Longtime favorite Delius digs in to Signal Hill

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES

It used to be that at Delius, you had to have faith. Dining was mostly out of your hands, locked up instead in the restaurant’s prix fixe meals, all based on set menus and served at set times. And it was that fixed experience that eventually built up diners’ trust, making Delius a popular spot on Long Beach Boulevard for over 10 years. With the restaurant’s recent move to Signal Hill, however, Delius sheds some of its conventions for something a bit more familiar-a la carte dining.

Pinned against Cherry Avenue’s lineup of car lots, the new Delius doesn’t look like a restaurant at all. A quick glance and it could pass as some sort of rental car satellite shop, maybe even a boutique hotel. But to its credit, Delius also stands out as a place that looks a lot like something you’d find on the way to Phoenix: all stucco and stones, colored in sand-worn shades of green, orange and brown. The restaurant skews toward the contemporary both outside and in, able to piece together a new a style that holds on to Delius’ past, but also feels decidedly fresh and clean.

The new a la carte menu follows suit, mostly, though some of the starters don’t quite stand up to Delius’ otherwise excellent menu. The ginger chicken wontons, for instance, break on first bite, sometimes causing their egg-shaped filling to slip out of the crispy containers. And the prosciutto-wrapped shrimp taste as though they would’ve been better off deconstructed-the shrimp left naked and the prosciutto simply left cured. So pass on those, cup your hands around a Chimay and wait for the bigger plates.

Delius’ entrees hit plenty of satisfying marks. The best way to get your fill is with the lamb shank, a huge hunk of meat about the size of a bulked-up bicep. The shank is dressed simply, but cooked perfectly-so tender you can practically strip the entire thing with a single scrape. There’s also your choice of mushroom orzo pasta or mashed potatoes, and a heap of vegetables on the side for a complete meal all on one plate.

The pork chop is a pleasure, too, pulling a sweet heat from its well-balanced maple Dijon sauce. The chop is thick and even a bit heartier than the shank, though it never overpowers the palate. And, amazingly, neither does the chipotle macaroni and cheese. Delius tempers the ever-popular chile and instead imparts only smokiness, pairing the macaroni with either shrimp or Andouille sausage for the most comforting comfort food.

If you feel like dessert, skip straight to Delius’ sticky toffee pudding. Chef Louise Solzman grew up under England’s gray skies, so she knows how to make the transatlantic dish: fluffy bits of dense date bread turned soft with a rich toffee sauce. It’s a fantastic end to any meal at Delius, and one that, if you let it cap your Saturday night, can lead you right into the restaurant’s fantastic Sunday brunch. There, Delius spreads out both the sweet and the savory: crème brûlée French toast, rosemary and mustard sausage, a yellow squash and mozzarella quiche, cornmeal crepes with ricotta and ham. It all makes for one of the best, most refined ways to start the end of your weekend.

Even with its new location and modified menu, much of Delius remains the same. The food is still excellent, Solzman still ambles out into the dining room to greet her guests, and husband Dave runs the front of the house with ease. And even though the prix fixe menu has been squeezed out to the margins by Delius’ inevitably popular a la carte options, it’s all still great-no reason to lose faith.

DELIUS 2951 CHERRY AVE | SIGNAL HILL 90755 | 562.426.0694 | DELIUSRESTAURANT.COM | FOOD FOR TWO, $40-70 | BEER, WINE

Tags: american, delius, lamb shank, prix fixe, Signal Hill