Tucked squarely in the middle of Armenia Avenue's "Latin Corridor" is a small Honduran restaurant…read moreand bar, located a few blocks south of Waters Avenue.
The Honduras Café and Carriel Bar sits in a brightly-colored blue building with the traditional yellow, blue, and red stripes found at most Colombian restaurants. Since Honduran cuisine is a fusion of Spanish, Caribbean and African dishes, you can expect to see a lot of your Latin favorites mixed in with more traditional Honduran food.
Typical Honduran food includes fried fish, tamales, carne asada and baleadas (a flour tortilla which is folded in half and filled with refried beans, quesillo or cheese and sour cream) . Other popular dishes include meat roasted with chismol (similar to a sofrito sauce), chicken with rice and corn, and fried fish with pickled onions and jalapeños. In the coastal areas and in the Bay Islands, seafood and some meats are prepared with coconut milk.
The walls of the Honduras Café are decorated with a series of beautiful photomurals showcasing the countryside of Honduras, and the crystal clear waters of the Bay Islands. There's a pool table on the right which is a big draw with the locals. To the left is the café area with about a dozen tables, and a small bar in the corner.
I ordered a couple of beef empanadas for my lunch, and an order of carne asada estilio Honduras to have later for my dinner. The empanadas had a rich, savory flavor, and when combined with hot sauce they were the perfect size for lunch.
The Honduran carne asada is a traditional dish, similar to steak and potatoes, with fried plantains on the bottom of the plate, then shredded cabbage, onions, tomatoes, shredded strips of beef, and creamy garlic sauce on top. This is a very delicious dish, and well worth a try.
Spanish is the preferred language in this small restaurant, but if you make the effort to learn a few basic phrases they will very happily help you with your order. I thought that the food was tasty, and will be back to try some other dishes.