Rustic, relaxed and quaint – three little words you wouldn’t usually associate with Bethnal Green, but nestled amongst the rows of bars and restaurant on Paradise Row lies Venezuelan restaurant Arepa & Co.
Beatriz Gonçalves Pereira
+4
Perfect for brunch or lunch or just for a drink by the Canal. Even better on sunny days during summer or even winter!
Always full on peak hours during the weekend, but you can always grab a raspberry mojito and wait for your table
I'll certainly fo back, so many dishes still to try
First time trying Venezuelan food and I can say it was really good. I have tried the Arepa Pabellon which is something like a wrap (Arepa) filled with what you find in their national dish Pabellon such as beef, black beans, cheese and plantain (banana alike). Price was reasonable less than £15 with drinks. Staff is very kind and I'm looking forward to go back again to try the Cachapas.
I'm eating around the world without leaving London and this week I'm blogging about Venezuelan food at Arepa and Co. This colourful and cosy Latin-American eatery is located on the banks of the Regent's Canal, just off the Kingsland Avenue in hip Haggerston. I'd passed by the place a couple of times on weekend walks, and most of the time it was heaving. So for my Wednesday visit, Id made a reservation, but that was not really necessary. There were a few other people, but nothing like those weekend crowds.
As good Venezuelan, for me there is nothing better than a good pair of arepas, a plate of tequeños or a huge Cachapa with guayanés cheese! This place has it all!!! a bit of Venezuela in London
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Forget about the overrated and over-hyped Breakfast Club, this little Venezuelan eatery overlooking the canal in Haggerston is the best place to grab breakfast or brunch on the weekend. Did I mention? It's perfect for hangovers.
From flat whites made with Nude espresso to peppermint tea, Arepa & Co. has a fantastic selection of hot drinks to keep you nice and toasty on windswept days like these. In the summer, opt for their delicious homemade sugar cane lemonade or a rum cocktail.
But the breakfasts ... these are definitely something to write home about. Served with either an arepa (corn bread, wheat-free and almost gluten-free) or cachapa (slightly sweet corn pancake), the desayuno reina is my favorite. The chicken and guacamole is so finely shredded, it tastes nearly like crabmeat. With a side of beans, cheese, plantains (those I usually ask for these to be removed as it's too filling) the perico (Venezuelan scrambled eggs) are truly a treat to have on a Sunday morning. A dash of their specialty hot sauce is a must.
Hands down my favourite breakfast in London.
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It's a quirky place with colorful hammocks and rainbow-tiled open bar but also simple metal chairs and humble wooden tables. Oddly enough you can see how it's a casual brunch place by day and a Latin-themed party venue by night with lots of rum. The atmosphere is friendly and lively and most importantly, the food is absolutely fantastic.
They serve these sensational arepas, which look like English muffins but are corn cakes that are crispy and buttery on the outside and fragrant and soft on the inside. They're generously filled with avocado and chicken, or plantains and beans, or pork shoulder, or spiced shredded beef, or strong goat's cheese and roasted vegetables. They're also good just with a nob of butter, I tell you. They also have cachapas, which are arepa's distant cousin made with fresh yellow corn and are much sweeter and softer and much like a glorified breakfast pancake. They, too, can be filled with the above but definitely try them plain as well. Other than these specialty dishes, on the menu is also a range of starters with amazing underrated Venezuelan cheeses.
I'm absolutely not a huge fan of South American kitchen in general. And I've been there personally and had their food but still not my favorite. Said that I seriously think that this place deserves 3.5. That's why:
PLACE: modern design with a touch of South American style, not bad at all, small, you have to book to get a table, but you can talk, not too noisy.
FOOD: Simple but tasty, it might not be your favorite food but you can say is well done. I think the best combos are "tequegnos" and "arepa".
COST: absolutely affordable, I think the prices are fare enough and portions are quite good.
So overall I think it's worth a try to get something different.
Food was so good! My friends loved it. Full of flavours, fresh, different from things we tried before. I recommend and Arepa (pork one was amazing 😋), a starter (fried chicken with guava or plantain with cheese both great). Finally, the guava juice is super! Friendly service and lovely location by the canals. I'll be back for sure!
