Berkeley: Brunch redux - Fonda's fabulous $9 meal deal ... and kids eat free

[rworange]

This is one of the better brunches I've had in a long time. .

For $9 you get

- Good coffee. The staff keeps the cup fillled. Love that at breakfast
- House-baked pastry
- Choice of one of eight brunch specials

Kids under 6 get free eggs and pancakes.

Let us not forget the $5 cocktails on the menu

I had
- Lemon/custardy donut thingy ... yum
- Haig’s shrimp breakfast: sauteed prawns with salsa negra, soft scrambled eggs, black beans, rice and tortillas
- Buenos DÍas: Jamaica, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, orange bitters and Prosecco

There was a choice of three (maybe four) pastries that included a croissant, some sorty of sticky thing, IIRC and my sort of donut.

This was a baked round pastry that was donut-like that was filled in the center with custard and topped with lemon filling. Very tasty.

That shrimp was filling and really swell. It was Fonda's version of shrimp diablo. Five excellent medium-sized shrimp were in a very spicy sauce that had large cloves of roasted garlic ... so good, so good. The eggs were nicely scrambled with a hint of butter taste which I like a lot. Fonda's excellent refried beans and some decent Spanish rice (that worked nicely with the mole). Completing this were three of Fonda's thickish hand-made corn tortillas wrapped in a red napkin.

The cocktail was really lovely as well and that last sip with a little of the bitter still in it was especially nice.

I had the chilaquiles a few weeks ago before the $9 deal and they were good, but the shrimp is super. They have also moved the Torta Alambre onto the brunch special menu. This was one of my favorite lunch items in the past and at that time was $12. So with the addition of the pastry and coffee ... quite the bargain.

Lots of people were ordering the Fonda Ceasar which looked really swell. Also there is steak with mojo colorado and eggs as one of the specials and it comes with hash browns that have salsa and creama I think.

There are a few other items such as a chicken torta, cornmeal pancakes and huevos rancheros
http://www.fondasolana.com/BrunchMenu...

Fight on Fonda. Don't let the economy get you down. Thanks for the great deal. I know this will bring me back soon.

-----
Fonda
1501 Solano Ave, Albany, CA 94707

[milklady]

We went for brunch today.

It is now $11, and not $9.

I had the cornmeal pancakes with berry compote. I didn't taste any cornmeal (or notice it in texture) but they were delicate pancakes and I really liked the compote. The included coffee was good. The bleuberry cream cheese pastry I had was very good -- flaky, creamy, fruity all at once.

My husband had the huevos rancheros with beans and rice, and the raisin danish. He liked everything. I tried the beans and rice and was surprised by how smoky the black beans were -- I'd asked if they were vegetarian before we ordered, and the answer was yes. I confirmed with another server, who also said they were veggie, so I guess they're just smoky without the use of meat.

My kids each ordered orange juice ($3.50 glass) which was fresh squeezed and very good. They were very very happy with the free pancakes and scrambled eggs -- two small pancakes and 1 or 1.5 eggs each (they say free for kids under 6, but they didn't ask about ages). My daughter kept commenting that they were much better than most pancakes and eggs, but she doesn't have the most discerning palatte so I can't attribute much to her comments.

I'm glad we tried it. It fit in perfectly with our plans for the day, and it was nice to have brunch in a nice restaurant that is clearly family friendly. The drinks that went by looked delicious -- I wish I had it in me for a bloody mary, or a passionfruit mimosa-type drink.

[rworange]

I noticed driving by the price was higher. There are lots of things that can give smoke to beans other than meat. Chipotle will add a smoky taste. Tierra Vegetables have some wonderful smoked dried onions that give wonderful smokiness to any dish.

[Robert Lauriston]

I had the chilaquiles the other day and they were the best ever, stayed crunchy despite being well-sauced. The free pastry, eh, one bite was more than enough.

[abstractpoet]

Went for brunch today and was impressed by the amount of food for $9--quite a bargain! I had the shrimp breakfast, which was tasty, especially with the roasted garlic.

I had that same lemon/custardy donut thing for my pastry. I thought the waitress said it was a beignet, but while I liked it, it didn't seem anything like a beignet (even by the loosely applied T-Rex definition). Maybe I misheard? Nice to have a small sweet thing to start my breakfast, though. Would have preferred it warm, but that's a minor quibble.

Anyhow, for $9, this is quite a deal. And the host/staff seemed extra attentive and eager to please. Lots of empty tables at around noon on a Saturday, so it seems like maybe word about this promotion has yet to spread.

