If you’re up for a little culinary adventure, seek out Arepas Original Co. at Miami Marketta and Street Food and prepare to be amazed. For the uninitiated, arepas are a Venezuelan tradition that sit somewhere between a soft taco and a pocket bread and is essentially a gluten-free cornmeal flatbread that is grilled until perfectly crispy and stuffed with a variety of fillings. Arepas Original Co. offers seven different flavour combinations including the Pelua which contains shredded beef and cheddar cheese and the Reina Pepeada, which is grilled chicken and avocado. The arepas are then topped with fresh tomato slices and the house-made guasacaca, a zesty all-green sauce featuring avocado, lime, capsicum and cilantro (or coriander as it’s also known as) to deliver a flavour hit that dances across your tastebuds.

After moving to the Gold Coast in 2006 and lamenting our lack of Venezuelan food, Simon and his wife took matters into their own hands and started Arepas Original Co. Arepas Original Co. can be found at Miami Marketta and every Saturday night from 4:00 pm at Street Food Marketta.