Review: COMO Restaurant

I heard about COMO about a year before I experienced it. Everyone was raving about it. Beautiful, almost minimalist styled restaurant run by the very personable Menno, serving exquisite food, situated in Santa Gertrudis.

I walked passed it, I drove passed it. The diners were like the restaurant in appearance – stylish, understated but with that unmistakable island flair.  If I am honest, I hesitated to step in for fear of the bill I would walk out with. It oozed quality.

Finally I took the plunge. Desperately needing a really good quality healthy meal just before summer and with many establishments closed, friends reminded me of COMO. I arrived on a balmy spring day, warm enough to enjoy the outdoors. I like restaurants that space their tables well, saving you from tripping over or elbowing a fellow diner. COMO had it sorted.

I asked if they did milkshakes? The waitress politely advised that they didn’t (and in fairness it wasn’t on the tantalizing menu). Unperturbed we ordered lunch that descriptively dripped with promise. Ten minutes later the waitress re-appeared and asked what flavour milkshake we would like? What was then served has been to date the best milkshake I’ve had on the island. The entire moment sums up my consistent experience of COMO – and trust me, I’ve been back many times!

A couple of weeks ago I experienced my first evening meal at COMO. Just as we sat down to eat, two friends arrived, unexpectedly in the area. I introduced them to Menno before we tucked into a wonderful meal of:

Chef's salad, with avocado, parmesan and walnuts.
Then oven-baked mussels, with garlic butter and cheese.
Chicken wings marinated in soya sauce
Chicken in a green Thai curry
Dessert was a mousse of the nispero fruit, topped with a mousse of coconut milk and mint.

Several hours later, sated, impressed and having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, we made to leave. Menno stepped out and faultlessly bid my guests thanks for their presence, remembering their names perfectly much to their delight.

COMO is the place to go if you want to relax, to enjoy, to laugh, to debate, to listen, to love. It’s not the place to go if you want to be outrageous or have an ego bigger than your experience. Perfect for informal business meetings to subtly impress (and check your emails – the wifi is great) or just enjoy with friends or a lover. It’s chilled out but not slack, stylish without smacking you between the eyes with poser value.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. I’ll even go one better and probably see you there soon.

COMO can be found in the centre of Sta Gertrudis, next to the car park.
Opened 7 days a week in summer, call for info and reservations: 971 197 132