Our trip to New York City during the holidays was primarily a foodie exploration. The mobile app Yelp was terrific with helping us find restaurants. We love Venezuelan food, and while searching for Venezuelan places, we found Caracas Arepa Bar. They have a couple of locations in New York City but we went to the Manhattan venue (91 E. 7th St.). It’s small, but if you’re Hispanic, it definitely feels like home.
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To start off our meal we ordered Tequeños. Think mozzarella sticks, but instead of breading on the outside, it’s flour. In most places, they use frying cheese, but the best tequeños are the ones that use Venezuelan cheese (Queso Guayanés). I hadn’t eaten tequeños in a really long time, so it was an amazing indulgence for me to eat them. They’re perfect for an appetizer.
Now, it was time to choose the arepa. Personally, I love arepas that have a bunch of cheese but not a lot of meat, so that’s why I ended up choosing La Pelúa. It contains shredded beef and cheddar cheese (a lot of it). The meat flavor mixed with the cheese was to die for, very tasty.
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Our visit to Caracas Arepa Bar was enjoyable, filled with delicious food, a familiar and cozy atmosphere and decent prices. If we ever go back to New York City, I would love to go back and try another of their arepas.
Question Time:
Have you tried Venezuelan food? What’s your favorite dish?
