Fonda Chelsea

189 Ninth Avenue

(between 21st and 22nd Streets)

Continuing with my annual Halloween tradition of spending Halloween with my sister, we decided to go for upscale Mexican (in honor of both Halloween and Day of the Dead).

 

We decided to share a couple of appetizers as our meal, and they were more than filling.

We started with our favorite dish of the night: a made-to-order, mild Guacamole ($12.95 for two). It came with both a bucket of chips AND four hand-pressed soft tortillas (YUM!!). As we were wondering if we should have gone up to a “medium” spice, our server kindly provided us with some chile pepper on the side for us to spice accordingly to our own taste.

 

My sister ordered the special soup of the day: the Sopa de Frijol Con Chochoyones—a black-bean velvet soup with epazote masa dumplings, queso fresco, and crispy tortilla bits ($8.95).

It came in a large soup bowl and with all the black beans and doughy dumplings, my sister was basically finished eating for the rest of the night.

 

The other appetizers we ordered were disappointing.

We had the Duck Zarape ($13.95), which were soft tortillas filled with braised duck with roasted tomato-habanero cream sauce was rather tasteless. Yes, the sauce did add a spicy zing to the dish, but the meat itself was rather dry. So it just seemed like a cream sauce was added to mask the taste of the dry meat.

 

Our final appetizer was the Taquito de Pollo (three soft corn tortillas filled with pulled crispy Guajillo chicken with onions, cilantro, and salsa verde) for $9.95. While the onions, cilantro, and salsa verde was tasty, the chicken, like the duck, tasted too dry and worse I needed a knife to cut it as it was too hard for me to chew.

 

 

We also ordered a bottle of the L.A. Cette Sauvignon Blanc, which was a perfect accompaniment with our meal. My recommendation would be to take a sip after having some of the guacamole (especially with some additional topping of chile pepper!). It’s refreshing and clean-tasting, with a long finish.

Pros:

The guacamole!

Food is filling.

 

Cons:

Wish they had a restroom on the first floor. Bathrooms are only located on the second level of the restaurant.
 

Final Thoughts

Will definitely return for more guacamole!