Ten Reasons why Delicias is better than the rest:
10. Quaint, low-key tearoom setting.
9. Spanish-style breakfasts are served, as well as lunch, dinner, and chocolate con churros for merienda (afternoon snack).
8. Dining room leads to Delicias's Spanish import market (both opened in 1997 and seem to expand every few years), which sells thousands of items such as hams, cheeses, sausages, wines, perfumes, ceramics, and a wide array of paella pans.
7. Fresh fish flown in from Spain's Cantabric Sea twice a week.
6. Fabiano Asturiana, a meat-and-bean specialty from Asturia, Spain (native land of husband/wife owners Ernesto Llerandi and Isabel Miranda).
5. Gazpacho andaluz, garlic-laden clams, and peppers stuffed with bacalao and rice, each under $10.
4. Small tray of luxurious Ibérico ham ($25).
3. Large tray of luxurious Ibérico ham ($45).
2. Pastry cases filled with homemade charlottes, tarts, cakes, soufflés, petits fours, truffles — plenty of choices to accompany a steamy café con leche.
1. Monkfish in garlic sauce ($25) and lubina a la plancha (griddled sea bass, $25), langostinos a la plancha (griddled king prawns, $30), served with garlicky roasted potatoes. That's about half what it would cost in your favorite Spanish restaurant.