The Nou, Altamonte Springs

I had lunch at this Venezuelan restaurant in a crappy (proper use of the adjective low class British people) strip mall on 436 nearing Apopka yesterday. It had housed a fish and chips place and an excellent taco place that I think predate this blog. It's a small little sliver that ownership has done its best with a small budget to beautify. I had a bowl of lentil soup with beef chunks for $5 and the Reina Pepiada arepa "sandwich" for $5. The soup was overly salted. I had trouble getting whatever broth was attached to the beef pieces down my throat. I've vowed to stand up to the salt stampede. Do people really have such bad palettes now? You realize it's bad for you? It's not inocuous. Anyway, the beef was tender (as were the lentils). The arepa was fine (slightly mushy inside/undercooked). The contents were mayonaised shredded chicken, avocado, carrots and peas. It could have used a contrast. And this is my problem with most of the cooking from this part of the world. It's one dimensional. They just keep hitting you on top of the head with more of the same components. The peas and carrots added a little sweetness (although they were probably frozen), but, this dish was begging for brightness. Add some citrus or vinegar. Add a spicy pepper. Do something to counteract the pastyness. Especially in summer. That said, you could see it was made to order and the serving size was large. I didn't need that soup. They said they were going to change the menu soon so I won't go into detail about it. There were about twenty items. Things were reasonably priced to cheap. They were adding breakfast. The place seats about thirty. It was half full of what appeared to be Venezuelans. The place was white with black elements. They have the traditional Polar beer. Food from this locale is no longer a rarity in the area, so, purveyors will have to compete on quality. I think there is enough passion and hopefully enough talent in the kitchen to let them compete. Not a destination spot, but, a hidden prospect. BTW - they comped me on the soup on their own. How's that for respect for their clientele?