Caracas Restaurant Tips by carolinaEspada

Restaurant Name: All of the "AREPERAS" in Caracas

IT'S AN "AREPA"!!! That is a "must" in a venezuelan table. A round white arepa made with corn flour. Is our own, local, beloved equivalent to bread.

But we also have plenty of bread. All sorts of them: french, whole weat, american loafs, etc. But the "arepa" is like a piece of a venezuelan heart. No, a piece of a venezuelan stomach.

There are a bunch of AREPERAS all over. This our traditional fast food place. But good fast food. There, as if it was a sandwich, you can eat arepas with all kinds of things inside: chese, shreded meat, tuna salad, chicken salad and avocado (that one is called "Reina Pepiada"), saussages, ham, etc.

No, no marmelade, no honey, nothing sweet inside of an arepa.

And that is something foreigners love to do. Arepa with jelly... Oh well! Help yourself, go ahead, eat it that way if you wish. Maybe a venezuelan, a table near by, will say: "Yuk!"... But that is ok, you can eat your arepa with whatever makes you happy.

These places are absolutely informal. They are open all day and most part of the night too. It is very funny to see people -very, very, late in the evening- coming out from an elegant party, or from a rehearsal at the theater, or from a long day of extra hours at work, and all of these characters metting in an arepera.

Favorite Dish: I dont like arepas.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

I must be the only venezuelan that doesnt likes them and I'm well known for the wonderfull arepas I bake. Can you believe that?

If I had to eat an arepa, because there is no other choise, it will be a QUESO GUAYANES one. An arepa filled with a very soft white nonsalty cheese of ours.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: least expensive

Address: Any place where you read "AREPERA"
Directions: Now there are more sophisticated and chic areperas and they are called Areperias. It's the same thing, but more expensive. I wouldnt go to an Areperia. I preffer Areperas.

Restaurant Name: Found in any local, typical venezuelan restaurant

"The Pabellon con Baranda" has 4 ingredients: 1. juicy shreaded meat (cooked with onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers, salt, etc); white rice; black beans (in Caracas, while we cook them, we add some sugar. All of the "other venezuelans", those who dont live in Caracas, the capital, hate us for that. But we cant help it: we -in Caracas- are sooo sweet!); aaanddd, my very favorite: slices of fried, ripe, sweet platains. The combination of flavours is excelent!!! Believe me.

In Spanish:
1. carne mechada
2. arroz blanco
3. caraotas negras
4. platanos fritos

You can have that for lunch or for dinner... or also as a late big breakfast.

Favorite Dish: You can eat a "Pabellon con Baranda" in venezuelan typical local restaurants and even in big "areperas". If you dont know what an arepa is, please check my other page, the one that is called "It is round and made of corn flour".

Almost anywhere you can eat a fine "Pabellon con Baranda". You have to be really picky (like I am) not to be fully pleased by one. I usually get mad because they didnt add sugar to the black beans and I "demand" sugar-inmediately... POR FAVOR!!!

Since I coudent find a good picture of a "Pabellon con Baranda", I decieded to draw it and, while coloring the platains I became very very hungry...

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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Any venezuelan restaurant or even a big "arepera".
Directions: Just ask before you sit down: Do you have "Pabellon con Baranda"? = Tiene "Pabellon con Baranda"?

Restaurant Name: "El Canalito"

"El Canalito" is a light, a moderate vegetarian restaurant. It is not for 100% vegetables lovers. Besides the vegetables platters, there you can find dishes with poultry, fish or cheese. The people who go there dont look like sleepless flower-eaters hippies from the XX century; neither like carrot, lettuce and peanuts fans who have gone nuts. No. There you find regular people (many of them from the offices near by) who want to eat healthy, yummy, fast and at a very reasonable price. If you want a table just for yourself, you have to arrive before noon. If you go to eat on the "rush hour" (from noon to 2:00pm) you will have to share your table with three total strangers, which could be a great experience for a foreiner in my country. Venezuelans are highly talkative and friendly people. I you stare at your plate and mumble something like: "Mmm... I wonder what this green stuff is..." inmediately EVERYBODY will tell your their opinion about it. My friend Joannie Slattery-Burke, from Lexington, Ky, who has travelled a lot, says that "Oh, what a riot!" would be to get locked in an elevator with a bunch of venezuelans... She is right. We talk and talk and talk and talk...
JUNE 2003 UPDATE: now they have delivery service. If is just for one meal, you have to pay less than one U.S.$ for the delivery. If you order more than one meal, then the delivery is for free.

Favorite Dish: Whatever has eggplant on it. All of their eggplant dishes are great, fat free, flavor full, delish... You eat very well and dont gain any weight.
JUNE 2003 UPDATE: the dishes with yellow sweet "plátano" (a very big banana) are exquisite as well. Plátano stuffed with vegetables and soya "meat". Reaaaaaally good.
JANUARY 2004 UPDATE: New owners, new administration, ambience and food better than ever (same prices!).

