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Fond
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Sat. 5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- None
Sponsored Result
Special Offer Nearby
Chili's Grill & Bar
- Category:
- American (Traditional)
- Neighborhood:
- Market East
Don't Just Wish Someone A Good Holiday, Give Them One With Chili's.
14 reviews for Fond
I went to this fantastic place in Portland, OR, like a dream: all fresh and local, all yummy and ornate without being overworked.
I hit this place with my parents pre-NLCS championship game 5, and so we were on a schedule. We indulged in the fresh, warm bread and perfect restaurant butter -- have you ever noticed how nice restaurants have the best butter, way better than store-bought butter -- and ordered some lovely apps.
Their pasta was so fresh and their ingredient combinations were very forward-thinking, their meats were juuuuicy and so well seasoned. I'm not the biggest fan of the space -- if it were a jacket, Tim Gunn might call it "boxy" and/or "matronly" -- but it's a nice addition to a quickly cool-ing neighborhood.
It's like a dream come true. Fond is a small new East Passyunk BYO with great service and outstanding food where (for now) you can walk in without a reservation and be seated right away.
To start, the bread was warm and delicious. The little watermelon gazpacho thing was unusual, but refreshing and pleasantly spicy. The chicken liver mousse and seared sea scallops were basically perfect. The generous portion of scallops was cooked and seasoned just right, and I couldn't get enough of the celery and raisins that accompanied.
We almost passed on dessert, since Capogiro is so close by, but the passion fruit crêpes were just too tempting. Wise decision, it turned out. The coconut sorbet may have been even better than the crêpes themselves.
Great for a low-key celebration, or when you just really want a quality meal.
I don't quite understand it. There's a pedigree here, obviously, and there's a demand. East Pass could desperately use a simple "contemporary American" BYO that delivers on a very simple promise: good food, good service, good times.
My lady and I have been looking forward to Fond's opening for quite some time, ever since one rainy night when we saw ongoing construction and a slightly water stained paper menu in the door. Having been there (finally) we left disappointed.
This is going to sound very harsh, mainly because we WANT people to succeed in this town. This is criticism, not trying to shit all over anyone.
Everything, from the bread, to the asparagus, to the ravioli, to the chicken mousse was undersalted. We let our waiter know, and the salinity was amped up during the entrees. That was nice.
The pickles accompanying the chicken mousse were better than the mousse itself. It's becoming abundantly clear that very few restaurants in Philly can lay down a solid liver app.
The filling for the butternut squash ravioli was delicious, but too thin. It was basically a soup that didn't know where its bowl went. The flavors were fine.
The entrees were strange. I ordered monkfish on the recommendation of my waiter. It was properly cooked, but the lentils it was resting on top of were grainy and uneventful. The "red wine jus" tasted of beef stock and nothing else. Where was the red wine? Where was the tannic pop and pizazz I was expecting? Also, why was the plate warmer than my food?
The lady ordered the chicken with pepper piperade and fingerlings. Overly sweet, the chicken was overcooked, and the entire plate seemed like an afterthought. She had the same problems with temperature that I did.
We skipped dessert.
Was I looking forward to disliking the joint? No, absolutely not. But I felt like I had stepped into someone's living room - someone with abhorrent taste in music and suspect taste in decor.
Pick it up, fellas! I want to be excited when I walk by. I want to stop and see something on your menu that will make me spit and froth and excitedly tell my friends about. Just give me a reason.
What happens when former members of the Le Bec Fin & Lacroix crowd brainstorm a more affordable option? This! Nestled on a quiet block on the far northwestern Passyunk East walk, you could easily walk by this place without even knowing that you did. Don't do that, though.
This past Monday, October 12th, myself and seven friends visited for our first time to take advantage of Fond's participation in Philly Neighborhood Food Week, which included the standard 4 courses for the fixed, comfortable price of $30.00.
To start was the butternut squash soup. It was delicious. I ate it like it was an edible enemy.
Second was the grilled asparagus with soft cooked egg, sherry-roasted shallots, croutons & prosciutto. It was delicious. More food needs to have soft-cooked egg sitting on top of it, because it makes everything more delicious. I ate it like it was an edible nemesis.
Third was the geanone chicken breast with piperade, roasted fingerling potatoes, and roasted garlic sherry jus. I honestly don't know what half of that is, but I ate it with reckless abandon without care nor courtesy towards anybody around me, and several victims were felled in my fork & knife-wielding stead.
Fourth was the warm brownie with cinnamon caramel custard, whipped milk chocolate cream, and cinnamon pecans. I was so blinded wild due to my merciless consumption voracity that I also accidentally ate the plate this came on, and I had to write them a $15 check to replace it, which paled in comparison to the hospital bill covering the porcelain extraction from my shuddering digestive system, but it was worth it, I assure you.
