Fonda Mexican — Restaurant in Melbourne

I had a look over some of the reviews of this place before coming here and I do want to preface a couple of things:

1. the guacamole was just smashed avocado and with the assumption that guacamole is more than smashed avocado I can understand people's irks about this. Personally, I would have liked the assumed guac as it adds more to the dish.
2. I wholeheartedly get why people were disappointed with the quesadillas and I personally didn't order them based on the reviews. Also looking into the price of them I couldn't justify spending that much money on them when it's a tortilla folded in half with fillings inside.

As for my experience, it was what I expected as I wanted something casual and nothing too much for dinner. My partner and I were seated pretty quickly - though the table was a little sticky (but not sticky enough to be bothersome). We ordered the pork burrito bowl, nachos, tacos (beef, chicken and prawn) and 2 margs and all of this was done via a QR code. I docked a couple of points from there because part of the customer service is someone taking the order and personally I like being able to order from a person as opposed to a QR code. As for the food, the nachos came out first and they were pretty good. I enjoyed them and the serving was pretty big - definitely worth the price. As for the pork burrito bowl, it was nice - though it was pretty packed with red cabbage but given the richness of the pork, it did balance out the pork. And the tacos, order the beef or prawn - skip the chicken. The beef was very flavourful and rich whereas the prawn had a nice crunch and sweetness from the pineapple. The chicken, in my opinion, was sort of bland in comparison to the other 2. The margs we ordered were a lychee and elderflower frozen marg and a watermelon marg. Lychee and elderflower was great but the watermelon marg - you can give it a pass. I don't know about you but I love watermelon and I want the watermelon flavour in my drinks. As for the atmosphere, it was definitely a vibe and the decor was lovely. Overall, the experience was a 4/5 though ordering through QR codes was a bit...

We visited Fonda late last year and had the best time. I'm not sure what has happened since then. The quality of the food, drinks, and service are all noticeably lower, and while I understand that supply chains rah rah have driven prices up, when you're paying upwards of $50 for a drink and a meal it's reasonable to expect the quality to remain consistent at the very least. The service was questionable. I appreciate hospo workers and I try not to make their life harder, but I still believe in being provided a certain quality of service.I had to stand at the steps waiting for a long time while no staff made an attempt to seat me. I eventually had to stop one as they walked right next to me and attempted to avoid eye contact. There is also insufficient awareness of how inaccessible their venue is. I had a pram in tow and the staff told me to take the stairs without offering to help, and I said I could not do that. Only then did they offer to send us to the lift, but made out like it was the biggest inconvenience. We were told to walk down the street, and then up an alley and once we got there (alley was paved with cobblestones btw so very bumpy rough etc) there was no identification of which was Fonda, so again we were left waiting until someone came to get us. Why not either escort, or at the very least have someone waiting for a party you know is coming? I can not imagine how this would be for anyone requiring a mobility aide. Finally, the food/drinks. Again I can accept the increase in price etc. I can NOT accept the terrible quality of food. Especially not sure what is going on with the "cheese". The disgusting plastic squeeze tube cheese was lathered on everything and honest to god tasty cheese would have been better and more acceptable. The nacho chips were stale, which is an insult to injury when you're paying $20+ for a bowl! And the drinks were icy and half hearted. I loved Fonda when it first opened, and have been a few times but this will...

If hunger was an art form, this restaurant would be the Picasso of disappointment.

I've been here twice. The first time, delicious. Took a little bit, but it was tasty when it came. Second time, years later, and the reason for this review, my word. Shocking. Table of 5. Ordered 5 meals, 5 drinks. Order over $150. The restaurant was not busy, every second table was vacant. Here's a timeline of the night: Order confirmed at 7:55pm. First dish arrived at 8:10pm. Nachos. Chips stale. Drinks arrived at 8:20pm. Decent, however the pineapple cocktail wasn't good. Two more dishes arrived at 8:35pm. At 8:45pm, waiter came to the table holding two dishes - one quesadillas and one burrito - finally, our last two meals. The waiter said "oh i forgot which one... quesadillas?", we said yep and got them. Then she just left with the other dish and gave it to a table that was sat much later than us. 5 minutes pass and one of our table went to ask what was going on. A timid girl said she'd find out. 5 minutes more pass, almost 9pm now, and we're told by a different young girl that they have run out of pork and therefore can't make the last order, and asked if we'd like to change it (interestingly, the last dish to arrive was also pork). We just said to refund it (there was no apologies or anything at all, very nonchalant).

So I left the venue hungry and annoyed. If there was any reason for a one-star review, this has to be it. I spent an hour here and didn't even get to eat.

Afterwards, we went down the road to Grill'd so I could fill my empty, screeching belly. One burger and chips for a table for 5. We cheered and clapped as it was brought out within 5 minutes of ordering.

This visit to Fonda was...