El Arepazo café on West Green Road.
West Green Road is already well-known for its colourful blend of cultures, but now there is an added South America vibe in the shape of a new Colombian café.
Although small, El Arepazo stands out with its vibrant shop front. It opened in early April but is already popular with locals, with many regulars being greeted by name.
The videos, music and decorations all give the café an authentic Colombian atmosphere. So much so that two of my friends – who are from Colombia – said it felt exactly like being back home.
Arepas filled with chicken and avocado.
As the name ‘Arepazo’ suggests, their speciality dish is the arepa: a circular cornbread with a variety of fillings. Both the beef and chicken arepas we sampled on my visit were very tasty, with generous quantities of meat along with light feta cheese. They looked like brunch snacks but filled us up as if they were much larger dishes.
On the menu there was plenty more, such as empanadas, which are similar to beef pasties, and pandebonos, highly more-ish cheesebreads. They also stock imported Colombian products to take away such as coffee, soft drinks and sweets. It was with difficulty that I managed to resist buying an entire shelf.
Fresh fruit juices were also on offer including my personal favourite, lulo – a South American fruit with a delicious kiwi-pineapple-mango flavour. Yes, it is hard to describe, best just drink it and see for yourself.
Come for the food but bring your dancing shoes, just in case
Pablo and Sandra from El Arepazo.
There was a lot of friendly banter in both Spanish and English, and the place felt lively without being too intense. While we were there, an impromptu salsa session broke out with some fellow customers.
Naturally, being English with about eleven left feet, I politely declined. But for a while it was easy to forget this was teatime in Haringey and not midnight in Medellín.
Pablo and Sandra were very welcoming hosts and are keen on seeing big smiles on their customers’ faces. We discovered that by coincidence, they and my friend all come from the same area in Medellín, a city known for the entrepreneurial nature of its citizens. This certainly holds true for Pablo who also runs three restaurant units in the Seven Sisters Indoor Market.
El Arepazo is an exciting addition to the area, with both its food and atmosphere as genuinely Colombian as any Londoner could hope to expect. Come for the food but bring your dancing shoes too, just in case.
Words: David Wailing