my favorite arepa, de pabellon. Photo from www.caracasarepabar.com
I am in the mood for a sandwich, but not any kind of sandwich. I want an arepa from Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village. If you have never had an arepa, you need to go. Now. It’s like a Venezuelan version of the English muffin, made with cornmeal, fluffier, softer, sort of like the texture of Asian steamed buns, but not as dough-y. It is sliced in half and filled with all sorts of goodies- roasted pork, black beans, sweet plantains, avocado, chicken, whatever. It’s FILLED, and you take one bite of these rich, complex arepas and there is a 97% chance you will have juices running down your chin, but you don’t care because that bite was SO GOOD, and you’ll just wash it down with fresh strawberry juice or maybe a cocada, a coconut shake with a sprinkling of cinnamon. My favorite arepa at Caracas is called “de Pabellon,” it’s filled with shredded beef, spicy black beans, a generous sprinkling of white cheese and sweet plantains. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and heat.
mmmmm......la reina pepiada, a mix of shredded chicken and avocado salad
the cocada, coconut milkshake
Caracas Arepa Bar, there are locations in East Village and now Williamsburg, BK. Visit their website here.
10 Comments
March 16, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Noria, I can’t begin to tell you how much I am obsessing over arepas right now. There’s something about them… They’re addictively delicious.
March 17, 2009 at 10:45 pm
they are amazing. come down and have one with me :)
March 19, 2009 at 1:37 pm
noria! let’s go! i’ve been craving caracas’ arepas like you wouldn’t even believe–and doubly so ever since reading this post!
March 19, 2009 at 5:31 pm
yeah!!!!! want to go next week?
March 20, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I used to work in a restaurant near Caracas and would have to constantly remind myself that quotidien arepa consumption (at the near exclusion of all other foods) would not keep me in fine fettle. Oh, how I miss NYC and the La del Gato!
I just found your site, and am loving it! (despite its provocation of my salivating on the poor, unsuspecting keyboard)
April 30, 2009 at 8:40 am
Hi there, meant to tell you thanks for reading my site… is La del Gato the Caracas spot?
April 30, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I believe (though its a been a while) that the La del Gato was the name of the arepa I used to get.
Your site is beautiful…I will continue to read, even though it makes me miss that amazing city.
I have yet to seek out arepas in San Francisco, though I am sure there are some great spots. I guess I need to get off my ass and do something about that, no?
March 22, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Alana and I are OBSESSED with your photography. We’re sitting here at my place in LA craving those arepas and awaiting your arrival. Please bring some with you when you get here and we’ll unlock the door for you…
October 27, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I’m looking everywhere for a recipe for the De Pabello Arepa recipe and it’s driving me crazy! Anybody have a good one? Please send me an email if you do!
October 28, 2009 at 8:00 pm
[...] scrambled eggs and pancetta down the road. I was going through AFB the other day and Noria’s post on arepas totally caught my attention and had me looking up places on YELP to find arepas in my [...]