Noshwellmenu

Delicias de Alicia attempts to address a hole in the sphere of Latin cuisine in Vancouver. This South Burnaby mom and pop shop delivers home cooked, Cuban dishes by — mom and pop, literally.

(Above: Pescado en salsa with rice and beans.)

On a Saturday night, the restaurant that now occupies what used to be Betty’s Fish and Chips, is empty with no activity. Our server peers curiously out of the kitchen and slowly shuffles over to deliver the single sheeted menus as we eased into our seats.

Case and I are completely unfamiliar with Cuban cuisine, but were curious enough to dive in — Case with the Pescado en salsa (Fried fish), and myself with the Fricase de Pollo (A stewed chicken). Each of the dishes were served with beans, rice and salad. Normally, the Pescado comes with something called Yuca with mojo, but was replaced with fried plantains, as they were all out of mojo.

We received our first hint of what was to come as the ominous beeping of the microwave emitted from the kitchen — and minutes later, a second beeping. Our salads arrived, arranged in what appeared to be an attempt at artistic plating. We were informed by our server to dress it with a lemon juice and garlic concoction that sat forlornly in a bottle at the side of the dining table. The salad was bland.

(Clockwise: 1. Fried plantains. 2. All purpose lemon and garlic dressing. 3. Salad.)

The fried plantains that arrived were a step in the right the direction, although it too could have benefitted from a touch of seasoning. Case’s fish arrived oily, had some promising flavours, but was ultimately bland. My chicken, although fall apart tender, was surprisingly dry and short on flavour despite being bathed in sauce. The rice and beans were forgettable at best.

Our meal came to over $26 including taxes and tips, which seemed overpriced for the quality of food we received. The dishes seemed to have potential, and the proprietors appeared genuinely nice — but the execution just seemed way off.

Perfect for: sorry, we got nothing.

The Details

4854 Imperial Street, Burnaby
604.569.1575

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