Arepas are on my mind again...

On Wednesday night, I continued to feed my obsession with arepas and the top 101 Best Cheap Eats (yes, I agree not all of them are actually cheap) by going to Caracas Arepa Bar (http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?neighborhoodid=0&restaurantid=4971). I continue to be happily surprised by arepas in all forms. Caracas is a tiny restaurant in the East Village. It is likely you will have a wait to get in, but the service, including the guy manning the door, is super friendly and relaxed. The food is definitely worth the wait. I ordered the La Del Gato (cheese, avocado, fried sweet plantains) and the Domino (aged cheese and black beans). El Del Gato is served cool, while the Domino is served really hot. I really liked both of my choices. My friends ordered ones with meat and seemed happy with their picks as well. Lots of ‘mmmm’, and ‘this place is amaaaazzzinng,’ and ‘we made a great dinner choice’ were heard from our mouths between large bites of yummy food. The actual arepa was very different from what I expected. The corn pancakes were much crispier than the ones I had before. With the other arepas I tried, the outside was literally pancake dough made with corn and griddled to have a pancake consistency when eaten. The outside of these arepas (which I expect are more authentic then the ones I had before, but I am not sure since I have never had arepas in Venezuela) was very thin, extremely crunchy and did not feel greasy to the touch. The filling was really fresh. There is this amazing sweet and spicy sauce that is sort of creamy on the table to be drizzled on top of the arepa. It is great and should not be missed.