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Theme: Vegan/Vegetarian
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Ave. Principal de Los Ruices.
Directions: Right across the street of Venezolana de Television (t.v.station) chanel 8 = canal 8. Canalito means, little chanel.

Restaurant Name: Greeeeeeat and elegant steak house

Well... it has been there since 1958 and is Venezuelan-well-known for the quality of their steaks and, also, poultries and fish. But forget it, if you are going to Lee Hamilton you must eat a juicy, tender, medium rare, bloody whatever piece of a cow you desire.

This is a men, bussiness men restaurant. They will go for lunch, at 1:30 pm lets say. Stop at the bar for half an hour or a pair of whikies. They will read the menu and order from the bar and, later, the maitre will come to tell them that their table is ready. Then... they might leave the place at 6pm or 7pm... You know: whiky, meat and bussiness.

I go once a year. Only when I feel extremely carnivorous. When I have this eating-a-cow urge. Once a year... Not more than that.

Favorite Dish: "Medallones de Lomito" (filet mignon). Tender, juicy, etc...

Now, warning. At Lee Hamilton they have awful spelling. The guy that writes the menu doesnt have much clue about other languages. So, pretending to be chick and glamorous, he will write: "Gordon Blu", "Estroganof", and something you have to read out loud to see if you come out with its meaning: "Fish a la Bon Fan"... Bon Fan... Bon Fan... "Bonne Femme"? "Bonne Faim"? Who knows!!!

Some day I'm going to tell them that this is ridiculous and will suggest that they write the whole thing in Spanish... They dont need funny names for their food. They have excellent dishes.

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Theme: Steakhouse
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Phone: 58-212-261 0511 and 2638429
Address: Av.San Felipe #30 Esq.El Bosque. La Castellana
Directions: You have to go in a taxi. This street is not near the subway or the busses lines... It is not in a down town area. Get a cab...
Website: www.restaurantleehamilton.com
Other Contact: leehamilton@cantv.net

Restaurant Name: Pasteleria Mozart

It has the very best, the most exquisite pastries in Caracas. And, believe me, I've been to almost all of our pastry shops and I'm a dessert-pastry-icecream-chocolate and sugar speciallist! (My mom is much better than me, though...).

But a warning. The people that work in Pasteleria Mozart have never been extremely friendly nor smily. Dont you pay attention. Their pastries are worth it.

Another warning. I do not recomend their chocolate section. Even if they taste delicious, they melt in your fingers. That means that the chocolate is not quite well "templado". It has an exquisite flavor, but needs a bit more of consistence. (This is for chocolate experts, as you see...)

Favorite Dish: Their classic, favorite of all times: "Profiteroles de Chocolate" (profiterols). But they also have "Milhoja Griega" (greek millefeuille); "Mousse de Amaretto"; Cheesecake; 5 different types of chocolate cakes; nuts pies; "Tiramisu" (delicate italian coffee pastry); "Baklaba"; fruit mousses and many more!!!

They also have breadish pastries like danish rolls, which we call "caracolas" ("caracol" = snail); apple strudels; nuts breads; "Stollen" a german sweet heavy and long lasting loaf; "Panettone"; "Florentiner" = chocolate, caramel, orange and almond cookies, etc, etc, etc.

And they make a delicious coffee. Any size, color and temperature you desire.

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Theme: Dessert
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: In 2 big shopping malls.
Directions: 1. Centro Comercial Concresa, just say El Concresa (Prados del Este)
2. Centro Ciudad Comercial Tamanaco, CCCT, (Chuao)
Best way to get to both places is by taxi.

Restaurant Name: Heladería 4D (4D Icecream Parlors)

Yes, you no longer have to go alllllllllllllllllll the way to Italy in order to eat some of the finest italian icecreams!!! Of course, nothing compares to the glamour of going to Varese (northen Italy), in an autum afternoon, to eat a marron glacée icecream with "panna" (whipped cream). But, fortunatelly in Caracas we have several 4D (right now I can think about 3 of them). Nocciola icecream, nutella, gianduia, tiramisú, pistaccio, very-trully-deep-inside chocolate, capuccino... and about 20 more. They also have sherberts and yogourt icecream.

Favorite Dish: Nocciona icecream is my favorite. It is so good that when you taste it, if you close your eyes, you can imagine yourself next to the Como lake on a clear day surrounded by happy people.

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Theme: Ice Cream
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: At "La Castellana", "Las Mercedes", "Sambil Mall".
Directions: The easiest place to go is to the Sambil Shopping Mall. But since I hate malls, I go to "La Castellana", eat icecream and see the mountain "El Avila". Big pleasure!

Restaurant Name: Pasteleria "La Flor de Castilla"

This is a great pastry store (with tables and nice waiters that do not rush you) where you can go to have a great breakfast... or go any time during the day in order to eat sweet or salty pastries (which cheese or ham...) and drink an excelent cup of coffee, or chocolate or tea.