The food was lovely especially the black beans, rice and veggie option. Also the Yam fully loaded pieces was heavenly. They have some great deals during the week if you pop in around lunch time or before 4pm.
Service was good and the waitress was happy to answer the 101 questions. 😀😅
I'd say the only down fall would be the toilet situation. Sort that out and you'd of been given an excellent 5*.
Otherwise it's a 4 from me. Loved the food though.
I went there with my friend for dinner. We went there around 7.30 in the evening. It was a bit empty at the point however it got quite busy while we were there.
We started with a tequenos. It’s a cheese filled delight that tasted amazing. We followed that on with cachapas. I had a chicken and a pork one. The food was really tasty however the portions were quite small.
The food is really tasty but the portions are quite small. The staff is friendly and place has a chill vibe. Definitely recommend going here.
I would definitely recommend the Arepas and Tequeños of this restaurant, they have a great approach to and a variety of Venezuelan dishes using the UK ingredient availability. The venue has an astonishing beautiful view and is decorated with a few folk traditional stuff (I like the evil masks by the walls) and coulors. If you like to share with family or friends, I would suggest cocktails (Guarapita, Cuba libre, etc.) I do like rum, so they have a PapeRum that basically is a nice jug cocktail. However, if you are more British/European style, they have a wide range of food and drink options representative of the Venezuelan/European cultural mix heritage. In a nutshell, there are many options such as vegan, vegetarian, or none of these, on their menu.
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I was with my family on Sunday for lunch at this restaurant. It wasn't busy so we didn't have to wait long for our orders. Venezuelan style interior design, a very nice view of the water canal from the window, there were also tables outside. We ordered Yuca Fries, Bunuelos and Fried Chicken for starters (originally, Fried Chicken is slightly spicy, but we asked for it to be unspiced because our little daughter was going to eat it, and that's what we got). Yuca fries were delicious! Bunuelos was also very tasty as was the fried chicken. For the main course we took Arepa Pollo Frio and Arepa Pernil. Although the Arepas portions were not large, it was very filling and tasty. For dessert we ordered Tres Leches which was also ok but a bit too sweet for me. I think that lovers of very sweet desserts will definitely like it. The juices were very good!
Unfortunately, the downside of the restaurant is that there is only one toilet that you enter directly from the restaurant, so most of the time we were in the restaurant, there was a queue for the toilet, and our table was right next to this queue, so people stood right at our table while we ate. It wasn't very comfortable. In addition, the toilet was dirty, there was no hand soap and toilet paper, although the staff also used this toilet and probably saw its condition.
The staff was kind. Overally, the atmosphere of the restaurant was very pleasant, the food wad tasty, the prices were affordable, the downside was cleanliness of the toilet!
Really lovely place by the water! Bookings are evidently essential on the weekend, this place was heaving on the Saturday I went with a friend. Ordering was done by the app, which is nice for less faff around splitting the bill. The portions are generous and everything tasted very fresh. I don't think I've ever quite had yucca fries like those here, their texture was so wonderfully fluffy inside. I really enjoyed their fried chicken arepa in particular as well, that corn cream is excellent. Will happily visit again for a trip back to east London.
Great location by the Canal, amazing food and cocktails, everything was excellent. On top the service was very kind and efficient. One of the best Venezuelans restaurants I had the pleasure to taste in London.
Delicious Venezuelan food, I've never had cassava chips before and the texture was so good - fried but with this interesting middle. The corn pancake style main course was really nice, and the areppa is a classic that ive had elsewhere but was also really nice
Simple “Venezuela have one of the best Menu in the whole world” and having a place like Arepa & Co. It is one of the best privileges to show people around London.
What I love about this particular restaurant has the place where is. You can go for a nice walk along the canal after having a good food.
100% recommend it.
Stay away from fizzy drinks and stick to natural juices.
Enjoy!
We had breakfast here with friends last week. Great location but not good for a table of 5 that want to sit outside. The food was decent and very different. Would reccomend to others.
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