Fonda

Santiago Lastra’s much-anticipated second restaurant has finally arrived, taking up a good-sized plot on Mayfair’s Heddon Street. Lastra and parent company MJMK clearly have no fear and great confidence in heaving Fonda straight into the lions’ den, with the likes of Ambassador’s Clubhouse and Sabor prowling just metres away.

And why would they? KOL has made Lastra a genuine star on the world stage, and Fonda has the presence of an A-lister. The restaurant revels in dusty pink and clay-baked ochre, lime wash and plaster. Grass green booths by the street-facing windows pop like cacti in the desert, whilst a square-tiled open kitchen sports a comal griddle and a large plancha, loaded with tortillas ready to send out to tables.

The compact menu is equally aesthetically pleasing, and is working hard to maintain KOL levels of beauty, whilst also living up to authentic Mexican cooking - an especially hard task given Fonda’s commitment to using only British ingredients. There are some places where, dare we say, the resulting dishes might even be better than the originals; Fonda’s baja fish taco is outrageously good, nestling a chunky piece of beer-battered cod alongside pistachio salsa and crunchy white cabbage. At £8 it’s not bad value too, and certainly worth ordering multiple. If it remains on the specials, we also highly recommend ordering the XL scallop (not a joke, it’s enormous) which is conscientiously divided into six meaty chunks, ready to be loaded onto a crisp tostada with a waft of charred habanero salsa.

Slow-cooked mole poblano short rib has the requisite depth and richness of a proper mole - not an easy thing to find in London - and we happily scoop it into more fresh corn tacos. Meanwhile, some of Fonda’s very best things are found among the drinks list, which oscillates between sharp, clean tequila cocktails and smoky mezcal mixes.

For the most part Fonda excels, though if we had one feeling, it’s that the restaurant might be holding back a tad. Despite warnings about the heat of certain salsas, for example, the threat of fire breathing is minimal. Fonda has a great deal going for it and perhaps it has started out gently, aware of its Mayfair surroundings. We’re excited to see what it becomes when it really gets into its stride.

Fonda is Mexican restaurant in Mayfair devised by KOL chef Santiago Lastra. Where KOL is more high-concept, Fonda's menu tackles more authentic, traditional flavours, albeit with Lastra's signature ingenuity. 

Lastra's first restaurant KOL has become, arguably, one of London's most successful over the last ten years, so it was really a matter of when, not if, he would open a second site somewhere. That second site is Fonda - a restaurant that Lastra says will showcase some more regional Mexican cooking from all over the country. Where KOL has become steadily more experimental and interesting, Lastra believes that Fonda will fill the figurative space left underneath KOL with some more down-to-earth, traditional Mexican cooking. 

A large part of that cooking is based around a traditional clay griddle called a comal, where tostadas and tacos are toasted. Fonda's tortillas are entirely made in-house, from the milling of the corn to the rolling and cooking of the tacos themselves. A compact selection of tacos sit alongside seasonal specials, and a small selection of mains that includes at the time of writing a slow-cooked short rib with mole poblano and pork carnitas with chicharron. Meanwhile, the dessert menu includes rice pudding with cinnamon, quince and mezcal custard, and Santiago's cheesecake, which comes with blackcurrant and meco chilli.

Interiors are inspired by traditional Mexican 'fondas' - the family owned Mexican restaurants that inspired the name. Colourful interiors take influence from the colours and textures of markets and homes in Mexico, and are styled in a way that pays homage to Mexican textiles, crafts and emerging designers.