, pastries and desserts, whilst also serving up some really top notch food with the signature quality of head chef & owner Diego Panesso that has made Ambar a local hit.

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Carmela has recently joined the Rappi delivery service, so you can now also order their high-end cuisine direct to your doorstep!

On our first visit to Carmela I ordered the Roasted Pumpkin and Hummus salad, which despite me usually going for the meat options, just blew me away. I’ve actually gone on to order that same dish several times since because it just really is that good. I’ve also tried the Lamb Tarkari which is the most incredibly tender portion of lamb cooked in coconut milk and Moroccan spices, served over a bed of garlic polenta with carrot, orange, dehydrated apple and fresh salad. Absolutely delicious.

Carmela has recently joined the Rappi delivery service, so you can now also order their high-end cuisine direct to your doorstep! I recently ordered the Cheeseburger to my apartment to eat while I watched the UFC fights, and wow, probably the best Cheeseburger I’ve tried in Colombia. 

If you’re an expat living in Pereira or just stopping by as you travel Colombia, I really cannot recommend Carmela Horno y Cocina enough to you! The prices range from around $30-$60K pesos, which is really reasonable for the quality of the food. If you’re looking for great food in a relaxed and beautiful setting, you can’t go wrong with Carmela.