Go for flavors, ignore decor

The first time I walked into Fonda del Mar, a 60-seat marisqueria in Logan Square, I thought I had made a terrible mistake.

The dining room looked like a Mexican cliche. Walls bright with electric orange and yellow shades, accented by Mexican coastal photographs too small for their frames. Nondescript tables and chairs. After a 20-minute rush hour slog through the pothole-strewn remains of Fullerton Avenue, this was the last thing I wanted. I started to eye the exit door.

But then I perused the menu, notable for its lack of usual suspects—no fajitas, no chimichangas, no Veracruzana anything—and felt a little better. And with the first wonderful bite of the aptly named tamales exquisitos—sweet masa cakes crammed with poblano and Chihuahua cheese, balanced by a just-tart-enough sauce of roasted plum tomatoes and chipotle peppers—my perspective had undergone a transformation. Suddenly those garish colors were looking downright festive, and those ill-fitting photographs had acquired a certain unaffected charm.

That’s what good food can do for you.

Fonda del Mar made its debut a little more than three years ago, a joint project by Raul Arreola, a longtime Rick Bayless protege, and Mia Francesca veterans Luis Montero and Angel Hernandez. Arreola is gone, having opened Mixteco Grill in Lakeview, but Montero and Hernandez, who share kitchen duties (though during service it will be Hernandez at the stove and Montero interacting with customers), have taken up the slack admirably.

My visits here were filled with highlights—dishes alive with assertive flavors, yet with thoughtful, subtle touches. Marlin ceviche combines all the expected ingredients, plus some chopped olive, which balances the dish’s customary acidity. Arroz a la tumbada (literally, tumbled rice), a paella-like Veracruz dish, offers the expected abundance of shellfish and rice with a rustic tomato sauce, along with the unexpected addition of grilled fish, which contributes smoky notes. Grilled tilapia takes a peppery hit from a tomatillo-serrano sauce, which is then cooled down by a soothing huitlacoche pudding.

The poblano pepper stuffed with smoked salmon and mushrooms is Hernandez’s answer to chile rellenos. “We love chile rellenos,” Montero explains, “but we hate to batter the pepper.” Instead, they smother it, in a toe-curling chipotle cream sauce. That same sauce graces a chipotle-honey-glazed chicken breast; I don’t like seeing the same sauce used on different entrees, but I will admit this sauce is terrific.

If you like things hot, Montero and Hernandez will accommodate. The cochinita pibil—braised pork in a banana leaf, flavored with achiote and sour orange juice—comes with a ramekin of habanero sauce so spicy that waiters issue a warning when serving it—and they should. The aforementioned arroz a la tumbada has a considerably spicy presence, and chopped serrano peppers give a jolt to the chunky guacamole.

It’s easier to list the menu’s less-than-thrilling dishes, because I enjoyed almost everything I tried. Tiny taquitos filled with whitefish, capers and olives were surprisingly bland; ditto for the forgettable crab cakes, upstaged by a pleasant chipotle and sour cream sauce. I liked the goat cheese and pecan cream sauce that graced a grilled mahi-mahi, but it was an overgrilled mahi, the fish itself too dry.

But save room for dessert. The chocolate Maya is a thick, intense chocolate flan, served with a reduced chile-ancho sauce that provides hints of heat. The lime tart’s filling has a little sour cream in it, making the dessert especially luscious. And the dark pineapple upside-down cake is accented with ice cream and cajeta (goat’s-milk caramel).

Service is cheerfully disorganized, even with Montero helping out. It’s not much of a problem now because the dining room is so small, but it could be an issue in the summer, when the courtyard becomes available and Fonda’s seating capacity more than doubles. It’s about the only thing keeping me from rating this restaurant even higher.

There’s a tidy wine list available, not the most inspiring document in town but reasonably varied with friendly prices. Fonda whips up a nice margarita, too, including some nifty beyond-the-basic iterations (I’m now addicted to Fonda’s passion fruit margarita). On Mondays and Tuesdays, house margaritas and sabor margaritas (often including that passion fruit number) are $5. Reason enough to visit.

pvettel@tribune.com

Fonda del Mar **

3749 W. Fullerton Ave.

773-489-3748

Open: Dinner Mon.-Sun.

Entree prices: $18-$25

Credit cards: M, V

Reservations: Recommended weekends

Noise: Conversation-friendly

Other: Wheelchair accessible