It started as a Spanish pastry store but, with time (it has been there over and over the years) they have incorporated other tipes of pastries: french croissants filled with chocolate, italian little pizzas, and venezuelan "cachitos" filled with ham.

Favorite Dish: Today, January 6th, is one of the best places to go get a "Roscon de Reyes" (please check my local customs page and read all about the "LOS REYES MAGOS" = "Three Holly Kings or Wisemen" which we celebrate today).

We have been eating "Roscón" since last night. We will eat all day today. Tomorrow it will be the end. If you want to eat some more, you will have to wait a year long. Is a tradition.

It is round, big, with a hole in the middle (like a huge flat doughnut). The texture and flavor are pretty much alike the italian "Panettone". The one in the picture could be easily shared by 8 up to 12 persons. You can buy a small Roscón, a medium or a large... You eat it with hot chocolate.

When you eat it you must be very carefull. They always put a little "surprise" inside of it. (Like Mardi Grass cake with a tiny baby inside; but here you can get a little clown, a little angel, a surprise!). This year, VT member Sophie Roquefort, got the surprise (a little green frog), this means she is going to be very lucky and has to buy the Roscón next year... So, where ever she is, she has to buy one and share it!

FELIZ DIA DE LOS REYES MAGOS!!!
HAPPY THREE KINGS DAY!!!

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Theme: Bakery
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Av. del Avila and, also, Av. Luis Roche
Directions: That Avenue is called Av. del Avila, but not many people know that, they would say PRINCIPIO (begining) of the Av. Luis Roche. Metro Station: Altamira. Close to the Hotel Montserrat.

Restaurant Name: In local food restaurants during Xmas time

The HALLACA (also spelled HAYACA) is our xmas traditional plater. In a banana leaf there is placed a certain amount of corn flour -thin pancake shaped-, in the middle there are gathered all sort of things: cooked meat & pork with tomatos, peppers, onions, etc. And then, as "decorations": some chicken, olives, cappers, rasins, prunes, almonds, etc...

(You can also get vegetarian hallacas, but they dont taste the way it should. The real hallaca has beef-meat, pork and chicken... all together...)

That "thing" is folded into a rectangular shape; tied with "pabilo" (a string); and boiled for an hour.

It is presented, served, with part of the banana leaf on the bottom. Dont eat the banana leaf, it is not the "salad".

The hallaca is a mixture of flavors: salty, sweet, sour, etc.etc.etc... you dont have to be venezuelan to love it, but it requires that you develop the taste for it. it is very "different".

There is an expresion in Venezuela: "Las mejores hallacas son las que hace mi mama" = "The best hallacas are those that my mom makes".

In my case this doesnt applies: my mom doesnt cooks hallacas. It takes a lot of time to prepare them, and this is something that a family, a big family, does together in the begining of Xmas. 200 hallacas or more are prepared on one day, then placed at the refrigerator, and eaten during Xmas. Specially on the 24th and the 31st.

Favorite Dish: Is a Xmas venezuelan tradition. Xmas is not the same with out an hallaca. But you must eat it HOT.

Great with red wine (for those who like wine). I dont.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: In almost all venezuelan local food restaurants.
Directions: For good hallacas go to good venezuelan local restaurant in late November and during December. Every year... But Im sure you will meet a friendly venezuelan that invites you to his mom's house to eat "the best" hallaca...

Restaurant Name: There are not ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT places in Caracas

I dont think we have one of those places. Not only in Caracas, the capital, but in Venezuela, the country.

If I´m wrong I wish that someone will correct me. But I havent heard about one of those places in my entire life.

But we certanly dont have the all-you-can-eat tradition.

If you are planning to invest in Venezuela, that is something to think about. A restaurant -with no competition at all- where people go to stuff themselves. Now... would venezuelans like that? I certanly dont.

Maybe if it was an all the ice cream you can eat... that I would love!


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Theme: Other

Address: nowhere in Caracas, and probably in Venezuela

Restaurant Name: La Holandesa

Do you like fresh, 100% pure, natural juices???!!!
Then you must comme to "La Holandesa"... I believe they have them all. And they sell 4 different sizes: small, medium and large... and then a tuppewarish thing to take home.
You can get there almost any tropical fruit juice: guanábana, guayaba (guava), mamón or quenepa, tangerine, etc.etc.etc.
My very favourite is MANGO juice... it always reminds me of how good is to be alive!!!

Favorite Dish: Jugo de mango. Mango juice. But, besides the juices, they also sell fruits, and candies, and icecreams. I go there just for the juice.

THIS TIP IS DEDICATED TO BIGBENBA, vt friend and FruitLover.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average

Address: Avenida Luis Roche, Altamira.
Directions: A block away from Clínica El Avila and Iglesia Don Bosco. In diagonal to the Embassy from Bolivia. In a corner, next to a flower shop called La Orlandesa. Dont get confused, the juice place is called La Holandesa.