Although Arepera's menu offers a couple of soup, salad, side and dessert offerings, the restaurant specialized in its namesake sandwich: the arepa! For any of you who have never had the privilege of trying one, an arepa is a round sandwich bun made out of cornmeal (and is therefore naturally 100% gluten-free). Arepas can be eaten on their own or with simple fillings but also make the perfect breading for flavourful and filling sandwiches, sort of like the Colombian version of a pita bread.
Catering to the younger, hipster dwellers of the plateau, Arepera du Plateau maintains a heavy presence on social media, and frequently features food-porn worthy photos, as well as a copy of their menu. The friendly staff also input your orders on an iPad, so I assume they're trying to leverage recent technology in order to be more efficient in statistic and conduct market research. I've had my fair share of sampling from the arepa options, but I chose to stick to a good o' favourite for this particular occasion:
Catering to the younger, hipster dwellers of the plateau, Arepera du Plateau maintains a heavy presence on social media, and frequently features food-porn worthy photos, as well as a copy of their menu. The friendly staff also input your orders on an iPad, so I assume they're trying to leverage recent technology in order to be more efficient in statistic and conduct market research. I've had my fair share of sampling from the arepa options, but I chose to stick to a good o' favourite for this particular occasion:
My arepa of choice was La Llanera, described as "shredded stewed beef (flank) in tomato sauce with feta cheese and avocado" which cost $8.50 CAD. Each arepa also comes with a small watercress salad with avocado cucumber dressing. Neat freaks be warned: this meal is not for the faint-at-heart. In case you don't get the hint from the napkin dispenser that is placed at each table, it is very difficult to avoid being messy while eating this. And in my opinion, why bother? Embrace the mess, my friends, and enjoy every bite. As per always, this lunch hit the spot like no other, and managed to be wonderfully filling and comforting while the light cornbread arepa saves you from falling into a food coma. If the burst of flavours within the arepa just isn't enough, each table comes equipped with two sauces in squeeze-bottle dispensers: one "spicy" (but definitely tolerable) orange one and an avocado/cucumber one. I recommend squeezing them in as you go for some additional yummy messy-ness but pourquoi pas?
If South American flavours are completely foreign to your palette, I may recommend choosing one of my other favourites, the Pabellon arepa, that contains stewed beef, black beans, cheese, and delicious fried plantains. Arepera du Plateau also offers an assortment of fish and vegetarian sandwich options, some deconstructed arepa plates that come with rice, some freshly-squeezed exotic fruit juices, daily soups, avocado salad, and some varying dessert offerings. One of these days, I hope to have the guts to finally try the arepa filled with shark, and I'm sure it won't be long until I'm back again.
So what are you waiting for? Unless you're afraid of bold flavours or scared of a little mess (understandable for a first date I suppose), Arepera du Plateau is one of my must-visit delicious stops whenever I'm in need of a tropical escape from this winter wonderland.
Arepera du Plateau
4050 Rue De Bullion, Montreal, QC, H2W 1H1
Wow, That was a very good blog. I eat at Arepera about once per week. I was about to write a blog about and I went to the internet for more information.
ReplyDeleteI write a blog about tourism in Montreal. My blog is http://vacationrentalsmontreal.blogspot.ca/
Thank you for your point of view.
Alain