Review of 'Guayoyo Cafe'

A personal favourite

So, you know what Venezuelan food is right? Ok, ok, it is South American and likely has more than a bit of influence from Spain. So, sure, Empanadas, but what else? Imagine our surprise when first moving to Nantwich to discover a small hole-in-the-wall Venezuelan café. I can't recall having ever seen one when living in London and here in a small village what do we find? With our recent decision to try a new local restaurant every week Guayoyo was quite close to the top of the list and we are very glad it was.

Inside - Towards Front

Their hours are very café – From 11 am to 5 pm Wednesday to Sunday and Sunday 10 am to 3 pm. So if you want to have dinner here or visit on a Monday and Tuesday you will be out of luck. Which is only fair given that it is run by a charming family from, wouldn't you know it, Venezuela. The small café is opposite the Nantwich Museum on Pillory Street and is split equally between cooking area and seats with only about 5 tables (toilets are upstairs, this place is tiny!). On arriving on farmer market Saturday just after noon it was quite busy so we had to take bar-style seating at an elevated table near the door (later we swapped for normal seats and a table when it's occupants left).

The four page menu on a clipboard helpfully explains what each dish is and when we were in there they had a TV with a helpful video further explaining and showing the food. Briefly: Tequenos (£7 for 5), Breakfast (£12.50), Empanadas (£5 or £7 for the “Pabellion”), “Venezuelan Bakery” (£5.50, “Cachitos Brioche”), Arepas (£7.90 to £9.90 in various flavours), the “Favourite to Share 2 People” (£22) which sampled a number of their dishes in smaller servings but, sadly, only available Wednesday to Friday, Pabellon options (£12.90), Tostadas (£12.90), Patalon (£12.90 a plantain burger), “Beach Toston” (£9.90, “plantain trio”), “Venezuelan Hot Dog” (£7.50) then (home made) desserts, drinks and cafes. Hum, so where to start? We picked some of the most striking dishes having a bit of advice from our friendly server who also translated for his parents who were cooking.

Tesquenos

First up were the recommended “Tesquenos” – “Fingers of fried wheat dough wrapped around a tasty Venezuelan cheese with Papelon [sugar cane juice] reduction and Pepperoncino”. They were extraordinarily hot when they arrived at the table fresh from the fryer 10 feet away from our table. Warned at their heat we had a hard time keeping from devouring these wonderfully mild but tasty variation on pub deep-fried cheese sticks. The sweet dip worked well with the mild but very mozzarella-like cheese.

Empanada Pabellon

Next up was something we were more familiar with: An Empanada, “Gluten free cornmeal empanadas [deep fried pastry pockets], fried with different fillings”. We chose the “Pabellon” filling which was described as “Pulled beef, black beans, plantain, cheese” (£7). This was quite delicious and a good sized portion. The flavours all melded together into a wonderful whole, again, a bit mild but very warming and lovely.

Arepa Pork

With a whole page devoted to them we had to try an “Arepa” (“…Venezuelan national dish made with gluten free white cornmeal”) with pork filling. This was a massive portion with the large amount of filling sandwiched inside a dense, moist cornmeal “bun” that has been lightly browned. There were huge amounts of delicious pork along with cheese and a few token vegetables. It was served with a wonderful garlic dip but we were also offered hot sauce (siracha) as well. Absolutely wonderful and is certainly adequate as a main for one person…

Tiramisu

After sharing three large dishes we were not entirely keen on dessert but were talked into it by our server (and his mother, in somewhat broken English). Their desserts are home made and, when they are gone, they are gone so the only dessert remaining was tiramisu which, granted, is not what I would call a Venezuelan dish but was quite good nonetheless - Thankfully, for someone who does not drink alcohol, there was none of the typical coffee liqueur but a massive amount of coffee…Quite moist and delicious, served with a bit of cream on the side which helped to slightly moderate the intense coffee flavour.

Interior - Back

The whole experience was absolutely amazing with the staff making us feel very welcome and the atmosphere was so relaxed and comfortable we really enjoyed our visit. At a bit more than £30 for the two of us (I think they may have forgotten to charge us for the Tesquenos…) including drinks it is not too expensive and the food is so delicious - Maybe a bit basic cooking but filling and comforting with interesting ingredients.

We told them we would be back and so we will to work our way through the other options on the menu.

Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”

Review Date: 2022-06-25


Cuisine: Venezuelan

Address: 28 Pillory St, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5BD ENGLAND

Location: Cheshire (England) - Nantwich

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Telephone: +44 (0) 7888 643305

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