EAT: AREPAS AT MONKEY CUP ON 7TH AVENUE

Harlem Bespoke: Arepas below 125th Street in Harlem?  Yes, it is true that the Venezuelan sandwich has now arrived in the neighborhood via Monkey Cup on Adam Clayton Powell and 118th Street.  The coffee shop is actually owned by a South American couple who recently decided to serve up the national specialty on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday.  Good things come to those who wait since everything is made to order so there is a bit of a wait since each handmade corn cake arepas shell is baked on the spot.

There are vegetarian options available but the most popular one has been the prosciutto, cream cheese and mozzarella option which we tried out for the first time this week.  This stuffed sandwich just looks like the comfort food everyone needs in life and was super crispy on the outside with a fluffy cornbread texture inside.  As far as fillings go, the melty Italian style ham with the gooey cheese was some of the best stuff we ate this week.  We also enjoyed the size of these sandwiches which was much larger than the ones at Barepas further uptown.

Our appetite usually could only handle one arepas sandwich for lunch but we had to try the tuna salad sandwich and made some room for more this afternoon.  The stuffing was just extra in a good way and very straightforward with great quality seasoned tuna mixed with tangy mayonnaise which was surprisingly simple but so delicious. Everyone really needs to make sure to check out the menu this weekend and discover this hidden casual dining gem in Harlem.  Read more about Monkey Cup when they opened the first location in Hamilton Heights back in 2015: LINK


HarlemBespoke.com 2020