La Fonda del Sol

My parents were in the city for a few days last week for a visit to check out the engagement ring and eat some good food. I had just gotten my birthday Patina gift certificate and decided this was a perfect opportunity to try out one of their new restaurants.

For those of you that don’t know, as a member of Patina’s restaurant club they send out a gift certificate every year for your birthday. If you spend $50 at one of their restaurants, they’ll pick up the next $50. It’s a pretty good deal.

You can check it out on their website here

So I made a reservation at La Fonda del Sol for Wednesday night.



Wednesday ended up being absolutely gorgeous in the city so when we arrived at the restaurant we asked to be seated outside. Luckily there was one table left and we got to enjoy the hustle and bustle of midtown.  My Mom and I got some wine and my Dad tried out thier Mojito.



Since La Fonda del Sol is a tapas joint we decided to just order a bunch of dishes and share everything.

We started with an order of the manchego croquetas and some meatball skewers.



The croquetas were awesome. I’ve always loved manchego cheese and it doesn’t get much better than being deep fried for a while. These were no joke- golden nuggets of goodness.



The meatball skewers were pretty good as well. For some reason I thought they would be a little more exciting but they simply tasted like a good old fashioned Italian meatball.

Next up we enjoyed the Lobster rolls and the Octopus salad.



I was really surprised how good the lobster rolls were. I am a die hard fan of Pearl and these had almost the same texture and meat to mayo ratio as they do there.



The Octopus on the other hand fell a little short. The pickled guindilla served alongside the dish was way to strong for the delicate Octopus and Spanish beans. All I tasted was the pickled flavor. It needed something to balance the acidity out a bit.

I could never eat a peck of pickled peppers like Peter Piper!

Next the Tuna Tacos and the Shrimp.



The tacos were really tasty I thought. They came stuffed with avocado and a little bit a pickled jalapeño. The flavors melded really well together without becoming too spicy.



The Garlic Shrimp we ordered was really tasty as well but it had its dangerous moments. Every once in a while I would get a bite that had some of the chili pods inside and my mouth would be on fire. Luckily the garlic chips and olive oil it came with helped to quell the burn.

Our last two dishes of the night were the Sea Scallops and the Spicy Potato “Bravas”

I decided to go all out with the potatoes and ordered the fried duck egg to come with it as well. Pairing the two with the spicy sauce was like a match made in heaven. I could have that for breakfast every day.

The scallop dish was the only true complete failure in my opinion. The Scallops were a little on the small side and the lime and salsas they used completely overpowered the taste. Kind of like the Octopus there was just way too much acidity.

So for all of this food, a bottle of Chardonnay and a Mojito the bill with the gift certificate came to about $70.00. That’s pretty good for a midtown Manhattan restaurant.

Would I come here to eat a full meal without the gift card? Probably not. I enjoyed the meal but at full price I don’t think it would have been worth it.

We finished up our meal, paid and then headed to my favorite place in the world for dessert, Gramercy Tavern.

La Fonda del Sol

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