Tuesday, March 30, 2010

3/26/10-La Fonda Colombian Cuisine, Hartford, CT

We were in the mood for something different before the Wolfpack game on Friday night, so we went through our certificates and decided on La Fonda--so glad we did!

The neighborhoods of Hartford leave lots to be desired, but this south end location isn't too bad (at least I wasn't scurrrrred). It is a little place--blink and you'll miss it! We found some on the street parking and went inside. Our waitress spoke a little English, I spoke a little Spanish and soon we had our drinks and we ordered one beef and one chicken empanada to start. The empanadas arrived piping hot with a spicy tomato-based dipping sauce to try--they were fantastic! We wished we ordered more of them--and at $1.25 each, it's a steal. We had a bit of a language barrier when I asked what an "arepa" was, but the waitress sent over a gentleman who was more than happy to help out. We decided we were definitely going to try one, so we picked one with shredded chicken--the arepa was, hands down, the best part of the meal--it is a flatbread made of a different style of corn, topped with the shredded chicken, diced tomatoes and peppers. It was unbelieveably flavorful and we are so glad we tried it!

For our entrees, I tried the typical La Fonda plate--red beans, white rice, chopped ground beef, grilled pork, sausage, grilled plaintains, all topped with a fried egg. I enjoyed being able to try a bit of everything, but it was a bit dry unfortunately, with the exception of the sausage with the flavors of cumin--excellent. Tom had the churrasco, which came with rice and beans and the chimichurri sauce--a huge piece of steak! The chimichurri sauce gave the steak an incredible flavor.

Overall, we had a good experience. Our waitress was pleasant and we were glad to try something much different than the norm. We hope to come back soon!

No website, located on Franklin Ave. in Hartford.

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