These are not the typical petite portions you often expect from the smaller, upscale joints; servings were generous without enabling our inner gluttons, the wait staff were extremely friendly (ours actually lent us his iPhone so we could keep track of the Phillies game!), and I left plump, satisfied, and slightly bloody. You should go here.
This was mine and 7 friend's choice for our second restaurant week dinner. $30 for 4 courses. 8 of us get there and our table isn't quite ready yet so we stand outside and wait 5 minutes. One of the owners offered to open our wine for us or get us water while we waited, which I thought was very kind even though we declined and said we would just wait.
We didn't wait much more than 5 minutes.
The place was small and cozy, a little too cozy at points considering there wasn't much room for the waiters to walk through the tables but it was fine if you were sitting down! haha, I can imagine that'd get annoying for people trying to walk around.
Anyway, food... was delicious! The soup was a squash soup which was creamy and buttery and really tasty.
I was the only one that chose the beet salad over the asparagus dish. I was trying to be adventurous. Mine had feta cheese, almonds and greens. I liked it but I wish there was some sort of vinaigrette on it (or more - I think there was some on the beets). I would have preferred a bit more of a kick, a bit more flavor.
The chef sent out a complimentary spoon of tuna tar tar which was so good! Thanks chef!
For the main course I got the salmon on top of a cake of angel hair pasta, green beans and a light sauce. The salmon was perfect, the pasta cake was a bit strange. I would have preferred the pasta simply cooked and put on the side because I think when made into a cake, some of the pasta was overcooked, but it sure looked good as a cake. I would have also preferred a bit more of the sauce also, it was so good.
And for dessert I got a warm brownie with cinnamon caramel custard, whipped milk chocolate cream, and cinnamon pecans. It was a great dessert, I loved it because it wasn't too sweet. It was just right.
So overall, everything was extremely delicious. I guess if I was the chef, I personally would have executed a couple things differently but I'm sure a lot of people would have been perfectly happy with how things were done.
As for the service, our waiter was awesome, he lended us his iphone so we could keep track of the phillies game. And the owner was very attentive and made sure to describe all the food to us as it was brought out. The chef even made an appearance at the end of the dinner, which you don't see often. It was a pleasant surprise and we were able to thank him in person.
Overall, I highly recommend this place and I will be going back.
I would recommend FOND to everyone and anyone who loves great food. I would eat here every night if I could. Last week I started with the fresh homemade bread then for main course I had the scallops with yellow raisins and truffled celery root velouté. They were cooked perfectly and nice crisp top not over done at all....so delicious! You cannot go wrong with any of the desserts! Atmosphere is lovely and the staff is super nice! I cannot wait to go back!
Take a nice bottle of wine.....we had champagne too....dress casual....deal with the loudness and take in all the different flavorss you will experience....Top notch food,service and very very reasonably priced for the quality of food. They also sent out extra dessert for us.
I went with a few other people and tried almost everything on the small menu. (only thing I didn't like) Owner came out because we were one of the last to leave and talked with my table for about ten minutes. I recommend this place to anyone who likes to taste different flavors...ie Scallops with golden raisins and celery....
i had high high hopes for this place...i mean, how could i not, with this amazing pedigree of philadelphia chef-dom?
this byo now ranks highly on my list of go-to restaurants.
i started with the butternut squash ravioli, chased by the berkshire pork belly. http://how.amazingly.decadent. it's rich. creamy. and the pork belly that rested upon a bed of okinawa sweet potatoes. mmm...
the service was uber-nice...maybe a bit too overbearing at times. i'll definitely return. so my only issue is the ridiculous way that noise bounces off those walls. and there's the whole issue of finding your way home if you go on a weekday. cabs do not run aplenty on passyunk then, so make sure you call for one at the end of your meal.
Eh.
I know all these reviews are raving, so I'm sorry to break up the party.
But the menu of this place is no different than another other New American Philly BYOB -- one chicken, one beef, one fish, etc.
The space is totally cramped, and the room is utterly noisy.
Wouldn't recommend...sorry :(
One of the best new places around. It's lovely to see BYOs with outstanding food still opening in spite of the economy. Along with Bibou, this is one of my favorite restaurants of the year. Perfectly concocted flavors.
We went shortly after they opened so they were still working out some kinks, but they were clearly on the path to being a five star. The only concern we had was that there were too many people trying to help us, between the water guy, the waiter and the bread guy we felt a little overwhelmed.
