Caracas Arepas Bar - NYC

The best thing about NYC is that there are so many people of all different nationalities in close proximity to each other. So you're bound to find foods you've never heard about in other cities. I found Caracas Arepas Bar on yelp when I searched for a well reviewed restaurant for cheapies. The fact that I had no idea what an arepa is made it an immediate must try.
The restaurant is situated in East Village, so it is very similar to other neighborhood joints, crowded, hip, and kind of a dive. The dining room is so small, I feel like the average NYC apartment is more roomy!  The walls are decorated with latin american-esque imagery (think religious).

Inside Caracas

So DF forgot to bring the camera with him, so we had to improvise with our iphones. Since it was so dark in the restaurant, I could not take a decent picture with just my iphone. DF channeled his inner MacGuire and downloaded the flashlight app. I actually really like the effects this created (I always found camera flash to be super unflattering anyway). Once again, the iphone saves the day.

The pretty table cloth

What I love about this place is that they have interesting non alcoholic drinks. I am trying to cut down on the frequency of my alcohol intake so I was really glad to see they offer juices and milkshakes as well. I settled on the jugos naturales, there are two flavor choices - papaya and passion fruit. I had the passion fruit, and it was super delish! highly recommend this.

Passion Fruit Juice

I love this picture! The colors looks so vibrant and spicy!

DF had the mimosa (made with passion fruit juice instead of OJ) and his roomie tried a beer cocktail called the Michelada; it's made with Pacifico beer, lemon, spicy panela, and salt.

The Michelada

Mimosa

The mimosa came in a rather unexciting glass, but it packs quite a bit of alcohol. For only $5, it is definitely a good deal. 

For our appetizer we had Guasacaca (Guacamole) with chips: 

Guasacaca and Chips

The chips were a mixture of plantain chips and taro chips. I found this dish only average. It could be because I had the same dish a week earlier from Empanada Mama's. The chips are physically very thin and light but I found the fried preparation to be heavy on my stomach. I'd skip this dish, there are many other appetizers on the menu that I feel could be more appealing.

To help with the arepas decision making process, they have special sampler plates of three arepas each. We chose the La Popular plate (La de Pabellon, La Reina Pepiada, La Mulata) and the La Playera arepa:

La popular

La playera

I guess the best way to describe an arepa is a mini fried cornmeal pita pocket. 

1. La de Pabellon - Shredded beef, black beans, white salty cheese, and plantains. Out of the ones we had, I liked this second best. The beef tastes like a stronger version of the carnitas they serve at Chipotle. This was a bit too much flavor for me, but overall it was quite satisfying. 

2. La Reina Pepiada - chicken and avocado. I love avocado and i always get chicken if seafood is not available. However, together, this was not my fav mix. The avocado and chicken mix was cold and I felt a bit like I was eating giant mouthfuls of bland guacamole because the avocados completely overpowered the chicken chunks. In addition, I think a bit of lemon and spice would have made this more enjoyable for me. 

3. La Mulata - cheese, jalapenos, red peppers, plantains, and black beans.  This is by far my fav. It was at first quite unappealing to look at, it's the arepas at the bottom of the picture on the left. It's hard to see partially due to the darkness and also because all you can see in this arepa is the black beans! So I expected a really dull taste, but the taste was a big surprise thanks to the jalapenos and red peppers. Just the right amount of spicy and juice. 

4. La Playera - shredded white fish, onions, peppers, herbs. I love fish but this dish was a serious disappointment. First of all, the meat did not taste like fish, and it was way too dry. It tasted more like shredded pork with barbeque sauce. This would probably be my least favorite of the night, and a definite skip for next time. 

Finally, piggy me added on the Plato Oriental- minced tilapia, white rice, black beans, plantains, cheese:

Plato Oriental

I really liked this dish. The fish was very juicy and flavored just right, a huge contrast to the La Playera.  I also really enjoyed the plantains in this dish (the brown things between the rice and black beans). They're chunky cut plantain slices (about 1 cm wide) and lightly fried so the inside is still soft and gooey. 

If you don't like fish, they also offer a shredded beef version called Pabellon Criollo. 

The dinner came out to be around $24+ with tip each for three people. This includes alcohol! So it is a pretty good deal. Overall, I enjoyed Caracas and trying arepas for the first time. Unlike many, I am not a huge fan of the fried cornmeal pockets (it made chewing a lot of work for me), but the non arepa dishes were quite good here too, so there is something for everyone. I would come here again if I was in the area, but it is not a place I'd plan my night around. This is actually a good restaurant to go before a night of drinking (pre-game on the cheap alcohol here), because of the good value and also the heavy meal will pad your stomach well for the rest of the night.