Viva Arepas!

Whew. Day after a long night (dose of house party, dash of a new music/dance spot and a pinch of late night/early morning pizza... yum!)....

So, last night, before the "Cinco De Derby" party, a friend of mine & I dipped down into the East Village--again; I've been down there quite a bit lately--to check out Caracas Arepas. It's a crowded little place: it has only 8 tables and four seats up near the kitchen. The space used to be a taco/burrito take out joint, so you can imagine the size...

Let me just say that I had high hopes for the place right away, as there were Venezuelans sitting outside waiting for a table. They were all very nice and let us know that they were waiting for a table in a hushed bit of english. I walked in, to see how long the wait was and, to my surprise, the hostess/waitress said she had a table right now. So, in we went.

Inside, the atmosphere is very laid back and personable. We were given menus right away and I saw San Miguel beer, so I was quick to order one when the waitress came back (I'd had San Miguel in Nepal and loved it so, whenever I see it around (which really isn't very often), I get one, or two, or three...). There was some Venezuelan music playing and the three people who'd been waiting outside were finally seated behind us and were singing along, which actually added to the good atmosphere (they weren't singing very loudly :)

Now, I've heard about arepas from friends of mine who'd been the Venezuela, but never actually had one before. They're basically smallish sandwiches, with the bread being made of cornmeal flour instead of wheat. They're filled with all kinds of things: pork, chicken, cheese, etc. And, I can tell you, they are yummy as hell.

I started out with the La Del Gato, which is avocado, fried sweet plantains and guayanes cheese (basically this is a solid, creamy, white cheese). My fellow diner picked the La de Pernil, which is roasted pork, tomato and a spicy mango salsa.

Hmm, let's see. How to describe these things. Well, besides, "friggin delicious!" Now, I'm a bit of a sucker for plantains, but these were really well done. Lightly fried--the arepa dough itself is also lightly fried--and not tough (I've had to gnaw on some plantains before). The cheese is very creamy and light, kind of like a goat cheese, but much less sharp, although less light and sweet than, say, a mascarpone cheese. The avocado was even very good (yeah, yeah, some of you may scoff at the idea of a good avocado). The pernil was also very good. The pork was lean and somewhat shredded. The mango salsa was spicy, but not too spicy.

Now, I have to tell you that these things are a bit greasy. I'm sure you've figured that out by now, with the whole "lightly fried" thing getting tossed around, but I felt I should explicitly state it. Moving on...

Now, after I went through my la del gato, I realized that my San Miguel was empty--how did that happen?--so I had to get another one, even though I had bourbon in my bag for the party we were going to. So, another beer came to the table and the waitress looked at us expectantly.

I hadn't planned on having another one. I was pacing myself, especially since there was reportedlyy food at the party (and it was a Texan party, so I figured there'd be booze and food), but when my friend raised his eyebrow inquisitively, I simply asked for the menu again.

Round two went like this: I ordered the De Pabellon, which is beef, black beans and that guayanes cheese. The beef was shredded and juicy; the beans and cheese were quite a compliment to the beef. As a testament to how good it was, it was gone before I actually realized it. My friend ordered Los Muchachos, which has grilled chorizo, white cheese with jalapenos and sauteed peppers. This one was spicy, but not too spicy, despite the peppers. Both were excellent, both messy as hell. I tried to keep it neat, but much of mine fell into the handily provided basket that your arepa's served in.

Usually I don't really go in for desserts, but the obleas just sounded too yummy to pass up: very thin wafers with "dulce de leche" in between. The wafers were white, thin and a bit bland, but this was the perfect match for a thin spread of dulce de leche. Soooooo good! Took a little while to eat, but dulce de leche can take a little while, even if it's a thin layer of it.

As I got the last bit of the dulce de leche off of my fingers, I asked for the check. The damage? Less than $40.00 and that's with $15.00 of beer (and a white wine, which was not bad; slight taste of apples and semi-dry).

Overall, I'd give Caracas Arepas a 4.5 of out five. The food was great, the service was very good and the only drawback I can see is that the place is so small (so, go early, as it gets crowded the later it gets). So, go listen to some Los Amigos Invisibles and head on over to Caracas Arepas Bar. You might run into me there, as I'll definitely be going back.