La Latina Bustaurante

Ate here spontaneously after seeing a film at The Vue. Restaurant was due to close within the hour but welcoming and attentive service, spotlessly clean and gluten-free food cooked to order. Whole Latin American menu is gluten-free apart from the hot dog and was a pleasant change from traditional English fare or chain restaurants. Catalina the owner is really hospitable and clearly knows how to give customer service at very reasonable rates. Small menu but what they do is good and well presented. Will be back.

On the first floor of the Grafton, with an airy sunlight feel. Menu was simple, as was drinks menu. Service varied from friendly to very helpful. Empanadas were the star of the day, with the tostonas a little more "tex-mex" in derivation. A little too carb/meat heavy, but that's more me, perhaps. Soursop juice was really nice.

Takes a little time but the freshly made food totally deserves the wait. And they smell so good! My beef empanada and simple (not really) arepa… Crispy outside, gooey inside, and piping hot. The place has been on my list for a while and I just cannot pass by without being tempted to try something (after-movie snack time XD). Next time I will come earlier for lunch. Locates in a beautiful sunlit food court area on the first floor. It really gives an outdoor vibe. Never imagined this even though I have walked through Grafton Center a lot of times. The kitchen looks so clean that hesitated before entering during the unusual mid-afternoon hour. (Having been stuck on this island for a while, how I miss the days of cosmopolitan adventures and cuisines on other continents. For now, the little gem will save me thousands for flight tickets ;) —- 2nd visit Literally what attracts me to walk for half an hour to Grafton (the AREPAS!!!). Even the waiting time is so enjoyable as the smell wafts out of the kitchen, a promise of good food. I had the Arepas main dish with pulled beef and pork today. The meat portion is absolutely satisfying. And many thanks for allowing me to try to veggie stew when the salad is sold out 🥹Tastes so good that I will be ready swap a protein option for it next time (and toss a coin to decide whether to have beef or pork…) Love the spicy hot salsa :D — Tried Tostones today. A little too oily for me. Perhaps I should have gone for plantain chips anyways, for movie snacks. Still love the Arepa and missing the Empanada. —- back again for lunch. I scorched my mouth again 😅 no patience for the arepa to cool down. Tip: Pork is only available later in the afternoon because it’s slow cooked.

Can’t exactly remember what these were, but they tasted lovely (although not mind- blowing)! The flavours and sauces really came together, but it felt quite expensive for what it was. The service is fairly slow even outside of peak hours, so if you want a quick snack before a movie at Vue, you’d probably want to set aside over an hour for this.