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Showing results for tags 'Venezuelan'.
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2 weekends ago, stopped in this new place for lunch and really enjoyed the chicken. Here is the website. We had a half white and it was cooked perfectly like most pollo a la brasa places but it was also super flavorful. I almost bought more even though I was stuffed. Kind of addictive. The 2 sauces were good two - a yellow mayo that wasn't spicy and a tomato based spicy one - I'd say a medium strong heat. The sides were hit or miss. The guasaca was a riff on guacaomle and served chilled was kind of meh - especially since it doesn't come with chips or anything to scoop it with. Better were the yucca fries which comes dusted with delicious spice blend that adds the right amount of heat and lime. I thought the chicken didn't need sauce but was still good with the yellow one whereas the yucca fries were good with the orange tomatoey sauce. The quinoa salad was ok - nice light to balance the strong chicken flavors but nothing too special. The Arroz Blanco was meh. I would have gone for the special rice but like a few of their sides it had unnecessary bacon and other proteins that I don't eat. I should also say that this place's set up is a bit unusual. You walk in to a nice bright sitting area - but no full tables, only lots of counter tools so it is a bit odd to eat with companions since they are only next to you and not across a table. This is odd because the space is big enough for several regular 2 or 4 tops. It is counter service so you walk back to an open kitchen and order. The food is all ready immediately. Then further back in the long space are bathrooms and at the end of the hall is a big walk-in freezer door. When you open it, you enter a new sitting area with a few small regular tables and then a big bar area. This backroom is their bar which has a full bar menu/cocktails, but only serves a few food appetizers from the front space. Moreover, they don't want you bringing food/drinks back and forth between the two spaces. All a bit odd to me. I think the owner wanted to diversify and have chicken but supplement income with a bar and found this long space and this is a the result. Or the owner just really liked the idea of having a quasi-hidden bar in their restaurant. In short - go for the delicious chicken and yucca fries. It is deceptively big menu so I'm sure some other items are good too. -
I'm glad to see Warren Rojas starting to put out more food articles again - he was a great addition to the DC food scene, and is just a super nice guy. "Noshtalgia: Relishing the Past One Arepa at a Time" by Warren Rojas on hoh.rollcall.com
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Warren Rojas is one of our area's most underrated restaurant critics. He first wrote about La Caraqueña here, in the October issue of Northern Virginia magazine. Take a look at those pictures of the arepas. Todd Kliman than picked up on it in Washingtonian here, and between the two positive reviews, I felt negligent for not having tried it myself. La Caraqueña has a bright new sign outside, but sits in the parking lot of what can only be called a fleabag motel. As I drove into the parking lot, I said out loud to myself, "God this place is a dump." That impression went away the moment I walked into the restaurant - a completely empty restaurant at 12:45 on a weekday. Warren's review was on the wall, and a gentleman was standing behind the cash register, all by himself. "Do you do carryout?" I asked him. He handed me a menu, which I began to look over. Then I looked up at him, and asked, "Do you make your salteñas here?" The look I got was a curious mixture of politeness, frustration, and what amounted to almost complete dismissal. "Yes," he said. "We make everything here." "I'll take two of them to go." I stood around waiting, and after a moment, he said, "It's going to take about fifteen minutes. You might want to have a look at the paintings on the wall [for sale], or have a seat." So I went out, made a quick call, then came back in, grabbed a menu, and sat at a table and waited. I read that all items are cooked to order, and that this is not fast food - they don't even have a paper carryout menu. After a couple of minutes, he came back out to the register, and asked me if I'd ever been in before. I told him no, but that I liked the salteñas at El Pike in Seven Corners. He perked up. "You've been to El Pike?" he said. "Yes. I don't like the ones at Luzmila's [down the street] as much because they use a lot of sugar." That was all it took. He became animated and engaged in the conversation. "Salteñas are all over Bolivia," he said, "and you can't find the real ones here. Wait until you try mine." "Are you the GM?" "No, I'm the chef." It was Raul Claros. After a few more minutes, he went back into the kitchen, then came out and handed me a bag. He said, "Here you go, sir. You're about to have salteñas like you've never had before." His confidence bordered on cockiness. And he was right. El Pike's have been very good in the past; La Caraqueña's were fantastic - the best I've ever eaten. And yet, the dining room was empty. My friends, I cannot vouch for the rest of this menu, but after Warren and Todd raved about the arepas, can there be much doubt about them? I propose a $20 Tuesday, sooner rather than later, at La Caraqueña. I am utterly intrigued from what little I've seen, am going back for a more thorough exploration very soon, and have a feeling that this little restaurant is doing something very important, in a small-scale way. Please try it and give us your impressions. Cheers, Rocks. -
My son says I need to watch 'Narcos', & I tried Arepas Capitol down in Woodbridge & it was awesome-fresh & delicious. My only experience was years ago at La Caraquena, & this topped it! --- I lucked out again yesterday- I had to meet a friend down in Woodbridge (she lives in Montclair) & I picked Arepas Capitol off of Yelp. It was awesome, & I don't understand why it was not packed at lunchtime yesterday. Next to BJ's, small storefront- I ordered the Reina pepiada (chicken salad w/ avocado) arepa & the empanada pabellon (shredded beef, cheese, plantains) . They were both amazing, delicious, my friend got a regular shredded beef & cheese empanada, but then ordered 2 empanada pabellon for dinner that night. Service & food were excellent, & I'm looking forward to heading that way & trying out more stuff (but I think I ordered the perfect items, if that makes sense). -
Arepas Pues joined the Downtown Silver Spring dining scene in April, replacing a Quiznos Sub on Fenton Street (next to Sushi Jin). After seeing some online reviews that seemed to show inconsistencies in both food and service, we decided to give them some time to iron out the kinks before we visited for the first time. Today, we gave in and decided to stop in for lunch. We stopped in during the middle of a quite busy lunch service. In addition to several groups and couples dining in, there was quite a bit of takeout orders being picked up. A good sign. Tajadas: Fried sweet plantains with salty cheese Empanada de Carne La de Pernil Arepa (foreground): Roasted pork shoulder, tomato slice, spicy sauce (the spicy sauce!!!) La Safrina Arepa (background): Chicken, mayonnaise, avocado, cheddar cheese - served cold, it was like a delicious chicken salad Sancocho de Cola: Oxtail soup slow-cooked with potatoes, cassava, green plantains, served with rice & avocados. My wife LOVED this - it reminded her of her mission trips to the Dominican Republic while in pre-med! We really enjoyed our lunch, and will definitely frequent them in the future. Arepas Pues 8555 Fenton St (next to Sushi Jin) Silver Spring, MD 20910 (240) 670-8020 | Facebook
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Just across from the Rockville metro station sits this little hole in the wall. I've now had a few lunches here and can give it a hearty thumbs up for real Mexican in the MoCo burbs. The open kitchen highlights a grill and rotisserie sitting over a well stoked wood fire. You're choices are well and wisely limited to tacos, burritos, quesadillas and soup. Beef or Chicken. Throw in the rotisserie chicken and that's about it. Add the typical sides in humungous portion and away you go. Have a juice that tastes like it may actually have seen the fruit it used to belong to in the last couple of days. And be sure to grab some of the toxic orange house-made hot sauce from the little island buffet. Not elegant or sublime, just good. <burp>
