So here we go. I ordered Chicharron con arepas y bandeja paisa. Now had I known the Bandeja Paisa came with Chicharron and an arepa I would have just ordered that. That being said those two things plus a Guava nectar were $22 which I thought was a bit pricey. In any case - the chicharron was good. Good amount of crunch, right amount of meat and fat left on it. I thought it could have been seasoned a little better but they are probably just trying to tailor it to the American palette (which mine is not). So what is the deal with Arepas? They are just plain tasteless little corn meal patty things? I mean I like corn meal but they are white corn meal not even yellow so not much flavor? That being said they are soft and lovely to soak up 'other' flavors with just don't come with any flavor of their own.
Now to the Bandeja Paisa. They should just call this a sh*t load of meat platter lol. Cuz wow. Came with sausage, steak (flank or skirt), chicharron, yellow plantain, arepa, rice and kidney beans (on the side), and an egg. Now I don't know about you but when I open a food container and see a rice with an egg on top I'm pretty much thinking SUCCESS! LOL. So similar feeling when I saw the Bandeja Paisa. In pieces:
Rice - perfect (no flavor but none needed as it had beans and an egg)
Sausage - started out feeling weird about it because the texture is weird it has meat chunks in it vs. ground stuff but it's SOOO flavorful and soon became my favorite part of the dish.
Beans - They were OK. Our beans (Puerto Rican) have a lot of flavor and these were a little bland but not bad.
Steak - thin and a bit dry - could have used more flavor again but not bad at all.
Egg - over easy.
Yellow plantain - sweet and delicious - hard to mess this up
Chicarron - same as it was in the appetizer plate
Arepa - same
Overall I enjoyed it - felt stuffed and enjoyed the new food experience. Service was fine - I called the order in to go and the guy behind the counter was pleasant enough. On a side note - God help you if you speak Spanish from a different country other than Colombia because the girl that took my order over the phone spoke at mach speed. LOL. But no biggie.
Was sad I forgot to order Flan. I am ALWAYS disappointed in Flan I get outside of my grandmother's kitchen so I will order that up next time.
UPDATE: I later came back and ordered CHEESE arepa and it was yummy so I give them another star now that I understand the whole arepa thing.