A Fonda is a family home, turned local restaurant, open to anyone passing by. It is a place for the community to congregate and enjoy mamma’s cooking direct from her kitchen. A Fonda embodies the philosophy ‘My house, your house’ or ‘Mi Casa, Su Casa’.
Is it just me or are there more and more Mexican eateries popping up everywhere in Melbourne?
Los Amates has been here for a long time, then Mamasita kind of started the hype followed by New Market, Mad Mex, Trippy Taco... I've lost count.
Now there is Fonda Mexican to add to the list. Fonda is pretty close to home to my delight. Every time I drive past it, the place is absolutely packed.
Finally stopped for dinner the other day when I finished early and was able to get there early enough to get a table without waiting in queue.
Hubby and I decided to order a few small dishes to share and try out the menu.
We started with an antojito or bar snack tortilla crisps served with guacamole and smoky tomato salsa. Great tortillas and salsa, although there was not too much of it. The guacamole finished way before the crisps did.
A close up on the smoky tomato salsa shows how rustic is was presented - with big chunks of onion. Hubby thought that was a good sign - it's really home made. To me, it looked a bit too home made. Seriously, dicing an onion is not that hard.
Smoky tomato salsa
For something a bit more substantial, 12'' burrito of chopped beef was a winner. The mixture of beef and pork was complemented well by the chunky black beans. The tomato salsa and aioli made the burrito really moist, without being too runny. This was my favourite dish.
Chopped beef and pork burger, black beans, salsa roja, chipole aiolli ($13.50)
We also ordered a couple of tacos. The vegetarian taco of of squash, zucchini, peas and mint was pretty good and fresh. The braised port taco was my favourite. I loved the sweet and sour combination of pork and pineapple and the tangy lime.
Braised pork taco with pineapple, onion. coriander and lime ($5)
Vegetarian taco of squash, zucchini, peas, mint, salsa verde and lime ($5)
As the name says, Fonda is a pretty casual restaurant. You order and pay at the counter and help yourself to water and cutlery. Staff is really nice for a minimum service type of place.
We had a fun, tasty, quick and cheap meal - great value at $15 a head. A winner for week nights.
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