Fuente y Fonda - Mendoza

I felt like a back to the future meal. The atmosphere from the 80's, the scenario take you back there too. The home cooking meal, but the price is not proportional. No air conditioner and during the summer the heat is an issue. I would say that it does not deserve much expectation. Just a regular meal at grandma's house on a regular day.

I've heard a lot about this place, do I was pretty exciting about having lunch here.The place is built around a typical old house, and every room is a small dining room with a few tables, including the patio.We had no booking, but they quickly seated us in one of the rooms. One of the waiters came and he was great, very politely explained how everything worked (all dishes are for sharing, portions are for 2, or even 3 people). The waiter got us our drinks, and some bread and spreadable, and disappeared never to be seen again. We had to wait for about 20 minutes until other waiter came to take our orders.We ordered 2 three-cheeses empanadas as a starter, and then the bondiola de cerdo (pork shoulder steaks) with sweet potato mash, fried eggs and salad.Part of the cheese in the empanadas was cold, as if they were out of the fridge/freezer and not deep-fried enough.The bondiola was tough, and the tomato/wine sauce was too overwhelming, totally engulfing the meat flavour (maybe this was on purpose since the meat was not too good). Salad was OK, as it was the mash.Every time we needed something from the waiter, we had to wait until one of them came close to our table. I ordered another drink, that never came.Desserts are included when you order a main, so I had the flan con dulce de leche, but the flan was extremely light, almost liquid, the dulce de leche was good. My wife had the chocolate maicena and she said it was OK.We couldn't find a waiter to pay the bill, so I had to stand-up and pay at the counter (this is not a problem, but it's very unusual in Argentina, where they normally come to your table to process the credit card).Maybe they were having a bad day, but It's difficult to see how this place has so many good reviews and it's in the top 20 restaurants in Mendoza.

The staff here is excellent - fluent English if needed. The feel is homey Italian with records and old ads on the wall, very rustic. The food is served family style in very large portions, with desert including. The food is best described as comfort food done perfectly - nothing fancy or strange, just delicious food served in an appealing manner by people that make you feel very welcome. This is a place you'll want to return to.

We stopped in at Fuente y Fonda for a quick snack, on the recommendation of a chef in Cordoba. We only had the lentil stew, which came in a big pot with chunks of ribs and sausage. It was amazing. So simple but so hearty and delicious. It could easily have fed three people. Together with a couple of glasses of wine it came to 660 pesos. Highly recommended.

Went as saw a lot of good reviews. Lived across the road too. Small but intimate place Good choices for food. Excellent service. Small menu but good food. But lacked vibes.