Polito's Latin Café: Pupusas, Tacos, and Dessert in Coquitlam

Polito’s Latin Cafe in Coquitlam just opened a few months ago and has given the neighbourhood what it’s been lacking for a long time – latin flair. My friend Hilda brought Sherman and I here for dinner since she loves this place. I trust her recommendations as she has a pretty refined palate. I didn’t know what to expect when coming here since, but they have tacos, burritos, pupusas, quesadillas, a few specials, and dessert on the menu.

Interior

They can seat up to 60 people in the restaurant and can host large parties here. We came on a weekday, for the 3 of us, so it wasn’t that busy. They are busier on the weekends.

Drinks

Tamarind Juice, Horchata and Jamaica Juice are on the menu. They also have some unique drinks too that aren’t easy to find in Vancouver like Inca Cola, Guarana, Postobon Manzana, and a few other soft drinks.

Al Pastor Taco

This has pork, pineapple, cilantro and onions on top of 2 corn tortillas. A good solid taco.

Veggie Taco

This isn’t you regular veggie taco, it has fried plantain, black beans and cream.

Asada Taco

On this taco, there is shirt steak, cilantro and onions. A good simple taco thats pretty meaty.

Pollo Taco

This taco is topped with pulled chicken, cilantro, cream, and pico de gallo. This was my favourite of all the tacos as it has a good aroma and well spiced.

Pupusas

It’s really hard to find Pupusas in Vancouver and this is a El Salvadorian dish handmade thick corn tortilla filled with a filling. We got one of each since we wanted to try both.

Revuelta – Pork, beans, cheese, and sweet pepper
Queso – Cheese and Zuchinni

I gravitated towards the revuelta because the pork and beans added more flavour. It be delicious and not oily at all. The chef really puts hard effort in making sure he has the right cheese blend that works with the pupusas. You’re supposed to eat the pipusas with the slaw that has a nice kick to it.

Mar Y Tierra

This was one of the two specials they had today and it is a classic Latin American Surf n’ turf dish with marinated skirt steak, grilled prawns and served with latin-styled rice, black beans, pico de gallo and guacamole. We got the steak medium rare and it had great flavours but some parts of it was chewier than others.

Bandeja Polito’s

This is Polito’s take on a popular Columbian dish. It has chopped rib eye steak, beans, rice, fried egg, fried plantain, guacamole, and pico de gallo. Yet again, the steak was well seasoned with delicious flavours.

Chips, guac and pico de gallo

They made these just for us while we were here. Freshly fried tortilla chips with the guacamole and pico de gallo. Delicious!

Tres Leches

Holy smokes, this dessert was freaking fabulous. I don’t really like dessert, but this has changed my mind. It is sponge cake soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream. I would highly recommend getting this.

Flan

Another killer dessert that is pretty unique. It’s custard and caramelized cake with chocolate. It’s not too sweet, so I really liked it. Good combination with the cake under it. You have to get this dessert too.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was great to discover Polito’s Latin Cafe as there really aren’t a lot of these kinds of places around in the Lower Mainland that knock it out of the park. I really enjoyed it here and I love how it’s a family run business. I’ll definitely be back.

We Rate Polito’s Latin Cafe: