Mi Cocina Es Tuya (my Kitchen is your Kitchen)

We are moving house and we are now looking for a new place to start again..

And we actually found the loveliest area called Crystal Palace Triangle.
It's 15 minutes from where I live now in Clapham but it looks like a cute village in the countryside and there's a wonderful sense of community. 

People smile a lot here, actually TALK TO EACH OTHER and are very helpful should you need anything.

One of the best things though is the fact that you won't find many big chains shops here, there's a big Sainsburys and that's pretty much it.

All the shops, delis, bars and restaurants are indipendent, quirky and orginal.

Cafe Latino is one of them.  

A little Venezuelan Cafe I fell in love with yesterday at lunchtime. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

As we were walking past, I read the sign saying "Mi Cocina es Tuya" which, as you already learnt from the title of this post, means My kitchen is Your Kitchen. 

That's how I feel when I have guests over, they need to feel at home in my kitchen.

It needs to be a warm, comforting place filled with friends, food and laughter.
And this tiny gem of a Cafe reflects all that. 

3 tables for four and two tables for two people. Good things come in small packages right?

Colourful, decorated with Venezuelan Flags and pictures of this beautiful country..Latin music to lift your spirits and incredible home cooked food.

Your hosts, Alexis and Mary will take really good care of you.

Alexis offered us a taste of their fresh smoothies when we popped in for information before lunch and as I'm Italian and genetically prone to talking a lot, we started chatting about his Cafe, his origins and much more.

Meeting someone with such positive energy and happy to chat made me feel right at home.

I had never tried Venezuelan food before and my oh my was it delicious!

I tried my first AREPA, a gluten free hot bread that is made with maize and that is served with various fillings, you can choose from shredded beef, chicken and more..

I had it instead of rice in my Pabellon de Carne, a platter filled with an incredibly flavourful shredded beef, black beans and fried plantains.

My drink of choice: a refreshing Guava Smoothie.

Patch chose Asado Criollo 2. A Venezuelan Roast Beef served with chips (he wasn't sure he'd like plaintains but I made him taste mine and he soon discovered that he did!)and salad.

Both meals were absolutely incredible and if we hadn't been so full we would have also ordered their Churros with Chocolate. That's ok though, I'm moving here, plenty of time to come back especially when the weather gets cold and dip those little doughy fried strips in a mug of hot chocolate and bring the biggest smile to my face!

Oh, did I mention this wonderful Cafe is totally affordable too? Not bad ah?

Here's their menu should you want to take a look...
They also offer vegetarian and gluten free options.

I'm always a little proud when I discover a tiny hidden treasure not enough people (me included) knew about and thanks to this Blog I get the chance to let you all know that if you find yourself in Crystal Palace, you should definitely head to Cafe Latino and enjoy some Venezuelan vibe and mouthwatering home cooked food.x