Hidden inside the quintessential La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe is La Plazuela Restaurant.
We went there for lunch. Our friend, a native Santa Fean, explained that originally La Plazuela was an outdoor plaza that was eventually covered. The side windows are all hand painted. Wow! There are lots of side windows. I thought it was a nice touch to have chips and salsa first before we even ordered.
We all started with the delicious roasted green Chile and sweet corn chowder (8). How can you go wrong with Hatch Green Chile? The soup was incredible. I loved the combination of roasted corn, onions, potatoes, bell peppers, and fried leeks. This soup also packed a punch. There was definitely a kick from the Hatch Green Chiles. It hit the spot on a cold winter’s day. The soup came in a large bowl with fried leeks on top. The leeks were artfully placed in the middle of the soup bowl. We thought that we had had this incredible soup during the Food Depot’s Souper Bowl. We were so pleased to have this soup again.
But that was only the beginning of our feast. I had the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich with sweet potato fries (14). The sweet potato fries were not greasy and just lightly salted. The ketchup was tasty, too. I didn’t know that the portobello mushroom would be cut up and combined with pear, spinach, onion, and blue cheese. So I was a little surprised at this variation. This entire assembly was placed on a delicious toasted focaccia bread. It was a wonderful combination of tastes.
My better half had the La Fonda Caesar Salad(11) which consisted of romaine hearts, queso cojita dressing, cherry tomatoes, and sourdough croutons. The anchovies were ground up into a paste so you could taste them but not see them. For an added charge you could get grilled chicken (17) or grilled shrimp (23). The salad was beautiful and tasted as good as it looked. We had never heard of a Caesar Salad with tomatoes but they were eaten quickly.
It was a delightful meal with excellent company. Our waiter was attentive but not intrusive.
