"Latin American Fusion" family restaurant is how Summersville's Original Flavor Bistro bills itself, with influences from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and more.
That is a lot of ground to cover - and the expansive menu reflects that: Arepas, cachapas, street food sandwiches, Polish sausages, mofongo, yucca, plantains, and a whole host of entrees that include churrasco steak, pork chicharron, fried swordfish and more.
I tried an empanada platter, which had 5 one-inch half-moon fried corn pastry stuffed with one of each: shredded roast beef, cheese, chicken, black bean and pork. These were also served with 5 different sauces: Rose Sauce (mayo-ketchup), Garlic Sauce, Chimichurri Sauce, Guadacaca Sauce (avocado), and Aji Spicy Sauce. I absolutely love the variety here, but they were a bit too oily for me, which was the overwhelming flavor.
We also tried a cachapa with cheese, which is a sweet cornmeal pancake cooked in butter and filled with white melted oaxaca cheese. I enjoy the touch of sweetness here and would love a flash of freshness, too.
Also had a Reina Pepiada, which is an arepa with pulled chicken, mayonnaise, and avocado. This is a savory cornmeal pocket and the pulled chicken is a cold chicken salad. That surprised me, because I was thinking a hot pulled chicken sandwich. But, not bad.
Patacones Sampler - 4 fried plantain green topped with 1 chicken, 1 pork, 1 beef and 1 shrimp, topped with coleslaw. This was fun, too, because it was a nice sampling of so many different flavors. All of which are good. The crispiness loses some crisp when the ingredients are piled on, but maybe I just n eed to e aat more quickly next time.
Grade: B