I was eager to go with some friends to Fond, and our high expectations were not disappointed. With a concise, well-executed menu that is very reasonably priced, the BYOB newcomer is able to satisfy all tastes with a great variety of dishes. Memorable appetizers included a very fresh tuna crudo, gossamer butternut squash ravioli that were a perfect nod to the early fall season, an intensely flavorful heritage beet salad, and my favorite, crisply fried yet tender sweet bread morsels. A great start. The main plates, so often not keeping pace with the more interesting appetizers, where just as good here. A special of juicy pork chop, a textbook rendition of pork belly, its crackling top covering unctuously rich meat and pork fat. A treat! The diver scallops were equally delicious, rich and sweet. Because of the advanced laurels for the pastry chef, I expected more complex and interesting desserts (I am not apt to order brownies at a restaurant). Nothing wrong with the passion fruit and chocolate crepes, a sort of Palatschinken, the chocolate and tender thin pancakes nicely balanced by the tartness of the passion fruit. The apple tart, with its surfeit of dough and nuts, would have been better in my opinion with more apple and less crust.
Service is professional, informed, and very nice. I will be back as soon as possible to this great addition to the Philadelphia BYOB dining scene.
Cannot be missed!! Fond combines flavors like no one else in Philadelphia. We started the meal with an amuse-bouche with lemon mascarpone. Delicious. The meal was fabulous from start to finish - everything was perfect. I'm going back on Saturday!
To be honest, I wish there was a way to give a half star. I feel a little bad about three, not four, stars here. I am a tough customer, I know this.
Fond is a lovely if typical little byo room. It's tight, but comfortable, so I am glad that the blue hair with too much bad perfume sat at the next table at the end of my meal. As for the noise, yes, it got very loud, but especially after a table of ten was seated.
(A note to gen x'ers: it is not okay to bring your toddlers to a fine dining establishment, I don't care if it is a tuesday. People are paying good money to have a nice meal, not listen to your kid scream about the water. It's not cute. If they scream, then take them out, or better yet, get a sitter.)
The food was good. I admire the ambition of these young chefs, but everything definitely seemed a bit heavy handed. What was lacking in subtlety and sophistication however, was made up, to a certain extent, by perfect execution. A properly cooked piece of fish or meat is half the battle, and it is a battle more often lost than won around here, so I know they have some skill.
The appetizers were a bit over the top, not in concept, but in preparation and not all for the worse. Mushroom risotto, often an excuse to use up some stale, old dried mushrooms, was packed with lovely, flavorful, fresh mushrooms. This was a good bit of over the top. The bad bit was that it was also packed with butter and salt. It was good, but I am glad I was sharing, I couldn't have eaten the whole thing. Cut the salt and it's a home run, because let's be real, complaining of too much butter in a restaurant that is using mostly french technique is a bit nitpicky. In fact, not knowing how much butter went into a dish is often reason enough to eat out. The squash ravioli was tasty, but the subtlety of the filling was lost in a sauce that was too sweet. The highlight of the apps were the sweetbreads. Perfectly crisped and tender, they were accented with apple confit and sauteed arugula, a properly understated winner where the main focus of the dish was indeed the main focus of the dish.
Where the apps suffered from a bit too much, the entrees suffered from not enough. Every protein preparation was spot on. The pork chop was a perfect medium, the scallops just cooked through, the monkfish barely rare. The rest of the plates, however, did not do much to compliment. The scallops, on a bed of sauteed celery, were left a bit lifeless by it. Scallops are rich, and I was looking for an acidity to cut them and bring them to life that was not there. The monkfish was atop lentils and a red wine reduction, creating a murky mid winter feel in september. There are still plenty of fresh veggies out there, even now. It seems a shame to be heading to the pantry so soon, especially with monkfish. It was decent, but with obvious talent in the kitchen, it could have been great. The pork was the winner. A subtle rosemary infused sauce (not an easy thing to accomplish- subtle rosemary) and a savory olive bread pudding were nice accents. I could have done without the gluey root mash underneath, but a nice dish overall.
We only had one dessert, the frozen Irish coffee souffle with brown sugar cookies. The cookies were great, but what's a frozen souffle? I ate it, and it was good, but I still don't know what it is. Ice cream?
These guys are good. They can cook. Their obvious skill has me expecting more, perhaps that is unfair. The flavors on the menu are traditional and bit timid right now, but I am sure that will change with the seasons.
All of that being said, I think most people would thoroughly enjoy a meal at Fond as it stands and I have no doubt that it will get better and better. I will be back and I look forward to adding a star. Ok, fine, I'll add it now.
An amazing experience. Only opened a week, this place is destined to be the new star of the Phil. food scene. Charming and solicitious service and very memorable food -- try the halibut with English pea raviolli and the corn rissotto. A remarkable addition to an already spectacular block.
