my new food obsession

Not my picture, but 'twas what I ate

I'd been dying to try Caracas Arepa Bar for months and it did not disappoint. My first experience with arepas was in middle school when this Venezuelan kid Ronny used to bring them in for the whole class and it seemed like I was the only one who liked them. His arepas were quarter-size corn patties, slightly sweet but pretty plain. My next arepa-obsession was mozzarepas, those greasy-ass things they sell at street fairs.

But the arepas at Caracas are far superior to any arepa/arepa-hybrid I've had previously. They're more like a sandwich with corn cakes substituted for bread. We went on Friday night and had the following:

~guasacaca & chips (Venezuelan-style guacamole)-- Pretty on par with most restaurant guacamole, but not as good as the chunky-style guac they make at your table at Mama Mexico.
~yoyos-- Deep-fried balls of plantain stuffed with white cheese. You know the episode of Friends where they show what it would have been like if Joey and Monica had gotten married and she cooks his favorite food for him, "fried stuff with cheese." Yeah... it's hard to screw up fried stuff with cheese.
~Mimosa de Parchita-- Billed as a passion fruit mimosa, but 'twas less exciting than I hoped for. More like real passion fruit, less like the delicious passion fruit flavoring they use at bubble tea.
~La Del Gato Arepa-- Based off the waiter's recommendation, I got this arepa stuffed with cheese, avocado and sweet plantains. So perfectly delicious.
~La Gordita Arepa-- Almost all of my friends got this special that came with slow-roasted pork, guava jelly, and avocado. Almost as delicious as the previous.

Also, I got kind of obsessed with the sauce they put on the table, which Eric insisted was chimichurri sauce. It tasted good on everything!

Btdubs, everything was under 8 bucks.