La Fonda Antioquena

La Fonda Antioquena
5125 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 957-5164
http://www.lafondaantioquena.com

I passed by La Fonda Antioquena many many times.  The big sign of "Columbian Food" got me curious.  I've never had Columbian food before and had no idea what it is.  Yes, call me ignorant.  I admit it.  I actually thought Columbian food is somewhat similar to Mexican food.  But to my surprise, it was nothing like Mexican food.



The restaurant looks small and.... ghetto from the outside.  They have a small and not very well designed parking lot.  But the inside of the restaurant was bright and spacious.  I read on their website that lots of Columbian celebrities visited here when they came to America.  Even the Columbian former president had dinner here.  Food must be good.



Guanabana w/ Milk ($3.25)

We saw this drink called Guanabana on the beverage menu.  Not knowing what it was, we asked our friendly waiter.  "Excuse me, what is guanabana?"  His answer, "It is very good.  Do you want with water or milk?  With milk better."  So we got one, and still didn't know what it was.  From its name, we were assuming it was guava + banana?  Again, yes, I was ignorant.  Later after I did some research on the internet, I found guanabana is a kind of fruit that looks like this.  But it did tasted like guava a little.  The drink was very creamy and indeed very good.


Green Onion Salsa?

The waiter left a small bowl of sauce on our table.  I am assuming it was a Columbian version salsa?  It was made with green onion and green chili pepper.  It was quite good with our food.


Empanadas ($1.50/each)

For appetizer, we ordered 2 Empanadas.  The menu called it "little meat pies".  



Half moon shaped cornmeal dough pies filled with a mixture of beef, tomatoes, onions, green olives, egg, oregano and cumin.  This little meat pie was so flavorful.  I like to add a little bit of that green onion salsa, squeeze on a little bit of lemon juice, and take a big bite.


Sancocho de Gallina ($9.95)

For my entree, I ordered the "hen stew".  This was a really really rich and hearty soup dish.  The hen was stewed for hours with potatoes, cassava, plantains and corn.  The chicken meat just fell out of the bones.  Portion was huge so I only managed to finish half.  Took the leftover http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com, added more water to heat it up.  The soup was still rich and very very good.



The stew was served with rice, avocado, tomato and arepa.  I didn't know what arepa was.  Wikipedia said it is a corn-based bread from the northern Andes in South America.  Well, I didn't really like it.  It didn't taste like bread at all.  I don't even know how to describe the texture.  And it had no flavor.  Maybe it was meant to be eaten with something else and I just didn't know how to eat it properly.  But I do like how they give us a big piece of avocado with rice.  Avocado... Yum!


Ave Maria Pues ($15.95)

Dr. P ordered the "Holy Mary" plate.  There was a minute of ooh and wow when the waiter brought the food.  The first plate had a giant steak with plantains and avocado.  The steak was really good.  Juicy and tender.



The second plate had sausage, bean, arepa and pork crackling.  I love the Columbian sausage.  There were bits and pieces of onion and cilantro in it, full of flavor.  The prok crackling was a big piece of fried pork belly.  I like the skin part.  The bean was pretty good, too.  And Dr. P's arepa was much bigger than me, but thinner.  There was no possible way to finish this dish.  I think it was big enough to feed two people.


Flan ($3.50)

We ordered flan for dessert.  The milk custard with syrup was delicious.


Coffee ($1.50)

And a cup of rich Columbian coffee to go with our flan.  The coffee is only $1.50 with free refill!  Two ladies came in just to have coffee and dessert.



Columbian food is delicious!  It's a bit on the heavy side, but I like it.  For $40, we got enough food for 2+ meals for 2 people.  We will come back to try more dishes.

[ad#ad-unit]