FOOD: Beat the Heat by Dining at La Caraqueña
Raul Claros provides the evening's entertainment on the congas.
By ILENE SMITH
Falls Church Times Staff
July 30, 2010
Ok, so the heat is on…..summer is in full swing. If you find yourself reading this, and you haven’t been to the hottest South American restaurant this side of Caracas, make your reservation soon to experience the hoopla for yourself. The Washingtonian, Washington Post, Examiner and Guy Fieri from the Food Network channel can’t all be wrong. And don’t let its location in the Stratford Motor Lodge scare you away……remember the old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover”…..rest assured, La Caraqueña is not your standard motel diner experience !
Just three years in business, La Caraqueña’s chef and owner, Raul Claros, has been cooking up the most sumptuous Pan Latin food without big city prices. Born in Venezuela, Claros moved to Bolivia and began his passion for cooking at a very young age helping mom in the kitchen. When he turned 17, Claros made “the big move to the USA to check it out.” While working in restaurants perfecting his skills, he saw a “for lease” sign in front of the Stratford Inn. Taking a leap of faith, Claros made Falls Church City home to La Caraqueña, simultaneously fulfilling a life-long dream: owning a restaurant where he can serve patrons as if they were guests in his home. Many of his recipes, especially the sauces, are old family recipes from his mother and “abuelita” – grandmother.
Hand-held meat pies are common in almost every culture, but the nuances of this mainstay snack can make all the difference. Salteñas are Latin America’s entry in the hand held meat pie derby. I didn’t realize how much I had been craving La Caraqueña’s salteñas until I recently traveled to Lithuania. Looking to satisfy my craving in Vilnius, I ordered the closest thing I could find, a cepelini – a hand-held meat pie that is the staple dish of Lithuania. Although the cepelini was delicious, upon returning home, I scurried back to La Caraqueña to see if all the fame had changed this highly touted Falls Church City restaurant. I also wanted to conduct an admittedly unscientific and biased meat pie taste test separated by weeks of travel and thousands of miles of ocean. And the winner is…well, I’ll reveal that at the end of this review.
Sopa de Frijoles
To my delight, La Caraqueña was even better than I remembered, with faster, more attentive service. I began my meal with the yuca frita with homemade salsa amarilla and pico de gallo. This dish is heavy on flavor, but light on the appetite, and great way to begin your dining experience. The yuca is sliced fresh before frying and thus crispy on the outside but tender on the inside. Salsa amarilla literally means “yellow sauce” and is one of those secret recipes from Claros’ “abuelita”, made in some variant with hard‐boiled eggs blended with madeira wine, oil, and mustard. My friend ordered the plátanos fritos and raved about them almost as much as I did the yuca frita. The plátanos fritos are fried sweet plantains served with Latin white cheese and pico de gallo. The salteña was up next and it couldn’t have been more succulent. I now understand why these tasty meat turnovers are eaten as a mid day snacks in South America on a daily basis. My husband lived in South America for three years and agrees that he is hard pressed to find a better salteña than right here in the center of Falls Church City. For an extra kick, you can always add the green condiment sauce- jalapeños, cilantro and onions-to any item on the menu. Even though it’s counterintuitive, a great way to stay cool is to eat hot chili peppers. Most chili peppers have a natural substance called Capsaicin, which can actually lower your body temperature. So bring on the heat, to add a chill.
After giving my tongue a few minutes to recuperate, I moved on to the arepas, which come in a dozen assorted varieties. The carne mechada, one of the most popular, is a slow cooked, savory beef recipe that is unique and brings out the flavor of authentic Venezuelan cuisine. No wonder it’s the most popular on the menu! I had the Dominó – black beans smothered with shredded white cheese. You have your choice of either grilling or frying these delectable corn cakes.
Polla La Caraquena
If soup floats your boat, then the sopa de frijoles is a wonderful thick Latin style bean soup that is accentuated by Spanish sausage and complemented with chunks of white Latin cheese and a heaping handful of fresh cilantro on top. Pureed until smooth, the distinct flavor is drawn from the Spanish sausage. For our dinner entrees we ordered both the Pollo La Caraqueña and Pollo a la Plancha, which were attractively presented on the plate and tasted even better than they looked. Pollo La Caraqueña is chicken baked Latin style- with beans and rice. It tasted just as a classic dish should taste, oven-fresh and flavorful. The Pollo La Caraqueña is a seasoned grilled chicken breast with another one of Raul’s secret sauces- homemade lemon caper – drizzled on top. We also tried the Lemon fish and Ocean mix and the general consensus was to steer towards the chicken and beef since they are cooked to as close as perfection as you can get.
