Fondue French Restaurant & Bar - CLOSED

My boyfriend wanted to go somewhere different for his birthday, so we chose La Fondue, which we never tried before, even though it is close to where I live. Off we went, and unfortunately, we were disappointed. To start, the place is not very clean - not dirty, but didn't feel very fresh. The decor is dark and muted, a little confining. The waiter came, with a French accent, and introduced the menu for us. He pushed the ""complete dinner"" package, which we accepted, even though it was pricey. The first course was cheese fondue, which I like, but the bread was a bit too stale - the cheese was very good. We took our time enjoying the cheese, and then on to the main course. We chose the oil fondue, because we're not fond of wine, and the little fondue container that arrived at our table was old and crusty. Not visually appealing at all! The entree is brought in these faux wood serving trays, with little cubbies for the sauces. These sauces were obviously sitting on the cups for quite a while, because some of them were butter-like in texture. The meat/shrimp combination was ok, but the portion was a bit small for the price. After the main course, they brought the chocolate fondue, which was good except for some of the fruits that didn't appear to be as fresh as they could be. Not bad overall, but the service was subpar, food was average, and price was a bit too high. Pros: Good chocolate fondue, tasty cheese fondue Cons: Bread for cheese was too stale, some fruits not very fresh, service is inferior more

went there at a slow sunday night. First noticed that\r the restroom needed some work. the first course of\r bread and cheese fondue was alright, but the bread was\r stale. then since we still had some cheese left, we wanted to \r keep the fondue but that notorious french waitress seemed to\r dislike the idea. we were never able to start the second course\r with the cheese around. she then rudely blamed us for the\r heater set in the table not going on when she was the one who\r didn't turn it on! she thought we kicked the plug or something.\r the second course with the meat and seafood in oil fondue...\r despite 5 dressings, you get bored... i sensed a lot of garlic.\r the chocolate fondue was good. but the most disappointing was the\r fact that nothing has changed since the last time i have visited,\r 3 years ago! i wish they had some options, some seasonal ingredients,\r and overall passion in what they do. if i went to this place with friends\r with not as much temper or picky, things could've gone really bad! Pros: a fun, new experience Cons: not so much of a pleasant service, boring courses more

First if all, I have never been treated so bad anywhere. Taco Bell has beter service,,,,,and food for that matter, The fatass french waitress should fo back to France. Who after spilling salad dressing on me told me ""hold on lady,,,im busy"" when I asked her for a napkin,,and after dinner the table was soaking wet, i ask to please wipe it up and i was told thE same thing by the same .............waitress. \r OK .......THE BILL WAS $411.00 FOR 8 OF US ,,,THE TIP OF 20% ALREADY INCLUDED IN THAT. WE EACH PAID 53.00 AND CHANGE ,,,,BUT THE RESTAURANT CHARGED ALL ALL CREDIT CARDS 63.00 NOT 53.00 WE ALL SIGN FOR 53.00 THEY DID IT AFTER WE LEFT I STOPED IT AND I WONT PAY A DIME TO THEM NOT THE THE WORST SERVICE AND OH YEAH DID I MENTION THE FISH IS FROM ARE U READY ..........INDONESIA .,,,OK THAT IS FOUL,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Cons: EVERYTHING more

Went with a party of 5 and we all agreed it was a bad experience. From getting the drink order wrong (multiple times) to the malfunctioning food heaters to the average tasting food, the whole night was laughable at best. I would laugh more if the meal wasn't over $220 for the group. the decor of the restaurant does little to enhance the experience. Plus, slow, inattentive service throughout. Sat down at 7:30, left close to 10:30 due to the lackluster attention given by the wait staff. The wait person (woman with french accent) who served the cheese fondue yreprimanded my wife when she didn't pick up the correct skewer initially. You're better off eating at the other restuarants on the block: MAX - great food, good service -- THE GREAT GREEK - a fun restuarant with very good Greek food (and the waiters dance for you!) -- LE PETIT BISTRO - much better French food experience -- MARIA'S ITALIAN - fairly standard Italian food, better service and better value than La Fondue. Pros: Fondue is always a good brea kfrom traidtional sit down meals Cons: poor service, average food, hig prices, malfunctioning heaters more

