At the new Fiona in the Red Light District, you can really eat Mexican food

Dining out in the Red Light District is becoming more fun with new places like Bellezza and restaurant Fiona. At the latter, you eat and drink Mexican food like they do in Mexico. Think: really good guacamole with totopos (the Mexican name for tortilla chips), great tacos and delicious cocktails.

Connoisseurs know: in Amsterdam-Noord, you can eat very good Mexican food at Coba and Bacalar. Now you can also go to the city center for it, because a slice of Mexico has been brought to Amsterdam at Warmoesstraat 14.

Authentic Mexican

For Mexicans, there is a big difference between what real Mexican cuisine is and what the rest of the world, especially Americans, have turned it into. Tacos, mole and tamales are among the classics of South American cuisine. At Fiona, you won’t find a dish of loaded nachos with crispy tortilla chips, seasoned ground meat, spicy salsa and extra cheese on the menu, but you will find Ensalada de Cangrejo (crab salad, Dutch-style) and Mole Rosa con Coliflor, cauliflower in a pink mole (colored with beetroot) and, yes: chocolate. Mexican chocolate isn’t only used in desserts, but also adds extra depth to chili con carne, mole (a traditional Mexican sauce) and other savory dishes.

Upon entering

The cheerful colors and exuberant bar immediately catch your eye. The interior is colorful, with warm earthy tones alternating with bright colors. Mexico City meets Tulum, so to speak. You can eat at (high and low) tables just past the bar, but we walk through the open kitchen to the back of the restaurant, where most of the tables are located. We choose a table with a view of the Damrak.

On the menu

The menu is pleasantly concise and every dish sounds delicious. A striking starter: Paté de Pepita, a pumpkin-seed pâté made with habanero chili, served with crudités (raw vegetables). A distinctive taco: Taco de Jaiba Suave: a fried soft-shell crab in a taco with chipotle mayo, red onion and cilantro. We definitely want to try that!

Guacamole and ceviche

We also order the guacamole and ceviche. We know ceviche as Peru’s national dish, which even has its own holiday, National Ceviche Day. The concept of ceviche is simple: take the freshest fish and cook it for a few minutes in a citrus-based marinade (tiger’s milk) and serve it immediately. Fiona also has ceviche on the menu; corvina ceviche.

Wonder fish

Corvina is hugely popular; in Chinese cuisine, it is often steamed and served with julienned ginger, spring onion and soy sauce. In Korean cuisine, it is also eaten raw or in a stew. And in both cuisines, you’ll find it in soup. Spanish and South American cuisines also love this fish (which can grow up to two meters long in the wild and weigh 55 kilos!) There, it is often grilled or fried or, as here, used to make ceviche, a lovely fresh dish that also contains avocado, mayonnaise, cucumber and lime. And some crispy totopos, which are also served with the excellent guacamole.

Who is the chef?

Jef van den Hout is in charge of the kitchen, and the menu was created by the famous Mexican chef Zahie Tellez, the female chef who became famous in Mexico thanks to her widely viewed video series on El Gourmet, her own YouTube channel and collaborations with, for example, MasterChef. As culinary advisor, she helped Fiona’s kitchen team with the menu, her expertise and her authentic style.

Most notable dishes

The most notable dishes aren’t our favorite dishes of the evening, but they’re certainly worth mentioning. Taco de Jaiba Suave looks impressive, but is a little difficult to eat. The aforementioned Mole Rosa con Coliflor is very tasty on its own, but a little dull when combined with the beans and roasted vegetables in a taco. It is served in a very fun way, though, with a cheerful fabric bag to keep the tortillas warm.

Cocktails

Cocktails are delicious with Mexican food! Personal favorite: the paloma. Anyone who thought the margarita was Mexico’s national cocktail is mistaken. It’s the paloma, the divine mix of grapefruit and tequila for which even an International Paloma Day was created (May 22). And rightly so. This cocktail isn’t only a convivial summery orange-pink, but also wonderfully fresh, sour, bitter and smoky. They also make it without alcohol here, if you’d prefer—and that’s highly recommended too.

We’ll come back for this

The Taco de Pescado is unbelievably delicious: a soft taco filled with sea bream, red cabbage and jalapeño. The dessert is also particularly tasty: Tamal de Chocolate. It looks like a brownie, but don’t be fooled—the flavor is completely different and more dry than rich. And that goes very well with vanilla sauce and ice cream.

Shout-out to the staff

Delicious cocktails and Mexican snacks, served by incredibly friendly staff and accompanied by music that wouldn’t be out of place in a Tarantino film. Choose a spot at the back and look out over the Damrak, the street that’s more fun to look at than to walk along, and you’ll have a really lovely evening!

Read also: 

• Hotspot: NAZKA is the very best of Peru
• 7 Mexican dishes they don’t eat in Mexico at all
• Typically Mexican: creepy-crawly bugs in your taco