Caracas Arepa Bar
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Sure, Caracas is neither quiet nor spacious, still, the whole experience is an adventure that is fun, tasty, and good for the budget. The arepas were very good (though next time I will try some of the others not on the combination plate, like maybe the grilled chicken, chorizo, and avocado slices) but the sidekick and shakes were excellent. Overall, this was a lot of fun, and a whole lot better than, say, a slice of pizza or a falafel sandwich. Cheap eats at its best! Try any arepa that appeals to you, coconut shake, tostones mochimeros.
Atmosphere
Don't come here if you want space, or quiet! Caracas is a very small, very tight, very narrow dining room with tiny wooden tables lining each side of the room, the right flanked by wood-bench seating and the rest by little cafe chairs. As you slide into your seat your butt brushes against the table next to you and, even if you don't want to, you hear the conversations on either side as you are basically sitting in each others' laps. High ceilings, though, help give the space some relief and, in the back, is a very tiny bar-like seating area where one can sit if there are no tables available. Very loud music plays over the speakers and gives the place funky atmosphere and though the music was good eclectic alternative rock, I could have done with it a little less loud. To finalize the authentic homey atmosphere, you can hear one of the girls behind the small bar yelling at her coworkers in Spanish. Altogether it's a little hectic, a lot crowded, and yet still, somehow, fun.
Service
Service is fine, basically efficient, though none of our servers showed much personality or interest in us or our meal. Our dishes merely appeared at the table with a slight mumble, or no words at all. Food took a long time to get to the table.
Food
Caracas serves homemade Venezuelan food, though the real star is the arepas. Featured on Bobby Flay's 'Throwdown with Bobby Flay', these arepas are supposed to be the best in the city, so it was fun to try them after seeing them on TV.
If you are not familiar with arepas, they are small corn cakes that can be eaten plain or stuffed, as a snack or a meal. They are about the size of your palm, nice and crispy on the outside, yet spongy and soft on the inside.
To start, we decided on one of the 'sidekicks', Tostones Mochimeros ($5.50), fried plantains topped with mojito mayo, crumbled cheese, and lemon. The plate came out looking beautiful, with the plantains fanned out like a flower. And, although you would often think about plantains being sweet, in this instance they tasted more like chewy, bread-y potato skins, with a wonderful crispy fried crust, mellowed with a very garlicky, lemon mayo, and set off with the salty sharpness of the cheese. These were excellent.
For our main meal, we ordered one of the combination plates of arepas called 'La Popular' ($22), with 3 kinds of traditional arepas split in two so that they can be shared. On the plate was the Pabellon, which had shredded beef that was sweet, like BBQ beef, with black beans, salty cheese, and plantains, Reina Pepiada, which was shredded chicken with avocado mixed salad, and La Mulatta, sweet plantains, black beans, jalepenos, white cheese, and red peppers. For me, the beef arepa was nice, it had a lot of meat, but was maybe a little too sweet. Still, the corn of the arepa was wonderfully crisp on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. The Reina was cold on the inside, as it was a salad, but tasted a little like tuna salad to me and was not my favorite. The Mulatta was the best to me, sweet plantains with spicy jalapenos and chewy beans and cheese, this tasted the most authentic and interesting.
To accompany our meal, we each chose a 'milkshake', ($3.75) one coconut and one banana, and both were refreshing, light, and only slightly sweet. The banana tasted more like unripe, green bananas and was a little gooey in texture. The coconut was milkier and icier, and had amazing coconut flavor and lots of chewy coconut. Both were topped with a generous dose of cinnamon.
If you are not familiar with arepas, they are small corn cakes that can be eaten plain or stuffed, as a snack or a meal. They are about the size of your palm, nice and crispy on the outside, yet spongy and soft on the inside.
To start, we decided on one of the 'sidekicks', Tostones Mochimeros ($5.50), fried plantains topped with mojito mayo, crumbled cheese, and lemon. The plate came out looking beautiful, with the plantains fanned out like a flower. And, although you would often think about plantains being sweet, in this instance they tasted more like chewy, bread-y potato skins, with a wonderful crispy fried crust, mellowed with a very garlicky, lemon mayo, and set off with the salty sharpness of the cheese. These were excellent.
For our main meal, we ordered one of the combination plates of arepas called 'La Popular' ($22), with 3 kinds of traditional arepas split in two so that they can be shared. On the plate was the Pabellon, which had shredded beef that was sweet, like BBQ beef, with black beans, salty cheese, and plantains, Reina Pepiada, which was shredded chicken with avocado mixed salad, and La Mulatta, sweet plantains, black beans, jalepenos, white cheese, and red peppers. For me, the beef arepa was nice, it had a lot of meat, but was maybe a little too sweet. Still, the corn of the arepa was wonderfully crisp on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. The Reina was cold on the inside, as it was a salad, but tasted a little like tuna salad to me and was not my favorite. The Mulatta was the best to me, sweet plantains with spicy jalapenos and chewy beans and cheese, this tasted the most authentic and interesting.
To accompany our meal, we each chose a 'milkshake', ($3.75) one coconut and one banana, and both were refreshing, light, and only slightly sweet. The banana tasted more like unripe, green bananas and was a little gooey in texture. The coconut was milkier and icier, and had amazing coconut flavor and lots of chewy coconut. Both were topped with a generous dose of cinnamon.
Cleanliness
Although a small, tiny, and casual place, in an obviously very old building, the restaurant was clean, including the bathrooms, which were ridiculously dark.
Pros
The food is fun, fresh, and not your run-of-the-mill Mexican-type food. The atmosphere is eclectic and interesting. The arepas were good, though I loved the sidekick of Tostones Mochimeros and the coconut shake too.
Cons
The place is very small, very crowded, and very loud. Service is indifferent.