During a previous Friday night visit with friends, Raul was quite the host with a versatile repertoire of dining and entertainment. After finishing our meal, while considering our entertainment options for the evening, it literally unfolded right before us. Before my plate was cleared from the table, I realized I had a pair of maracas in my hand and my husband was pounding away on the bongos. Raul had positioned himself at the helm of the congas and the three of us suddenly had quite a little impromptu “concert” brewing. Bongos and congas are very popular in Latin and Salsa music, which brings me to the last segment of the evening – Salsa dancing!!! With the music grooving, soon the entire room was up and Salsa dancing like we were all good friends. Raul’s on-the-spot Salsa lessons were a welcome added bonus.
If you have any room left for dessert, do not miss the cuatro leches or otherwise known as “four milks” cake. If you thought the traditional Latin American tres leches cake was fabulous, the Cuatro leches take your taste buds to the next level. I am not a dessert aficionada but Wow! This extremely moist, but not soggy, vanilla sponge cake, made with four milks, and slathered with sweet caramel sauce is…..well…. ¿Cómo se dice – “Perfeccion”?
Yes, La Caraqueña offers the 5 star experience – reasonably priced authentic Latin American food in a homey environment, with music, Latin culture and dancing perhaps included- how can you top that for an evening out in Falls Church City?
And by the way, the winner is…well let’s just say…! Viva la salteña!
Summing it up: A-
Recommend: salteñas – a must have, arepas- carne mechada, yuca frita, sopa de mani or sopa de frijoles and cuatro leches cake
Vegetarian: a few items
Sound level: 68 decibels/ conversation is easy
Beverages: full bar
Price Range: Appetizers $4-$9, entrees $14-$20
Extras: reservations accepted, although not necessary, credit cards, large parking lot, kid-friendly, disabled access, Zagat rated, outdoor seating
Serving: Lunch and dinner (M, W, Th, F) 12pm -10 pm; Sat- 11am -10pm; Sun- 11am -9pm; closed on Tuesday
Located at 300 West Broad Street, Falls Church City
By (see byline)
July 30, 2010
Another great story from my replacement! But I can’t resist commenting here….
I think the food at La Caraquena is unquestionably fresher and brighter than most of the Latin food in the NOVA area. As you say, the saltenas and arepas are particularly delicious. I especially like JP’s arepa, fried, with plenty of salsa verde on the side.
But I think a big knock against the restaurant is the price. The saltenas are twice as expensive as anywhere else. The arepas are tiny and come with no sides. I’d need two arepas for a satisying lunch, and with tip that would put me over 20 bucks.
Personally, I’d prefer bigger portions, slightly lower prices, and less emphasis on the presentation and pretty plates.
Jimmy, good to see you chime in. Please let us know how things are going for you these days.
I love eating at La Caraquena. An arepa and a bowl of soup is a perfect comfort food lunch. I go for the “completa” for dinner. The only thing that would make it perfect would be an ice cold Polar beer. Oh, well.
Another terrific restaurant in the CITY.
Try their salads-can’t remember the name of the one I had last night, but it was terrific! Mango, papaya, avocado, shrimp, coconut, lime…delicious! Yes, it is a little bit pricey, but the food is definitely worth it.
La Caraquena….a very pleasant surprise, to the point that we want to take the time to comment! A bright, spotless oasis on a somewhat shabby corner in the center of Falls Church that we have passed so often on the way to somewhere in Falls Church. The service was perfect and the dinner items we chose from among many choices on the menu were excellent, with enough left over to take home to enjoy another day! The only downers were the walk past a trashy “backyard” from the parking area to the restaurant entrance, and the view from our table’s window……the old, vacant Post Office. It proves the old adage….”You can’t tell a book by it’s cover”. We highly recommend you try it if you haven’t already been there. We hadn’t in the 3 years it has been attached to the motel.