La Fondue is fantastic! It readily takes me back to the 1970's when we used to eat this each and every Saturday night. The atmosphere is an extremely charming, dimly lit, country-french dining room. The severs are all very warm and professional--truly impressive; and Amelia, the owner, could not be more inviting and hospitable. She will go out of her way to make you comfortable and takes suggestions seriously. The food is incredible, and everything you get for the price is reason enough to make this gem a regular hang out. I just recently started eating here with a friend, and from day one, the staff treated us like royalty! Now we go every weekend. I highly recommend the complete dinner for $35.00 per person, although there are plenty of other choices, too. This includes a luscious cheese fondue, salad, and a plethora of meats to fondue for your main course--and the pots and burner are built right into the center of your table. This complete meal concludes with a velvety smooth chocolate fondue and an assortment of fresh fruit and marshmellows. There is also a full bar, and I can certainy attest to the quality of their champagnes. You will leave full, not to mention extremely glad you came. You'll fondly remember the 70's amidst the glowing atmosphere, the personalities, and the amount and quality of the food and drinks for the price. I'm quite a picky restaurant goer, so my giving LaFondue 5 stars speaks volumes.\r \r Dress is casual and the parking is plentiful (there is also valet service).\r \r You'll love it! Pros: Food, drinks, prices, staff, service, atmosphere, location, parking, nostalgia Cons: Eventually, you have to home :( more

I grew up eating fondue - it's very nostalgic for me - usually in Catalina on a boat or in ski areas - Tahoe etc... la fondue is great if that's what you're looking for - it's a throw back - to having a warm meal - it's a great way to eat - slowly - memorably - over a long period of time....starting with a cheese fondue with bread, then to meat - steak, shrimp, chicken - or a combo - then to dessert of a fruit plate to dip in chocolate - nice wines & beers - to me - very old world etc.... I love to eat in the finest places & do - however - this type of scene is quiet, calm - and relaxing as well as predictable in a good way. If you're looking for shi shi fua fua - go to where the hipsters go to see & be seen...if you like fondue - I recommend La Fondue! Pros: Great Evening Cons: n/a more

For our first date I was asked to choose a restaurant. La Fondue has been featured on the T.V. reality show "" Blind Date ""....not living to far away we agreed to give it a try.\r At first we were not confortable. The waiter must have felt it and was very helpful to explain the strange and simple menu. He convinced us to order the "" Complete Dinner "" with a bottle of red Bordeaux.\r -We started with a small dish of cheese melting over a candle where we dipped in some cubes of stale bread and sour pickles....according to the server the ""one day old "" bread does not crumble into the hot melting cheese...and the pickles ""cornichons"" imported from France , help to clean up your taste buds......very good !\r -Second course: a basket of warm french bread ( baguette ) and a green salade with fresh sliced mushroom....no choice for the dressing !....only the house dressing !......excellent.....you have to like garlic !\r -Third and main course: we decided on a combination plate of beef, chicken, shrimp, scallops and veggies with four or five sauces to dip in.....everything is cooked in a "" fondue vat "" built in at the center of the table....we choose to ""fondue"" in a broth with a wine base versus ""deep fry"".....I guess it was a good choice..... at the end we were offered some bowls to drink the soup that we just made.... what a great finish!\r -Fourth or fifth course: what can be more romantic than a dish of dark chocolate melting above a candle?....and to dip in .... strawberries.... oranges... bananas.... apples.... and more.....++++\r .....After two hours of FUN and great pleasures we felt very relaxed......we got the check....we decided to split it....for the unique food + very good french wine + tax + attentive service....I had to pay sixty five dollars...not an everyday dinner.....but a memorable experience....I' m ready to do it again !\r ....."" fondue "" ......means ....to melt ..... Pros: very romantic and fun Cons: ? more

I went to dinner here with my boyfriend and friends. We were all lookinfg forward to the fondue. The fondue was disgusting and on top of that the service was horrible. We paid for dinner and did not tip. Cons: service, food more

