Dalia's African Cuisine — Restaurant in Virginia

TERRIBLE SERVICE AND UNDER COOKED BLOODY CHICKEN - FOR THE PRICE!

I was excited about trying the cuisine, so I ordered online a few signature dishes. The cost was around 140 dollars for 4 dishes and some meat pies. The cost was not an issue until we opened the bags to partake in the food. The first thing we tried were the meat pies, that they seemed to just toss in a plastic bag (see photos attached). Terrible presentation, but the pies were tasty. The second dish we tried was the JERK CHICKEN - as soon as you cut into the meat - it squirted a mixture of blood and spices! (see photos attached). The third dish we tried was the (2) orders of OXTAILS - they were delicious, however for the price point to get 3 small pieces of oxtail was disappointing. Finally we tried the BANKU with Tilapia - very good, the fish was cooked thru and the spices and veggies were on point. The sides on all the dishes were nicely seasoned and delicious-plantains, coleslaw, rice and peas and joloff rice.

The other blaring issue is customer service and decent communication. I ordered this meal thru the online tool, who notified me when to pickup the food - 3:09 pm was the time, I was there at 3:10 pm. I did not get my order until 3:45 pm! I watched as two customers who clearly ordered after me receive their orders. Of course I inquired when I entered the establishment and the owner assured me just a few minutes- they cook the fish to order. No problem, I want my food freshly prepared. So 30 minutes in I approach again, mind you I have not left the establishment, and was told they had burned the fish and needed to prepare it again. Why not communicate to your customers that there was a problem- instead of having me sit there not knowing what the heck is going on!?!?

Now you must be asking yourself - after about an hour and a half from order to pickup- why was the JERK CHICKEN a bloody mess? Especially since you had more time to prepare everything!!

TERRIBLE Service! Food under cooked and price points don’t match food quantity or quality! (clearly, I am not the first customer with this issue).

Please DO BETTER - it is nice to see after 15 years of residency in this area this genre of culture and cuisine, but the way you’re going will cause you to be...

Tired of the same ole thing and wanted to try something different.

Read the reviews about this place and decided to give it a try. The service was fine, but unfortunately the food was terrible.

For starters, anything that I actually wanted was not available.😒 That should have been my queue to go somewhere else. I made myself find something that I thought was safe, jolIof rice and chicken.

This is not cheap food and I do not appreciate giving away $18 for this unimpressive meal, which was a very generous serving, but I threw most of it in the trash. Serving a lot of nasty food does not do anything for me.🤨

The chicken was undercooked, which is the main reason that I do not like bone-in chicken.

I was even more disappointed with the plantains which were hard and dry; they did not appear to be fresh.

The rice was edible and the salad just had too much mayo. 😖

This food did not appear to be fresh and none of it was hot. The only thing that did appear to fresh was the boiled egg, which I do not like. 😐

This was my first...

My boyfriend found this location when he was arriving back from his trip. So I was not aware that there was a African-American cuisine in Stafford! The last place opened up in the area ended up closing down back in 2015.

Very shocked to see this restaurant! I was happy to hear that they opened up in 2020. Because due to covid-19 a lot of restaurants did not survive. But I was very glad that they still remained open after everything.

Upon walking in we were told what was available on their menu and we dined in. We ended up talking to all of the staff regarding the restaurant. We ate and I really enjoyed everything. The owner recommended to try something a bit easier for me. I knew that would have been fine since it was my first time having an African dish.

(I ate Fufu and Goat and boyfriend had Jerk Chicken)

I definitely would be coming back!

The staff didn't have a stock of soda. Only had Pepsi and Fanta. They did offer us some water with our meal which did help out since they asked us if we like spicy...