Went straight for arepas the other day after a blasting night at Armando Records.La Areperia Venezolana is where everyone goes after a night out on Calle 85 (‘Street 85’, yes, very imaginative). It was the London experience relived – to have the hang-over cure of a kebab on the way home from the club in the cold wet nights, especially if you live in places like King’s Cross!! Except that in Bogotá, we don’t eat kebabs. We eat AREPAS!!!!!The arepas from La Areperia Venezolana are Venezuelan. (Believe me, sometimes it’s good to be predictable here). As to what makes them Venezuelan it’s impossible to tell, but apparently it is due to the way they are served. These arepas come in the shape of a burger sandwich, with fillings in the middle, whilst Colombian arepas tend to verge towards a pancake with toppings..
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| Arepa from Venezuela with scrambled eggs, sausages and onion |
There were over 20 arepas at La Areperia Venezolana, with the variety determined by the combination of fillings. It was definitely the thing you need to warm up and wind down after an eardrum-breaking trip.. The arepa ladies scoped up fillings methodically and instinctively from stainless steel trays answering to flowing customer orders, while making new arepas from a white cornmeal dough in the same way that Chinese dumplings are made, by wrapping the wet mixture in both hands and tossing it into a ball shape, and then pressing it slightly flat into a pancake that is about 1 cm thick.
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| Fresh arepas getting ready on the Parilla |
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| Late night arepa ladies |
The only problem was the price.. One arepa costs $10k-$12k pesos (US$5-6) each!! Whilst on the streets of Bogotá, you can normally buy an arepa with everything (ie, egg, onion, tomato and cheese) for US$1.5! Here you really pay a premium for the opening hours.. You can also justify spending a fortune on La Areperia Venezolana when you see women working as late as 4am to survive in Bogotá.
Update April 4, 2013:
Arepa prices have increased by 1,000 COP each.. The new costs seem to have paid for the new menus which look like it was a waste of money..
onechineseincolombia.com 
looks yummy
looks better than it tastes for sure! no where near a shawarma!