Fonda Fora - Review

Fonda took Foraver

Had the pleasure to eat at Fonda Fora on probably the last nice patio day of the year. It was still nippy. I like to use the word nippy as much as possible. Nips. Vibes of the patio were on point with minimalist concrete walls with plants to add a touch of color. Felt like an upscale restaurant from Mexico tbh. 

Now onto the drinks, I had three of em. Firstly, the best and tastiest one was the Lolita. Had a nice earl grey flavor with some citrus notes and a good portion of egg white. Most characteristics of all these cocktails was the alcohol wasn’t too overpowering so they were all easy to down. Second drink was the Muy Caliente that had mezcal with habanero, serrano, passionfruit, lime and tajin. For a spicy style of drink I thought it was on par with most. I thought this would be a bit more exciting. Third drink was the the Goddess and it was refreshing as hell. The Espolon Blanco Tequilla with cochi rosa, fion sherry, apricot, mint, lemon and lime. This reminded me of a fruitier and tastier mojito. Would’ve been perfect had it been hotter on the patio.

Now the food was….slow. Possibly a mixup in the kitchen as our food came out slow and out of order. Had our prawn main come out with appetizers. So it was strange. However, we had started with the Salsa Tasting aka Salsa flight. I love flights. I’ll order a flight of anything wherever I go and this one was pretty dope despite minimal amount of tortilla chips. The salsas here were xnipec, cruda, morita, macha and habanera. The tastiest one was the habanera and also the spiciest (not so spicy) macha. The macha had a nutty taste and was ok hot but the flavor was a chef’s kiss. 

The Camorones Adobados was the grilled whole Alberta prawns. The menu literally says “yes Alberta” like it would be a major draw to eat these but they weren’t special for $27 it is not a good idea. For the price I feel like I shouldn’t have to dirty my hands and peel these prawns like a peasant. Pffffft

Choriqueso was the last of our appetizers and was probably the tastier of the bunch. Homemade chorizo stuffed with panela cheese, pickles, white onion and shishito escabeche. While the chorizo itself was on point all the extra garnishes felt out of place. Seemed to be incorporated into the dish just as an extra topping. 

Now maybe an hour later from our first dish was our main. The Carne Asada was Alberta ribeye with tallow macha compound butter and marinated green onion. I was starving for this dish at this point in the service and it kind of fell flat. It was a tad bland and was really only being carried by butter. Staff knew we had waited for a while so gave us a side of Papas Bravas which was actually delicious. These “spicy potatoes” packed some great flavor and rounded out this main course with some needed carbs.

Lastly, the final dish was the churros that had a pasionfruit and white chocolate ganache dip. This was light and the expected cinnamon deliciousness that a classic churro should be. Would recommend these. 

What I can’t recommend is going out of your way to eat here. The carne asada was $80 for 20oz of ribeye. That’s almost 3x the price of ribeye. Fondas were known for inexpensive food and to be fair there’s no value here. It’s extremely inflated and probably covers the cost of the ultra sexy minimalist decor. Seriously it’s IG worthy. But the cost of the food and the lackluster flavor really disappointed me. A couple of years ago I visited Mexico City and went to one of the best financial district restaurants with a similar vibe/menu. They had tortillas sitting there for free which is kind of what I expected from this place. But it’s $4 for 4 tortillas which is disappointing considering none of the dishes come with sides. Fondas were known for inexpensive food and to be fair there’s no value here. Felt bad for our waitress as it wasn’t her fault for the long service but the restaurant wasn’t even packed so I feel like the kitchen needs to step it up in the future. While this may be the spot in Calgary for some quick lunch or after-work drinks, the cocktails will keep you coming but the food will be an afterthought if they don’t consider changing the food menu up. Don’t touch the drink menu, it’s immaculate.

Sal says: Just Try It (2.1/5)

Dallas says: Salsa flights was good and unique, stela was good but bad plating/no sides was super weird and then made it over priced. Service took a long time and churros were good but way too small.