Cafe Delicias Cocina Mexicana in Albuquerque's Northeast Heights
There’s no denying the ever-increasing popularity of Mexican food across America, but it may surprise you to learn that in the estimation of some sources, it has supplanted Italian food as the favorite ethnic cuisine in the land. Marketplace, a nationally syndicated business oriented radio program with more than nine-million listeners a week, says there’s no bones about it, calling Mexican food “the most popular ethnic food in the U.S., bigger than Italian or Chinese.” Askmen.com confirms only that “Mexican has become one of the three most popular cuisines in the U.S., with nearly 90% of the total population having tasted it.”
According to Marketplace, there are some 90,000 or so Mexican restaurants across the fruited plain. The loose categorization of “Mexican restaurants” not only includes our incomparable New Mexican cuisine and our neighboring state’s Tex-Mex, but such chains as Chevy’s, Chipotle, El Torrito, Taco Bell and others of the ilk. Lest you become agitated that such Mexican “in name only” restaurants would make a sacrosanct list, the truth is that even among restaurants owned and operated by Mexican immigrants you’ll find pretenders serving less than authentic Mexican cuisine. Sometimes they do so to remain competitive in markets saturated for so long by the aforementioned chains that the local dining public knows no better. In other cases, would be authentic restaurants sacrifice authenticity for convenience when they’re not able to find key ingredients at a reasonable price.
Cafe Delicias is not the stereotypical Mexican restaurant
Several years ago, the proliferation of chefs not properly trained and steeped in the culture behind Japanese cuisine so rankled the ire of Japanese chefs that they formed advocacy groups aimed at protecting their highly traditional and exquisitely artistic form of cooking. The Mexican government has followed suit, founding the Mexican Restaurant Association (MERA), a trade association chartered to encourage the spread of more authentic cuisine. More than 1,000 members strong, MERA recognizes that advocacy is just so much empty air without action so it helps members locate and negotiate better prices for authentic ingredients which are often very difficult to find.
It’s indicative of our famous attitude of acceptance (or perhaps the sheer number of tourists) that Taco Bell has survived for so long in New Mexico. For most of us, however, “run for the border” is a much more literal term–as in head out to our favorite purveyor of magnificent and authentic Mexican food. Fortunately, the Land of Enchantment has long been blessed to have a plethora of irrefutably authentic Mexican restaurants, some so good you might swear you’ve been transported to the Land of Montezuma.
Chips and salsa at Cafe Delicias
When my compadre Rico Martinez craves “real Mexican food,” he heads to Delicias Cafe which he considers “better than any Mexican restaurant I’ve tried in Albuquerque.” Rico has become Delicias unofficial publicist, waxing poetic about his new favorite on Urbanspoon and telling everyone he knows about it. I wish he had told me sooner. Delicias is every bit as good as he said, maybe better. Best of all, it’s got that real south-of-the-border authenticity aficionados like Rico and me crave.
That authenticity is confirmed by my friend and fellow blogger Steve Coleman of Steve’s Gastronomic Home Page. Steve is an authority on Mexican food, having traveled extensively throughout our southern neighbor. For years he also chronicled his visits to Mexican restaurants in El Paso on his very well written blog. He knows what he’s talking about so when he says “one thing I like about Delicias is its ability to reproduce the same kind of experience that could be found by walking into any restaurant at random in Cuidad Juarez or other cities in the state of Chihuahua, you can take it to the bank.”
A trio of Sopes: Carne sado, Chile Verde and Beans
Ironically when you walk into Delicias Cafe at the Fiesta Del Norte Shopping Center in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights, it would be a stretch to imagine yourself at a Mexican restaurant in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. That is, until the inimitable aromas of wonderfully seasoned Mexican food waft toward you. In terms of ambiance, you have to look closely to find any of the stereotypical decorative touches of a Mexican restaurant, particularly those of the faux Mexican restaurants. In fact Delicias Cafe doesn’t seem to have changed much of the ambiance of Perennials Restaurant, its predecessor at this bright, east-facing restaurant.
