Review: Arepera Las Chamas a hidden gem in Harrisonburg

Pabellon criollo a cabello, an authentic Latin American dish prepared at Arepera Las Chamas. Photo by Ama Ansah.

It was completely silent when we walked into Arepera Las Chamas Caribbean Food Restaurant.  Three tables of patrons sat in silence, staring up at the TV hanging in a corner, emitting suspenseful music with images of what appeared to be a greasy looking woman in a darkly lit hotel room and a man sneaking around with a gun. My friend and I exchange a glance.  Maybe we should rethink this? Thankfully we didn’t.  Otherwise we would have missed out on what was arguably the best food I’ve had all summer.

We sat down at one of the tables and waited for service, which arrived quickly.  My friend glanced uneasily up at the screen. I asked the waiter what was on TV. He explained that it was a pretty intense part of Kill Bill volume 2.

The menu is in Spanish, but has the English translations under each item.  I am not at all familiar with Spanish or Latin American food, so this was a great help. The restaurant specializes in Venezuelan and Caribbean food. There are meat filled empandas, plates of rice with beef and beans and plantains, and a good number of vegetarian options.  There are even burgers for those who are not feeling adventurous.

I was excited to discover you could order a side of fried plantains, as I haven’t had them for years.  I ordered them and a vegetarian taco as my main food.  My friend ordered the PabellonCriollo a Caballo which is white rice, beef, beans, yellow plantain and fried egg. It’s a traditional Venezuelan dish apparently.

Kill Bill ended soon and they turned on some Latin music.

Looking around I noticed several large photo collages of Venezuela and Caribbean countries.  The textured walls are a neutral tan color. The napkin dispensers urge us to “enjoy a coke.” The television broadcasts American programs with Spanish subtitles. It’s an interesting blend of cultures.

Our food arrived on a glass plate. The taco took up almost the entire plate. It was huge.  The taco its self was thin and probably wheat. It was stuffed with rice, lettuce, tomato, beans, egg, avocado and plantains. It was the most flavorful thing I had all summer.

I wouldn’t have thought plantain and egg would go well with avocado and beans but it did. The plantains added a mild sweetness to it. The sides of plantains, or tajadas, were still hot when the cook delivered them to the table.  We really enjoyed our meal and agreed that it is a really nice restaurant.

Arepera Las Chamas has been in Harrisonburg for a little over a year but isn’t as popular as it should be. When I mentioned the place to people in conversation they’d ask “ooh, where’s that?” or “when did we get that place?” which is a shame.

The food is phenomenal and not too expensive. A meal is roughly eight or ten dollars with sides in the two dollar range. The people who worked there were genuinely nice. Our waiter urged us to “tell your friends about this place.” Believe me, we certainly will.