A TASTE OF VENEZUELA IN BOSTON

Leah and I were on our way to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Orpheum. So we wanted to grab a quick dinner before we arrived at the theatre- in time to see the main act, but late enough to miss the opening band. (I mean, do any of you really care about the openers? I certainly don't. So i try to miss that part whenever possible).

So i suggested we try Orinoco, the new Venezuelan restaurant on Shawmut St. It's been written up a lot and had some good reviews. Plus, it's always nice to try out other cuisines in Boston. We were lucky to find parking right in front of the restaurant, since as we all know, it's almost impossible to find parking in the South End. And even though we arrived right after 6:30, the place was already packed. Luckily Leah and I were able to snag that last two seat available, at a small bar in front of a big window. Otherwise, it would've been a 20 minute wait for a table. Unfortunately, our seats were right next to the door, and of course, it had turned unseasonably cold, again. We were also lucky to arrive when we did. Had we been 5 minutes later, we definitely would have had to wait as the restaurant began to fill with diners waiting for a table.

The interior of Orinoco is very cute, colorful and festive. I almost felt this restaurant could belong in NY. Maybe in the West Village. We were quickly asked what we'd like to drink and brought menus. But then the wait began. And I think this coincided with the line of people waiting for a table. Orinoco is a small restaurant. Even though I've heard it only seats 20, I certainly seats more than that, but not by much. And there's no waiting area, so you're left with waiting diners standing in the middle of the restaurant, while getting in the way of waitstaff and diners who have an actual table. Also, it seemed like there was only one real waitress taking orders, so we had to wait for her. Which is exactly what we did.. For a good long time, despite some obvious looks around the restaurant indicating we wanted to order, until she realized that we were ready to order.

I ended up ordering two arepas. An arepa is basically a corn meal pocket filled with stuff and then pan fried. I didn't know how big there were gonna be, but figured they be an appetizer portion and a bowl of pumpkin soup. After we actually placed our orders, the food arrived pretty quickly. so here's my first arepa, which is the traditional chicken one.The arepas were different from ones I'd had before. I guess they were fancier for starters. And the corn pocket was much thicker than I'd remembered, and kinda chewy which I didn't love.Which made the entire thing very filling. I should've just ordered one. My favorite part of the arepa is the excellent green sauce that they give you on the side, that was super tasty.Here's my second arepa- which had shredded chicken, avocado and cilantro. I didn't like it as much as the first one cause it reminded of a chicken salad stuffed in the corn pocket, but I did enjoy the avocados.
And lastly I got the soup of the day, which was the pumpkin soup with bits of plantians. The soup was pretty good, nicely spiced, but a bit too sweet for my taste and I wans't a big fan of the plantains floating about.Here's leah's dinner. She ordered "Pabellón Criollo: Venezuela’s most folkloric dish: shredded beef, white rice, black beans and plantains."I think she liked her dinner. Not loved, but enjoyed it. I thought it was a little skimpy. But i guess this is one of those restaurants where you're supposed to order an appetizer before the entree.

Now came the difficult part of paying. You'd think with people waiting they'd try to turn those tables a little faster, but not really. So tracking down the waitress to get the bill, then actually have them run the credit card took a bit of time, too. The good thing about this place is that dinner is very reasonably priced, especially for the South End. None of the entrees were over $20 and I could have easily eaten for less than $15.

So if you've never tried Venezuelan food, Orinoco makes it very easy for you to give it a try in a comfortable setting, so you're not overwhelmed by a new cuisine. However, if you plan on getting there after 6:30, remember to give yourself plenty of time to wait and eat.