Where To Eat In Valle De Angeles
Following three days of exploration in La Tigra National Park, we were ready to head out of the cloud forest and into Valle de Angeles, a colonial town with coffee shops, artesian gift stores, art galleries and restaurants. After eating nothing but baleadas in the wilderness (Lars ate about 20), we had an overwhelming desire to shower, catch up on laundry and eat family-sized portions.
La Terraza
Whilst working on bike repairs at BiciMania, Lars met Mauricio, owner of La Terraza – a popular restaurant based in Valle de Angeles. We are always grateful for the generosity we receive from the people we meet on our travels, especially when it comes in the form of an invitation for good food!
The menu includes several Honduran platos tipicos as well as some other regional dishes. We love eating local cuisine and as much as we love the smaller, local comedors at half the price, the trade off is often in the quality of the meat. In our experience, they cook with a lot more oil and the flavour and texture of meat varies wildly. Also, the options for salad or vegetables at small comedors can be limited. At La Terazza, they manage to strike a nice balance. Both the carne de res and the camarones were cooked and seasoned to perfection and served with salad.
Pincha de Res – seasoned beef tenderloin kebab with fried plantain smothered in Honduran crema, queso, arroz, frijoles and salsa
Camarones Al Ajillo – prawns fried in garlic served with fries, coleslaw and salad
Chillin’ on a Sunday with Mauricio, owner of La Terraza
The music shrine on wall is dedicated to a friend of the family who is also a famous poet/musician across Latin America, known as Juana La Loca
Virginia’s Pupusas
If you need a cheap and filling snack, Virginia’s Pupusas is a great pitstop for delicious pupusas. This pupusaria is full of customers from the time it opens to the time it closes – an unmistakable indication to a good everyday eatery.
Pupusas are stuffed tortillas, typically with cheese and frijoles and/or pork meat. These miraculous parcels originate from El Salvador, but are also found throughout Honduras. They are more filling than they first appear! They are typically served with curtido (fermented pickled onions and spiced coleslaw), which (in my opinion) is just as tasty as the pupusas themselves! The combination is fast food heaven – and at 20 Lempira per pupusa (about 70 British pence), you can’t go wrong.
A constant stream of tasty morsels moves along the grill outside Virginia’s.
Virginia’s ‘pupusas mixtas’ (fried tortillas stuffed with chicharon and quesillo) and ‘tajaditas’ (fried plantains with salsa and salad)
… hot, cheesy goodness!!
Las Holandesas
Stroopwafels are possibly the last sweet treat we expected to find in Honduras. However, at Las Holendesas you can enjoy these with a good cup of coffee or indulge in an array of Dutch orientated baking they have to offer. The cafe opened a month ago and it looks fabulous. If you are looking for a place to relax or whittle away a few hours on the web with good WiFi, I cannot recommend it enough. And, If you are really lucky, and happen to be there at the time they are baking the wafels, you might be in for some tasty off cuts!
