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Robin Garr

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Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Robin Garr » Wed Mar 01, 2017 10:23 am


Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

LEO's Eats with Robin Garr

A pabellon arepa stuffed with shredded beef, an iconic Venezuelan dish at Nahyla’s.
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Our immigrant neighbors have taught us to love tacos. They’ve introduced us to gorditas, and roti, chapatis and naan, bao and banh mi and pitas and lavash and much, much more; and for all these carb-loaded delights we are much in their debt.

Now say hello to the Venezuelan arepa, yet another appealing way to enclose something good to eat within a tasty wrapper, a hand-held treat that long pre-dates the invention of Lord John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich.

Call for an “Ah-ray-puh” in Americanized English of “Aaah-day-pah” if you want to give it a go in Spanish. Either way, you’ll get a filling and delicious lunch at Nahyla’s, the fetching new eatery in Middletown that is introducing Louisville to its first tastes of Venezuelan cuisine.

“It’s like an English muffin,” explained Enzo, our charming and helpful server and co-owner. Well, yeah, if we visualize a small but hearty English muffin made of white corn meal, something like a firm grits cake, split partway through and opened wide to load up with hearty fillings. This is ancient cuisine, tracing its roots back to the corn agriculture of Venezuela and Colombia long before the Europeans came.

Open since November in the renovated shopping-center storefront that had previously housed the short-lived pan-Caribbean Zialala Cafe, Nahyla’s is attractive and well-kept, with abstract fabric art on off-white walls, attractive, sturdy wooden tables and chairs, and an oversize red, blue-and-yellow flag of Venezuela hanging in the back of the room.

The bilingual main menu features nine filled arepas, ranging in price from $6.99 (for granos con queso blanco, black beans with white cheese) to $9.99 (for pabellon, the iconic Venezuelan shredded beef). Two larger dinner entrees, pabellon criollo (shredded beef with beans and rice, a fried egg and plantains) and asado negro (dark-roasted eye of round) are both $14.99. Entree chicken and pork specials are added daily at dinner, and about a dozen appetizers, soups and salads are all under $7.
...

Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/arepa ... n-delights

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly’s Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Nahyla’s Restaurant
Middletown Plaza Shopping Center
12220 Shelbyville Road
822-1808
http://nahyla.com
https://facebook.com/nahylasrestaurant
Robin Garr’s rating: 89 points
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Celebrating our immigrant neighbors

by Robin Garr » Wed Mar 01, 2017 10:30 am

This wraps up our month, in which I have joined with a few other Louisville food writers, of celebrating some of the immigrant chefs and restaurateurs who bring us so much culinary joy. It has been a special pleasure to view Louisville’s Mayan Cafe, Guaca Mole, and now Nahyla’s, through the lens of cultural gifts that chefs from around the world bring us.

But don’t stop now! Louisville is richly gifted with restaurants representing a world of culinary cultures. Spend a little time discovering them, and you won’t be sorry. Here are just a few of my favorites that are well worth your attention, based on my recommendations over the past 18 months. Please tell us your favorites in the replies!

Asahi (Japan)
3701 Lexington Road
895-1130

Bawerchi (Indian Muslim)
1613 Bardstown Road
409-8484

Charim (Korea)
4123 Oechsli Ave.
290-8900

Con Huevos (Mexico)
2339 Frankfort Ave.
384-3027

Funmi’s Café (Nigeria)
3028 Bardstown Road
454-5009

Havana Rumba (Cuba)
4115 Oechsli Ave.
897-1959

La Guanaquita (Central America)
4231 Taylor Blvd.
822-1343

Noosh Nosh (Iranian owner)
4816 Brownsboro Center
205-2888

Oriental House (China)
4302 Shelbyville Road
897-1017

Rice Bowl (Korea)
3114 Grant Line Road
New Albany, Ind.
(812) 590-6786

Roots/Heart & Soy (Asian, Vietnamese owner)
1216 Bardstown Road
452-6688

Safari Grill (East Africa)
328 W. Woodlawn Ave.
915-0943

Saffron’s (Iran)
131 W. Market St.
584-7800

Taj Palace (India)
2929 Goose Creek Road
423-9692

A Taste of Thai (Thailand)
6549 W. Highway 22
Crestwood, Ky.
365-1809

Thai Cafe (Thailand)
2226 Holiday Manor Shopping Center
425-4815

Time 4 Thai (Thailand)
2206 Frankfort Ave.
996-7899
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Carla G

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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Carla G » Thu Mar 02, 2017 8:11 am

You listed all my favs as well!
I would add Rikishi Japanese in Crestwood.
So lucky to have such a fine sushi restaurant all the way out here in the sticks but I really think it's one of the best I've been to and it's always busy.
"She did not so much cook as assassinate food." - Storm Jameson
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Kim H

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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Kim H » Fri Aug 11, 2017 3:16 pm

I don't remember seeing anything on here, but it seems Nahyla had closed already? We were considering heading there for dinner tonight, but their webpage was down, and their FB page says they're permanently closed. I was looking forward to it. :-( Anyone know what happened?
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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Iggy C » Fri Aug 11, 2017 3:44 pm

Kim H wrote:I don't remember seeing anything on here, but it seems Nahyla had closed already? We were considering heading there for dinner tonight, but their webpage was down, and their FB page says they're permanently closed. I was looking forward to it. :-( Anyone know what happened?

Aw, that sucks, if true. We only went there twice, but we liked it a lot.
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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Kim H » Fri Aug 11, 2017 3:54 pm

It is true. I had called the number listed on their FB page, and got a message that "the wireless caller I was trying to reach was unavailable." A little while later, a man called me back from that number, and told me that yes, they did close, but reminded me that they'd be at World Fest. I didn't ask him what happened. Location maybe? It's too bad.
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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Robin Garr » Fri Aug 11, 2017 4:06 pm

Aw, I hate to hear that. :( They were so nice, and their food was very good.

I don't know about location, but Latino restaurants from unfamiliar places (not Mexico or Cuba) seem to have a hard time in Louisville.
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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Kris Billiter » Fri Aug 11, 2017 4:30 pm

I hate this as we frequented the restaurant and enjoyed the food and staff. I did reach out through Facebook and the gist of what I got (through somewhat broken English) was that the partnership behind the place was going separate ways but there may be a new location/spin off/new version without the other partner in the future and that the details will come after WorldFest.
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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Kim H » Fri Aug 11, 2017 4:31 pm

It must've happened quite recently as there was a post as recently as July 30. It could've been a staffing issue as one patron stated on 7/28 that there was only one server that night. Every single reviewer on FB gave it 5 stars (138) and were extremely complimentary. Seems we lost a gem.
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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Kim H » Fri Aug 11, 2017 4:33 pm

Kris Billiter wrote:I hate this as we frequented the restaurant and enjoyed the food and staff. I did reach out through Facebook and the gist of what I got (through somewhat broken English) was that the partnership behind the place was going separate ways but there may be a new location/spin off/new version without the other partner in the future and that the details will come after WorldFest.


I hope this happens as I was really looking forward to enjoying some arepas on a regular basis!
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Re: Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights

by Mike Hardin » Mon Aug 14, 2017 11:24 am

What a disappointment. I only got to try it once but it was very good food and the service was absolutely wonderful. I wish them the best of luck in any future endeavor.

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