This is a rip off all we got was about a cup of melted cheese some stail bread and a few chucks of beef and chicken and melted chocolate for dessert. they charged us for refills even the diet cokes were somehow horrible( no carbination). They gave us five sauces each more horrible than the other the suces were in paper cups( the same cups you use for ketchup in mcdonalds). They made us cook our own food almost everything came out raw. the melted chess was repolsive. the chocolate nothing special. This unbelivablly horrible evening set us back $100 i left no tip and wrote f**k yourself on the receipt but this act of holliganism still did not qwench my anger . So in an attemp to do so i am writing this rewiev from work. By the way the waiter is french so watch out for rude european none sense. I didnt think anything could make me hate the french more but this experience some how did. so i guess the evenning wasnt a total lose. Pros: nothing Cons: everything more

I truly am sorry to say it, because I'll eat and have a good time pretty much anywhere, but this is one of the two worst meals I have EVER had in Los Angeles. It was between here and the place next door, ans I opted for La fondue as it sounded like an adventure. Besides, how can you go wrong with melted cheese/chocolate, or anything cooked in hot oil? Boy was I wrong. The male waiter was nice I guess, and attentive, but then there was only one other couple in the place. The decor and bathroom were outdated and seriously lacking in character, but we looked past it. The fondue itself (we opted for the cheese, as it was the vegetarian option) was just a $40 bowl of melted gruyere, and not even GOOD gruyere! It came with chunks of bread, and a very small plate of sliced apples, boiled potatoes, and cornichons (disgusting, I couldn't even eat them) for dipping. FOR TWO PEOPLE. To top it off, during our meal, the staff were having a laughing fit in back, and telling jokes in french, which was totally obnoxious. Then near the end of our meal, the owner had a fight/yelling match with a female staffperson IN FRENCH, IN FRONT OF US! It was like we were in the f***ing twilight zone. We'd ordered chocolate fondue for dessert, which I suppose made the night a *tiny* bit better, but frankly it was overwhelmingly overpriced (at $8 per person) and not all that special. A plate of cut up fruit, 5 Kraft marshmellows, and a vat of not-that-high-end chocolate for $16?! You've got to be kidding me. $65 later, we were sort of confused, sort of angry, and musing/semi-joking about going for a burger. We found the whole thing so entirely and weirdly dissapointing that we stopped by our foodie friends' house on the way home just to tell them how awful it was. When we told them where we went, they said, ""Uch! Why didn't you ask us first! We'd have told you never to go there!"" All in all, a really abysmal meal, and the last time I will EVER go there. Pros: There were absolutely none. Cons: Everything. The worst meal I've had in memory. more

this place isnt all about the ambiance but the fondue's great. id take it over the melting potrestauraunt in a sec.\r my favorite is the chocolate fondue and all you can eat fruit. definantly a try. Pros: waitor hooked us up more

I came there once with 6 of us with the intention of getting some drinks and/or desert after already having dinner somewhere else. We decided to sit at the bar. Our bartender (older French guy) was entertaining for the first few minutes when we ordered and was mostly unavailable the rest of the time. We each ordered a drink or two. I ordered one glass of Pinot. It wasn't until we needed to pay the bill and leave that he turned into the incompetent c***-s***er he is. He took it upon himself to put it all on one tab and wouldn't accept Visa. I ended up having to go across the street to get money out of the ATM in which made me feel off the hook in having to tip him. When I did come back, he refused to break a $10 for my drink. I made change with one of the others in our party and paid him for the price of the wine, no more... no less. Sure I didn't order a meal there so I can't comment on the food. After reading some of the other experiences here, I'm sure I know all I really need to know about it. Pros: Never had the unfortunate experience of ordering a full course meal Cons: Rude, lazy service more

The owners are the smartest people on Ventura Blvd. Imagine serving 6 bite size pieces of ""filet"", er, flank steak along with 8 or 9 bay-sized scallops with 2 mushrooms and 5 nibbles of zucchini for $21. Genius that suckers still eat here. The fact that you cook it yourself in a vat of oil or ""wine"", er, water is even more of the joke being on you. The decor is 1970's paneling, the bathrooms are 1960s cramped and dirty and the stuffy bogus French waiters and waitresses adds insult to injury with real condescension. Not romantic and true Valley joke. Pros: Leaving Cons: Coming more

Yes, this isn't a bargain-basement night out, but it IS the perfect environment to catch up with old friends! The decor is pure Betamax-era Valley, and when going out for fondue-- will anything else really do? The music is Muzak, which fits the atmosphere perfectly. We got the three-person prix fixe meal that came with a delicious salad, cheese fondue (they were happy to bring us more fruit for dipping) and the fabulous chocolate fondue for desert! We shared a nice bottle of wine, and the wait staff was great. Not trendy, loud or a place for star-sightings-- but if you go in knowing what to expect, chances are you won't be disappointed!\r Pros: Kitschy fun, great for social "encounters" Cons: Bring your wallet more

