My wife Jun and I have traveled to twenty countries at this point since we became couples, yet Mexico has evaded us thus far. We are strongly considering rectifying that glaring omission by visiting Mexico City sometime next year and exploring the country’s rich culinary tradition. In the meantime, though, I am confident that we will have plenty of options for delicious Mexico food in the DC metro area. One of the more exciting restaurant openings in the city in the past year or so was Amparo Fondita, led by chef Christian Irabién, a native of Chihuahua, Mexico. The restaurant initially started as a pop-up inside La Cosecha at Union Market, and later re-emerged with a new space in Dupont Circle. Our experience at Amparo Fondita on a recent visit was quite satisfying with chef Christian’s soulful take on modern Mexican cuisine.

As Jun always says, you can more often than not predict how good a Mexican restaurant is based on the quality of guacamole. Just based on the way Jun eagerly scooped up the guacamole (along with three salsas) with fresh nixtamal tortilla chips, I knew that Amparo Fondita had something special going on. The grilled head-on white prawns with blistered shishitos were very solid as appetizers, and I was very impressed with the smoky flavor of the assortment of mushrooms (“hongos”) that would win over any vegetarian diner. We were somewhat split on our opinion of the carne asada tacos; I very much enjoyed how well the grilled skirt steak came together with guacamole and pico verde to pack complex flavor, while Jun thought the steak’s texture was slightly tougher than she would’ve liked. The best dish of the night was the pan-seared halibut filet, and I would encourage anyone who visits the restaurant to try this dish if it’s on the menu. What really stood out was the spicy kick of red mole that was so addictively delicious and worked beautifully with the halibut in a way that was hard to forget and led me to think we should order more seafood dishes at Mexican restaurants (yes, we are somewhat biased toward meats for Mexican cuisine). For dessert, we split tres leches vanilla sponge cake with seasonal fruit that was not overly sweet to our liking.    

Getting a reservation at Amparo Fondita is not as challenging as other more popular restaurants in the city, but I would still recommend booking in advance given the relatively modest size of the dining room. While we haven’t been to Mexico City yet, the sleek minimalist décor of the space made me think it wouldn’t have been out of place in an upscale neighborhood of the city. There are creative cocktail offerings as well as a short wine list from Mexico and elsewhere that would suitably complement the food. Amparo Fondita is another welcome addition to DC’s thriving Mexican food scene, and I am very excited to come back again in the future with Jun to try other dishes on the menu.  

Address: 2002 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

KenScale: 8.0/10 (Jun’s Score: 8.0/10)

Website: https://amparofondita.com/

Reservation via Resy