Fonda Taqueria

January 19, 2024

A Mexican restaurant after my own heart! Fonda used to be located at the Rosslyn Riviera Mall and I really loved that location because of how much space it had. Luckily they didn’t close down completely and just moved to the rooftop food court at Sarit centre.

They’ve kept the decor very similar, bright colours, stained glass, nice little Mexican elements and they have enough seating both outside and inside the restaurant.

I was starving by the time I got here so I got some chips and salsa (KSH350/) to calm my hunger while I waited for my friends to arrive. The tortilla chips were a tad unsalted but still good with the variety of salsas they had. Also a very yummy hibiscus fresco juice!

For dinner we tried a variety of dishes including fish tacos, pork tacos, pork quesadillas (KSH500/), and some enchiladas (KSH1,150/). Each taco is KSH375/ and the vegetarian ones are KSH325/. I love that they let you mix and match the different taco fillings - I love that you can pick and choose what taco you’d like instead of being limited to 3 of one flavour. I had two fish tacos and one pork.

Fonda makes the best tacos in Nairobi in my honest opinion, they have authentic soft shell corn tortillas, their fillings are fresh and their fish tacos in particular are perfect! The fish is flakey and fresh, the batter is exquisitely crunchy and it’s laid on a tasty bed of cabbage slaw and layered with chipotle mayo on top. I’m really salivating thinking about those tacos right now🤤 I like cheese on fish tacos so I added some queso fresco on top. They charge KSH600/ for this though so order it knowing a side of cheese in Ruto’s economy is not cheap. My love for cheese is costing me a lot lol.

The pork taco was also really good, salted well and filling. The quesadillas look small but they pack a mighty punch. That pork and cheese combo is gonna slap every time😋

I’ve never been an enchilada fan, I think the soupy-ness is a bit much for me. But the few I’ve tried from Pablo’s and now Fonda are making me a new convert. They’re so tasty! So much flavour particularly from the two gravies on either side of the plate and having 3 at once will for sure have you full for a long long while.

I’ve had a lot of Mexican food in my life thanks to a lot of travelling and of course the best Mexican food I’ve had has been from actual Mexico. That being said - Fonda is the one restaurant in Nairobi that serves the most authentic Mexican food outside of Mexico, and I say that having tried most of the other variations of Mexican restaurants here.

Service was good here, we didn’t have to call someone over and over again to serve us and as much as it’s a smaller space, it’s still a great vibe. It’s a great place for dates, happy hour funtimes (from those who partook, I hear the drinks here are bomb) and a random taco Tuesday plan which I shall do soon because now I can’t stop thinking about the fish tacos.