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Review: La Fondue Restaurant in Downtown Denver

Denver Restaurants, Downtown Denver, Fondue, Fondue Restaurants

I used to live in Denver, Colorado and still go back periodically to visit friends. Denver has some great restaurants, so eating out is always important when I’m there. The last time I was there, my friends wanted me to try a new eating experience – fondue – so we went to La Fondue Restaurant in downtown Denver. Cheese is my favorite food, so I figured La Fondue was going to be a hit before we even got there and, but I was surprised to see it’s not just cheese. Steak, chicken, lobster, duck and shrimp are also on the menu and they’re all absolutely delicious. You also get to cook it yourself at your table and, as I live in Thailand where we have thousands of restaurants called ‘hot pots’ where we do this, it was something I was familiar with and love to do.

La Fondue is a lovely restaurant with a cozy, romantic atmosphere. It’s quite upscale and not cheap, but the dress code is ‘casual. I wouldn’t go in shorts and a t shirt, but for women a nice dress or skirt and top and, for men, khakis and a button down shirt are fine.

When we arrived we were shown to a nice booth by a very pleasant waiter, and given the menu. The menu isn’t extensive (I’m used to huge menus in Bangkok at the hot pot or fondue restaurants), but what they had seemed interesting. However, I was absolutely astounded at the price of each dish as, in Bangkok, cook-your-own-food places are cheap. At around $40-plus per person, La Fondue is not cheap and it’s expensive for similar level Denver restaurants. It’s also overpriced just for the fact that they don’t do any cooking – you do.

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But, we ordered, and decided to go with the House Specialty Combination, which is basically a set menu for two (an additional $37 per person is charged if there are more than two of you). At La Fondue, it’s best if you all choose pretty much the same entrees as there is only one cooking pot on the table and you all share it. There were three of us so the price for the set menu was $111 ($37 per person). Like I said, not cheap, especially as there is no chef and you’re cooking your own food. We also ordered drinks so, by the time we’d finished, the cost per person was over $50 (with tax and tip). When you order, you choose whether you want to cook your food in oil or broth (with only one food cooker it’s a bit annoying if you have one person who wants one thing and two others who want something else, which we did, but we finally went for broth – the healthier alternative).

The food arrived and, I must admit, it did look exceptionally fresh. The House Specialty Combination comes with steak, lobster, shrimp, and chicken and a lot of very fresh vegetables. You also get several sauces (horseradish, barbecue, salsa etc.) that you can dip your food in when it’s cooked. We piled a lot of our food into the boiling broth and we were cooking.

To skip to the chase, La Fondue has fresh food. You cook it yourself. They provide the food, the boiling broth or oil, sauces and a table and chairs. That’s pretty much it. Yes, the food is fresh and yes, it tasted nice. But when I’m used to spending less than $3 in Bangkok for a similar thing, La Fondue seemed very overpriced to me. Even my friends, who are more used to the US cost of living, balked a little when the bill arrived.

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You can get a little cheaper dining option by ordering one of the cheese fondue items (which works out at only $7 per person), but I think that would be a little boring and not that filling. I’m a cheese lover but, even for me, there’s a limited amount of cheese I could eat at one sitting. If you’re a vegetarian, there is also a vegetarian option with a platter of fresh vegetables to cook and accompanying sauces. You can also get take out, although I’m not sure how that would work – guess you’d also be providing your own pans (?), in which case you might as well just buy the food at your local supermarket.

The pluses for La Fondue are the friendly staff and the fresh food. It’s also an interesting experience, especially if you haven’t been to a fondue restaurant before. The minuses are the high price, the cook-your-own-food, and the parking. You can pay $7 to have your car valet parked, or you can drive endlessly around downtown Denver streets looking for a parking space. We did just that, and finally found one. I wouldn’t recommend that though when the Democratic National Convention is in town – you’ll be driving until midnight.

La Fondue is not a place for children. For me, fondue is too potentially messy to have your kids digging around in it, plus, not many families are going to want to spend $40-$50 for a meal for their child. You’ll also definitely want to make a reservation as it does seem to get quite busy.

La Fondue is open for dinner from 4:30 pm on the weekends and 5pm on the weekdays. They close at 10pm during the week and on Sundays, and 11pm on Saturdays.

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La Fondue is located at 15th and Arapahoe, in downtown Denver. For reservations, you can call 303-534-0404