Viva Mi Arepa

By adamg - Apr 24, 2004, 4:30 PM
Post #1 of 1

Venzuelan food comes to West Roxbury. Yes, West Roxbury. And what it's doing there, I'll never know. ...

We went to Viva Mi Arepa today. It serves two basic kinds of foods: arepas, which are these sort of bun things (made from corn flour instead of wheat) filled with cheese, beans, chicken (or chicken salad and avocado), tuna or roasted pork, and empanadas, which are meat pies, also made from corn flour, with a choice of beef, cheese and chicken fillings.

I got a beef arepa and a chicken empenada. In both cases, the filling was this sort of spiced paste - it was kind of hard to tell the difference between the beef and the chicken without looking at them (the beef being brown and the chicken, well, a lot lighter). Both were yummy, a little greasy, but, hey, that's what the moist towellettes are for. The empanada pastry actually tasted like corn (which is what you'd hope for from corn flour, I'd think). The arepa sort of looked like a sloppy joe on a bun, although the "bun" had a much firmer texture than a hamburger bun, but no real corn taste that I could tell.

I've never had Venezuelan food before, so I have no idea how authentic these things are, or how they compare to other arepas/empenadas, but the owners/cooks sure seemed venezolanos (well, they spoke Spanish, at least), and the four other customers in there were also Spanish speakers (yes, in West Roxbury!). And you can't beat the price: $3.50 for an arepa and $2.00 for an empanada.

No tables, but there are a couple of counters with some bar stools if you want to eat there. I'm not sure I'd go out way out of my way to try this place, but if you happen to be nearby, I'd recommend it.

They're open Tues-Sat. 7 a.m. (they also serve Venezulan breakfast) to 8 p.m. and Sundays, 9 to 6. 617-323-7844.

5197 Washington Street at the corner of Grove Street (for added fun, walk down Washington, just past the car-repair place and the liquor store and gaze at the remains of a 500-million-year-old volcano - yes, I'm serious).

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