Sunday, April 11, 2010

The Delicias Life: Las Delicias in Van Nuys

Las Delicias is a Costa Rican restaurant in Van Nuys. They serve a variety of traditional Costa Rican dishes, but the highlight for me was definitely the chorreadas. Described on the menu as corn fritters, the chorreadas look like flour tortillas but taste like green corn tamales. They have great texture, crispy and chewy, with a slightly sweet corn flavor. Get them con natilla and they are served with a small container of crema which is the perfect condiment. These things are addictive but also filling, a perfect snack food.

The main dish offerings were fine, but not as pleasing as the fritters. The Casado Tico seems to be the most recommended dish, a combination plate including steak fajita, pork chunks or chicken with rice, beans, a potato hash and a fried plantain. We tried both the beef and pork which were a bit bland, though the house-made hot sauce is a good, tangy accompaniment. My favorite thing on the main plates may have been the beans; they are blended until smooth like Salvadoran red beans though a bit drier, but the most fantastic thing is they have a slightly sweet taste that is charming in its unfamiliarity; I spend the last part of the dinner scraping up the remaining beans from the banana leave upon which they are served.

Rice pudding fans at our table raved about the rice pudding (arroz con leche) which I did like, but I just don't get that excited about rice pudding.

The vibe at Las Delicias is nice-casual. You order at the counter and sit in the seating area to wait for your dishes. The staff is friendly and helpful.

Las Delicias
15355 Sherman Way
Van Nuys, CA 91406
(818) 988-8323

1 comment:

SinoSoul said...

Have a feeling, despite the fact that we will actually be in Costa Rica next month, you had a better meal than what I'll be sampling. And we're back to no pix! Yes!