Despite all of the reviews not favoring La Fondue my aprty of four decided to give it a shot. We had a $40 gift certificate thinking that it would make an impression on the bill in the end.\r \r The first think I noticed about the place was the slight attic-like odor to the place. The decor is tacky and outdated beyond belief. \r \r At thirty minutes after restaurant opened we were the ONLY people there. Ne one else came for hours. There is only one thing on the menu that you can order and to eat at the tables it is $35 per person to get a less than average fondue meal. \r \r The 3 waiters on staff that day were very attentive until 2 other groups of diners joined the mix. with 10 people dining the waiters were very quickly overwhelmed and the service, the one good thing we had going for us, quickly went down hill.\r \r There is no redeeming quality for this resteraunt. If you want to go and get a good laugh at how not to spend your Sunday evening and get ripped off big time in this time warp of a place then by all means go to La Fondue. \r \r Otherwise just go to The MeltingPot in Irvine where you will have a true fun due experience.\r \r Pros: Service if you are the only party there Cons: Everything else. more

Where to begin....It is horrendously overpriced. $100 buys you full dinners for two (with a drink a piece), which includes a child's portion of mediocre meat, a torn up baguette, miniscule dipping sauces and melted cheese. The dessert is the best feature of the menu, although it's just mediocre fruits and melted chocolate. But where La Fondue really fails is in the atmosphere and SERVICE. We sat next to three screaming toddlers and this was supposed to be a moderately-romantic evening out. When we asked to be re-seated the waiter looked at us as if we were the rudest people on Earth, and told us that was not really an option. I insisted. For the rest of the meal he was completely rude and would not even make eye contact. It was very uncomfortable, and it was just torture sitting in this run-down 1970s cave frying shreds of chicken in hot oil and trying to enjoy it. It was a terrible evening and we were made to feel like complete jerks. Pros: Nothing. Cons: Rude service, overpriced, malfunctioning fondue heaters more

This was my second visit to this restaurant, its the only fondue restaurant in the valley. Our first visit was average, no complaints. Four of us went this weekend for dessert. When we told the server this he made a face and ran to get the manager. The manager told us in a rude and snobby tone that we needed to leave the table. ""We couldn't ONLY have dessert at the table"" and if we just wanted dessert we would have to hover over the very small and already crowded bar. He then told us that if we wanted dessert to come back at 10:00. Meanwhile, it was 7:30 and the restaurant wasn't even close to full. FYI, there's only one thing to order on their menu now. This place was soooo rude I'll never return...next time I'll drive to Thousand Oaks to the Melting Pot! Pros: Only Fondue in Valley, Prompt Seating Cons: Rude , Lack of Options, Old more

What a great time we had! The food was great, the service terrific, and just everything was delish-tasticness! Whoever said this was a ""fon-DON'T"" has never eaten in a true fondue restaurant before! Highly recommended! Pros: Delicious food, Great staff Cons: A bit pricey more

We have to disagree some of the other reviewers. The food was excellent and the service was great. Nither of us could eat half of the food served. If you can't fill up on the meal then you don't like fondue and should go else where. The decore is dated but it didn't effect the taste of the food. As a non-smoker I could still smell the old smoke in the bar area. Pros: Great Food, Good service, Fun place Cons: Parking more

This was a miserable dining experience. The place has not been updated since the 70's, the table & chairs are grungy, and the food was tasteless. The cheese Fondue was good but was served with stale bread. The steak was very poor quality and the scallops were small and very fishy. The food took forever to cook, probably due to the obsolescent burners. And talk about the Fondue pot. These have been around way too long! The sauces for the main course were served in paper holders, the kind McDonalds uses for their ketchup. Very tacky. Such a shame because I was so looking forward to introducing my wife to the great experience I have had many times at fondue restaurants across the country. In my opinion it needs a major overhaul. Including wine and tip we paid $100, but would have been disappointed even if it had cost $40. Pros: Romantic, Good concept Cons: Poor quality food, Poor presentation, Grungy Decor more