Fuego de Lotus

(UPDATE 10/22/12: With the D-Street Noshery pod closing at the end of October, Fuego de Lotus has moved to SE 28th and Ankeny, next to Grilled Cheese Grill)

Fuego de Lotus is a Venezuelan food cart located in the D-Street Noshery food pod in Portland, Oregon.

I ordered their pork belly arepa ($6): pork belly stewing in a red chili maple sauce, topped with pickled onions, cilantro, and cotija cheese. Just amazing food presentation!

Menu

Pork belly arepa

The man taking my order really approved of my decision to get this arepa. And man, I can see why it's likely their most popular item. First of all, just amazing food presentation. But then you get to the best part: eating.

The succulent pork belly and the sweet red chili maple sauce produce an amazing marriage. The pickled red onions, salty cotija cheese, and fresh cilantro produced several layers of flavor. A delicious flavor-balanced arepa!

Of course, I just had to pick up this bad boy and eat it like a taco. Success...sorta. The thick, toasted corn cake held most of the pork belly and toppings inside. I sopped up the last of that red chili maple sauce with whatever corn cake I had left! A very nice portion for $6.

Honestly, the sweetness in the red chili maple sauce could have been toned down just a tad. But that's really nitpicking on my part...it's still delicious.

Fuego de Lotus also has a house-made habanero sauce, but I didn't think it added anything to my experience. It's still great that they offered it, though!

Habanero sauce

***While Fuego de Lotus promotes gluten-free meals, their corn masa (used to make the corn cakes for the arepas) were processed in a facility that also processes wheat. So very sensitive gluten-intolerant people should still be very cautious when ordering here.

I can see why people have given Fuego de Lotus positive reviews. The pork belly arepa was a smash hit, and I look forward to my next trip here. 8.25/10