The genesis of the aromas which greet you at the door can come from any number of items on the menu, a veritable compendium of Mexican food favorites. Delicias Cafe, which has three sister restaurants in Las Cruces and one in El Paso, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner though you can have breakfast any time of day. The menu showcases the cuisine of Delicias, a city in Chihuahua some 250 miles from Cuidad Juarez. Delicias translates literally from Spanish to “delights,” a well-earned term for the food at this delightful restaurant. It also sounds a bit like “delicious” which is also fitting.
Caldo de Res (Beef stew with large pieces of vegetables)
Shortly after you’re seated, a complimentary basket of chips and a bowl of salsa are delivered to your table. The salsa isn’t especially piquant, but it’s got a very fresh, lively flavor with just a hint of jalapeño and garlic. The chips are large and thin, but substantial enough to scoop up Gil-sized portions of salsa. Service is so quick that you probably won’t finish your first bowl of salsa before your appetizers or entrees are delivered.
The Antojitos de Banqueta (appetizers and snacks) menu lists only seven items, perhaps a consequence of portion size–both appetizers and entrees–being almost profligate in size. Finish your appetizer and you probably won’t finish your entree. If you don’t order an appetizer to make sure you have room for your entree, you’ll miss out on such terrific starters as sopes, three fried corn masa patties topped with sundry ingredients: asado on one, chile verde on another and beans on the third. At first glance the sopes resemble small, thick tortillas and in a sense they are. The sopes are also topped with lettuce, shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes and an acidified cream.
Enchiladas Suizas: three rolled enchiladas stuffed with chicken and dipped in Suiza sauce (tomatillo, jalapeno and sour cream)
The first entree to strike my fancy was Enchiladas Suizas, a fabulous dish invented in Mexico City’s Sanborn’s restaurant. As you’ve probably surmised, “Suiza” means Swiss, a tribute to the fact that this dish uses both cream and cheese. Delicias Cafe rendition is among the very best I’ve ever had. Three rolled corn tortillas are engorged with finely shredded white meat chicken then are covered in a sauce of tomatillo, jalapeño and sour cream with shredded cheese in the mix, too. The enchiladas have a delightfully slightly sour tanginess that impregnates the perfectly prepared poultry. The enchiladas Suizas are served with beans and rice, but these are hardly standard. The beans have that prepared in lard flavor while the rice is fluffy with nary a clump.
As if the Enchiladas Suizas weren’t enough, my delightful waitress also brought me a bowl of Caldo de Res, a beef stew with large pieces of vegetables and rice. She told me this hearty, delicious stew came with the enchiladas. This near-entree sized stew is as good as they come with a beef-flavored broth as comforting as broth comes. The vegetables are perfectly prepared and fresh-flavored while the rice is a pleasant surprise.
Chilaquiles con mole (served with chicken, eggs, hash browns and beans)
Coincidentally on the date of my inaugural visit, Barbara Trembath, a long-time friend of this blog and another of my most trusted sources of restaurants throughout the fruited plain, visited Delicias Cafe a few hours before I did. Though she was positively giddy over the entire menu, she was most excited about the fact that the restaurant has four different chilaquiles dishes and described them as “hands-down the best.” If the chilaquiles con mole are an indication, she’s absolutely correct. More than most mole, this one has the prominent flavor of chocolate, one of its chief ingredients. It’s a dark brown mole redolent with complex flavors. Order it with the shredded chicken which is light, fluffy and moist. For breakfast, the chilaquiles are served with two eggs, beans and hash browns.
Delicias Cafe lives up to its name. It is one of the most delightful and delicious Mexican restaurants in the city with a wonderful authenticity aficionados will love.
Cafe Delicias
6601 San Mateo, N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
505-830-6561
Web Site
LATEST VISIT: 11 February 2012
1st VISIT: 12 February 2012
# OF VISITS: 2
RATING: 21
COST: $$
BEST BET: Sopes, Enchiladas Suizas, Caldo de Res, Salsa and Chips, Chilaquiles con Mole
Bob of the Village of Los Ranchos (145)