Carmel - Woodfire Seafood & Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Atlanta

I had an AMAZING experience at Carmel! There was literally nothing negative or that could have been improved from our visit, which is a very rare occurence when dining out!

Attentive and welcoming staff ✅️ Cozy and intimate atmosphere ✅️ Delicious and unique food ✅️✅️✅️

I REALLY enjoyed the atmosphere! It had classic mood lighting, but it wasn't dark to where you had trouble reading the menu or navigating the space. Each table had a small oil candle that added a satisfying, flickering flame to the cozy setting. I wish I had pictures of our booth (the cresent booth next to the kitchen is great and I highly recommend it for a more intimate feel) and the general ambiance, but I'm lucky I remembered to get pictures of the delicious food before tearing into it!

The menu consists of unique dishes inspired by coastal cuisine from around the world. Every dish we tried was very different from the others, but also each plate was it's own exciting flavor journey. My table ordered a Milk Bun, four entrees, a few cocktails, and two desserts. We shared everything, so that we could try it all. I will do my best to accurately express how great everything was.

Milk Bun: Fluffy, muffin-shaped bun that comes with a generous helping of togarashi butter! We had a small spoonful of the butter leftover and I had to restrain myself from just eating it by itself!

Cocktails: I'm not a big drinker, as I do not enjoy bitter flavors very much, but all the cocktails that I tried were great! The Sangria Silvestre, Welchman Hall Spritz, and La Factoria Daiquiri were all very flavorful (not too sweet, but not too bitter either).

Smoked Mushroom Tagliatelle: Earthy, smokey flavor all throughout this dish. The amount of mushroom flavor in every bit of this dish (even when there were no mushroom pieces in a bite) was an unexpected, but pleasant surprise! The flavors were interesting and cohesive (I'm going to say these things about every dish because it's true).

Diver Scallops: Savory, creamy, and delightfully salty. These were the most well-prepared scallops I have ever eaten. They were pleasantly salty, but not over the top. The saltiness was PERFECTLY distributed throughout every millimeter of each scallop. My brain was expecting to run into a pocket of extreme saltiness at some point, but was shocked when every single bite tasted the exact same! It paired well with the creaminess of the risotto and the nuttiness of the squash and pepitas seeds. The pomegranate was a nice addition that produced little bursts of a totally different, yet cohesive flavor.

Grilled Cobia: This was my first time ever having Cobia and it did not dissapoint! The sauce and the fire rosted vegetables were the stars of this dish, even though the cobia was great! The sauce provided a sour and sweetness that was wonderful and complemented absolutely everything on the plate. Onions, carrots, radish, cobia, etc. were all uniquely elevated by the sauce, which made the dish interesting from many angles!

Pan Seared Halibut: I am not a big anchovy or kale fan, so I was a little skeptical about whether I would like this dish. It was SO good! I couldn't get enough of the kale! Once again, the stars of the show were the sauce and the vegetables, even though the halibut was also fantastic.

Coconut Lime Cheesecake: The cheesecake was creamy and the flavors were muted in a pleasant way, so that no one flavor was dominating the dish. I would describe the lime flavor as more of a key lime, which is probably why it didn't overwhelm the other flavors. The crumbles, which serve as the "crust" of the cheesecake, were also a nice addition to give the plate more texture.

Seared Milk Cake: This was delicious and flavorful! The textures were very nice and went well with the different flavors. Cinnamon in the cake, apple butter/compote, buttermilk ice cream, caramel, etc. You would think this would be a very sweet dish, but again the flavors were muted in a way that made it delicious and flavorful, while not being overwhelming.

One of the best dining experiences I have...

My fiancé and I tried Carmel for the first time the other day, and were both underwhelmed.

We were sat and waited between 5-10 minutes for someone to come to our table, despite it being pretty slow inside. The menu was also different than the one that’s posted online. We both ordered lunch entrees (he had a sandwich and I had the trout), two sides, still water, and a soda. After the tip, the bill ended up being over $150, which I thought was outrageous compared to the food quality. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, but certainly not for that price. Portions were generous though.

We’re both Atlanta natives and agreed that this seems like another new restaurant that’s branding itself as luxury and high scale dining, but it’s really not. We’ve eaten at Michelin star restaurants in other cities that’ve had similar pricing and dishes, but were more on par with the pricing and the dishes and service were truly elevated. We just didn’t get that same experience here. Also, it’s worth noting that the bathrooms were extremely gross. There were a few paper towels set on the side of the sink, partially soaked, and the floors were very unkempt. If I’m dining at a high scale restaurant, the bathrooms should feel the same.

Definitely has potential though, and is in a great location! Dinner might be...

Starting with the positive ; staff was friendly and nice and the service was good …………… Carmel might be the most contrived restaurant in Atlanta and it shows the minute you walk in . The owner’s interpretation of “a postcard to (from) ??? the coast “ feels like a 1980s Balkan’s cafeteria and is dim , sterile and oddly out of place . The cocktail menu is diverse but ask for details as the descriptions really don’t give a clear picture of what you are getting and we found the flavors to be just odd in three of them . The wine by the glass is limited and overpriced . Food is divided into “gems” second plates and main courses . We decided to start off with about 5 plates to share . The scallops were horrific and sliced horizontally in a milky broth that had no flavor ; a shrimp dish with peanuts was decent but weirdly presented with the heads detached from the tails and lined up on one side of the dish ………… We had three other items that were so unmemorable I have no idea what they were . We decided to skip ordering more and bailed around the corner to the Vietnamese restaurant bar for appetizers and drinks . I really don’t get Carmel at all , it’s schizophrenic in concept and food which makes it unsophisticated unpalatable and a hard pass in my opinion ……………your wallet will...