Have you ever heard of or tried an arepa? I haven’t, until last weekend and oh-my-god, I want to eat this delicious goodness all the time.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with an arepa, it is a flatbread made of ground corn dough or cooked flour, very prominent in the cuisine of Colombia and Venezuela. Its use is eaten daily in those countries and can be served with various accompaniments such as cheese, avocado, meat, jam, or split and used to make sandwiches.
Arepa Cafe is located on Queen St. W. and I can’t believe that I passed it so many times without even noticing it and missing out on all that this cute cafe has to offer. The decor consists of brick walls, drawings on chalk boards and bright colors throughout the place. It is an open kitchen concept, so you can see how the arepas are being made and the staff is super friendly and very approachable.
I tried the pabellon arepa ($10.25), which is stuffed with shredded flank steak, black beans, sweet platain and mozzarella cheese. It was very filling and yummy! They definitely don’t skimp on the add-ons and I barely finished the whole thing. The arepas also go really well with cheese only. You can add some avocado or black beans to accent the taste.
Pabellon Arepa
The Arepa Cafe has so much more to offer on the menu, like empanadas, cachapas, platain tostones, desserts, and so much more. I can’t wait to go back.
Go give them a try… you won’t be disappointed.
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490 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
416.362.4111
www.arepacafe.ca
