We had theater tickets in Falls Church on Saturday and decided to
try a new place specializing in Latino cuisine of Venezuela &
Columbia.
We arrived for our 6:15pm reservation at CARAQUENA ((www.lacaraquena.com- which is the term for a native of Caracas).
The
tiny place was jammed with over 1/2 a dozen people standing in the
doorway hovering over tables nearby where folks were ordering and
eating.
There were two women (one taking orders, one at the
"bar" as a hostess) and one busboy and the kitchen has to be the size of
a small bathroom!
I started to have doubts especially since
the locale in a small building on the property of the Stratford Motor
Lodge in downtown Falls Church looks about as welcoming as a Motel 5.
The
"hostess" said our table would be ready soon, and we began to worry
even more as the parties that were nearly finishing were at tables going
to those in front of us.
We did sit at 630pm or so and while
this was not too long, we worried more as our show started in 90
minutes. We ordered about 10 minutes later, and waited.
It
took about 25 minutes for our one appetizer to arrive. I had heard this
place was awesome for arepas, and the rumors are true.
We
ordered one CARNE MECHADA Arepa which arrived stuffed to the gills with
shredded beef and a tasty but not too spicy japaleno salsa on the side.
You
could easily make a meal of two arepas, but then the vegetables are
sparse as the ingredients tend to be meat, starch or cheese. We should
have started with the chicken perhaps, as our main
course was made up of the same meat.
Samuel
had ordered the POLLO ALA PLANCHA which is cooked juicy and served with
a tasty lemon-caper sauce, which he adores. It had a side of broccoli
which he stared and changed the mashed potatoes to fries (in an adorable
mini-fryer basket), which were okay, but needed salt. Speaking of salt,
it seemed that everything (save the fries) was indeed slightly
oversalted, but still tasty. Our main courses arrived just as we
finished the arepa, so indeed we made our show with tons of time to
spare. So once you are seated and ordered, everything tends to come at
once!
Will ordered a Palma Louca Brazilian beer which he
liked, but my glass of Lopez de Haro Tempranilla/Crianza was only
okay--maybe it was the saltiness of the food that made it taste funny?
Our
main courses were a dream: PABELLON COMPLETO con BARANDA is again a
pile of the pulled beef with fried plantains, avocado, black beans,
queso blanco (very salty white cheese shredded) and rice all topped with
a sunny side up fried egg. It's a gem of a dish guaranteed to fill
anyone.
Above our table was a framed apron from the chef
signed by TV chef Guy Fiero with a "Guy ate here" scrawled on it dating
back to May 2010. So this place has a following.
The one
thing I really hated were the fraying colorful woven placemats that were
slightly too large to fit two on one table, so that if you jiggled your
mat, if forced the other person opposite you to have his food, or
worse, the wine glass move!
Not well thought out. They need to be trashed.
Latin
salsa music plays quietly and the mood here is upbeat and actually not
too noisy (we had a table of 10 or 12 next to us for a birthday) as the
place can't even fit two dozen diners!
I'd love to go back on a quieter night to savor the other arepas and the yummy looking margaritas!