[lmnopm]

I was already thinking about it for tomorrow. $5 mimosas and bloody marys, too. Methinks I should walk!

[lmnopm]

Well, the brunch was quite good. There was a choice of 4 pastries (I had a sticky raisin sweet roll), and the Torta Alambre, which I always enjoyed from the old lunch menu, along with a bloody mary (which had a nice amount of heat). We had to wait a short time for a table. It wasn't full when we left. (Upstairs wasn't open, but I bet if this gets popular, and it probably will, that there will be more waitstaff with the upstairs opened.)

[adrienne156]

I was there, too! Sitting at the high four-top by the bar with a couple of friends.

I had the desayuno americano -- two eggs any way (mine were beautifully poached), the skirt steak w/ mojo colorado (about half the dinner portion), and a decent heap of hashbrowns. This came with the choice of pastry (had the sticky raisin roll as well) and interestingly, an additional side of toast which I didn't end up eating. Oh, and the Buenos Dias which was lovely (I liked the bitterness, too). My friends and I go out for breakfast every Sunday and the thing that struck me about Fonda's brunch was the portion size and the quality of the food. I really hate wasting food, can't usually finish our breakfasts out, but don't like reheating it at home. For once, I was able to actually finish my food and I was full, but not stuffed. The thing that helped was that everything seemed to have a light touch which is not something that is easy to find as most brunch spots we frequent in the area seem to go heavy on the butter. Even the plates of chilaquiles I saw going by didn't look like they had the usual saucy, cheesy heaviness. Friends had Haig's breakfast and the huevos rancheros (the portions on these were heartier than mine as they came with rice and Fonda's wonderful refried black beans instead of hashbrowns), both chose the blueberry muffin which they seemed to enjoy, and one had a bloody mary which I got a taste of. I did not like that bloody mary at all. Way too many components and over the top lemon.

Other than the bloody mary, the only other possible complaint I could have is that they needed another server on the floor. Friends and I arrived around 11:15 and while we were seated promptly and brought water, we had to wait awhile for our drinks, and then after more waiting we had to flag down our server for her to take our food order, and then again quite some time for our food which looked and felt like it had been sitting. As others said, they were very nice and responded to every request we had, it just took a little while because they were so busy despite not being completely full.

For those of you who are planning on bringing children... I noticed a few of the other patrons were having a little trouble with the layout of Fonda with their strollers and the tables along the far wall filled up first.

[ernie in berkeley]

I was sitting at the bar at the same time as the previous two posters. The bartender said that everyone was surprised at the number of customers and were hustling to keep up. It seemed that half the tables were occupied by families with small children (and, apparently, the rest by Hounds...)

Desayuno Americano here, too. I would have preferred a little more steak (sliced, rare bavette), but the hash browns were perfectly crisped up in bacon drippings. The toast was a kind of cinnamon swirl that was great with butter and jam.

I wasn't quite clear on what to do with the little ramekins of crema and hot sauce; everything was fine as it came from the kitchen.

Last time I had the shrimp and yes, the portion was much bigger, almost too much, but it is a wonderful dish.

[adrienne156]

You were sitting to my left shoulder. :) The crema and salsa were great on the hashbrowns.

[wolfe]

How did he miss you?
Fonda. I love Fonda. I go there entirely too often for the good of my bank account. In fact, if you ever see a Middle Eastern-looking chic w/ a tattoo on the small of her back sitting at the bar, it's most likely me. Feel free to say hi - I like sharing!
adrienne156 Feb 23, 2007

[adrienne156]

I can't believe I wrote that. I still do like sharing though.

[wolfe]

You were but a mere slip of a girl at the time, you are excused.

[Ruth Lafler]

LOL. There weren't any quotes in your post, wolfe, and I was trying to figure out how you'd morphed into a "Middle Eastern-looking chic w/ a tattoo" until I got to the end.

[lmnopm]

Reviving this, I hadn't been in months (brunch isn't usually one of my regular "out" meals), but today, I returned. I don't know why this place isn't more packed. For $9, the coffee, raisin danish (or scone option today), a plate w/2 eggs, hash browns, steak slices w/red sauce (or bacon or sausage options), how could you not beat this? The steak was delicious - probably the same as on the Torta. I didn't partake in the libations today, but was tempted. WIth a 20% tip, we were out the door for under $24, and satiated until dinnertime.

[abstractpoet]

Thanks for the report--this looks great! We always opt for Sunnyside when we're in this neighborhood, but with these prices we'll have to make room for another brunch option. The shrimp dish sounds excellent.

Do they serve brunch on both Saturdays and Sundays?

[rworange]

Yep. Saturday and Sunday