Fondue Night

I love skiing – the adrenaline rush of hurling yourself down a mogul run, the wind in your hair, the fresh crisp mountain air, vin chaud in the mountain restaurants… and of course, fondue! Well there aren’t any snow-covered slopes in Singapore that’s for sure, but I have discovered a fantastic little fondue restaurant.

Tucked away behind its rather more popular neighbours Long Beach and Samy’s at Dempsey Hill Green, is La Fondue. Keeping up with the European theme, the people at La Fondue have tried to recreate a ‘medieval castle’ atmosphere in which to enjoy your fondue. In fairness the restaurant is rather too contemporary to achieve this aim, but the stone walls, exposed beams and subdued lighting do make for a cozy environment for a fun dinner with friends.

In fact so modern is the set up here that each table is equipped with its own fully controllable electric hot plates – no naked flames and lighter fluid here thank you very much.

As there were four of us, we opted for two of the 4 course ‘Fondue Feasts for Two’, which enabled us to sample a good proportion of the menu between us. This kicked off with a choice of 3 salads - we chose the Caesar which was surprisingly good.

Next up was the first of the fondues – the Cheese course. Out of a choice of four different cheese fondues, we went for the Swiss Traditional Cheese (Gruyere, Swiss Emmenthal, Kirsch and White Wine) and the Black Pepper Cheese (Smoked Black Pepper, Stilton Cheese, Coarse Pepper, White Wine). Not only did two enormous pots of fondue appear fairly swiftly, but they were accompanied by a mound of bread cubes and trays of cooked crunchy vegetables.

These were pretty good – although a small complaint would be that the Swiss Traditional Cheese was perhaps to strong on the Kirsch flavour, and the Black Pepper Cheese perhaps not stilton-y enough (although this suited me fine).

Next up was the Meat & Seafood Course. Here, we opted for the Bourguignonne European Style Soup and the Chicken Broth (the other choice was a Flat Pan Grill which didn’t sound half as fun as dipping into the fondue).

With the soups we were served an amazing array of meat and seafood to dip in and cook - Garlic Herb Chicken, Marinated Sirloin, Shrimps, Teriyaki Chicken, Venison, Black Pepper Pork, Honey Pork, Sausages, Cajun Fish, Marinated Salmon, Spicy Fish, Beef Tenderloin – phew!

And it was all fantastic – each meat really carried its own flavour, and also differed depending on which soup they were cooked in. This led to several comments such as “Ooh, ooh, you have to try the Shrimps in the Bourguignonne” “Oh my God, have you tried the Honey Pork in the Chicken Broth yet?”… Ah, endless hours of fun!

Thankfully the fun didn’t end there, and the best was yet to come – yes, every girl's wet dream come true – the Chocolate Fondue. Again we were presented with a choice and after much deliberation we decided on the Original Chocolate (straight up Milk Chocolate) and Orange Chocolate (Dark Chocolate, Liquor, Orange Peel). To be honest, looking back at the menu now it is beyond me why we didn’t order the Cookie & Cream Marshmallow (Dark Chocolate, Marshmallows and Cookies), but anyway what we did end up with was certainly worth coming back for. Served with a selection of fruit, marshmallows, pieces of chocolate brownie, pieces of donut and ice cream, this was a heavenly end to a fantastically indulgent meal.

I will definitely be returning here – on top of the fantastic food, the serving staff were some of the most welcoming and attentive I have come across in Singapore. The only thing lacking was a buzz – there was only one other table in when we were there, so I hope it doesn’t suddenly disappear like so many other places in Singapore.

And if you happen to venture to La Fondue yourself… I can recommend the chocolate brownie dipped in the chocolate fondue, with ice cream on the side… sounds like chocolate overload… tastes like heaven…

La Fondue - http://www.lafondue.com.sg/

25 Dempsey Road, Dempsey Hill Green. Phone: 6474 0204