Simply Fondue

Great food but average service. With a reservation, it took them 10 minutes to even acknowledge that we were there. After being seated, we were left to look at the menu for a bit too long.
If we didn’t have the travelzoo deal the amount of money they expect for 4 people (280) seemed a bit steep.
Was nice that they had oil to cook the entrée meats in. I know that melting pot does not have that option.
All in all I would go back with a good coupon deal otherwise with the lack of service and high prices for essentially cooking your own food it wouldnt be worth it.

Good place to go to scratch the fondue itch. Our server was prompt and helpful, and didn’t mind our multiple requests.
They have three fondue options: boiled, fried, or grilled. Note that they use a ton of oil on the grilled, so it’s not as «healthy» as it sounds. That said, we loved the grilled option. Garlicky goodness.
The only disappointment for me was the chocolate dessert. Just a bit too sweet. But for a romantic, extended dinner for two, I think it’s a lovely place to go.

We went for dessert on Friday night and the chocolate was DELICIOUS. My husband got some sort of mint-​chocolate martini, and he loved it, too. Oh, and we had the chocolate peanut butter fondue. We had a reservation and were seated right away.
Here’s my breakdown:
PROS: The Chocolate!
The Martini
CONS:
–The prices ($ 10 each seems a bit much, it should be charged per pot instead of per person)
–Not enough dippers! And even when you get your alloted 2 extra items (make sure you ask for them, cause they don’t tell you this up front), it still leaves you with extra chocolate
–They give no instruction or ask if you’ve ever had fondue before. We were new to it, and the server just turned on the heat and dropped off the chocolate without explaining anything.
–The server was a bit rude. Don’t know her name, but she seemed to not care about us since we were only getting dessert.
–Personally, I found the decorations creepy. Felt like I was in a cheap strip joint. This was not helped by the music.

This use to be my favorite restaurant when it was «La Fondue» many moons ago. Since they’ve changed ownership/​management/​staff the quality of the food and service went down the drain.
I’ve been back many times since they’ve made the change to Simply Fondue and I am disappointed to say that each time I’m reminded of how much I miss La Fondue. I took my family here a couple of weekends ago and my parents and I started with the mixed greens and my brothers got the Caesar salads. The Caesar I was told was okay, but my mixed greens were «bruised» this is a sign that it’s old salad. Blah!
I figured the night was still young, because we still had the cheeses, the meats and the dessert. However our waitress came around with the beer to pour into the pot and walked away for over 15 minutes, needless to say when she came back the beer was already boiling and some of it had dissipated so she said «oh! It looks like you would need more beer!» (Uh.duh…when you pour beer in a hot pot and walk away for a long period of time what did you expect was going to happen?!)
The meat was very disappointing, we ordered a variety of filet, chicken and seafood. The filet was not top quality, seafood was okay. And the Chicken. well…chicken is chicken.
I’m actually getting upset all over again just writing this review of what a tragic waste of a trip, time and money it was to go here. I have also written to management about a few things that had bothered me that night (I won’t bore you all with the details here) and have not heard back from anyone. This is really insulting because I have referred them tons of business and have brought many of my family and friends here in the past.
I eat out on average about 5 – 6 nights a week, and given the large amounts of restaurants in OC and LA; there’s really no reason why I should waste one of those nights at Simply Fondue. Needless to say I have crossed Simply Fondue off my list. In the future if I am craving fondue I will visit The Melting Pot in Irvine or Brea and suggest you do the same.
Simply Fondue is Simply Fon-Don’t!

First of all, this place was one of my favorite restaurants when it was La Fondue and this was the first time I had been there since the change in ownership. The place has gone downhill in a major way!
We were about 15 minutes early for our reservation, which does not sounds like such a big deal, but after we waited for five minutes for the hostess to appear, we were informed by said hostess that we were way too early and «it would be awhile» before we were seated.
Once we were seated, our server immediately informed us that they were fully booked with only two servers working that night and everything might take longer than normal. We weren’t under any time constraint, so we didn’t have a problem with the slower service (initially).
We did have a problem with not being given any water glasses without having to ask for them three times, being told that «you have the wrong menu and you actually only get 7 meat choices» (um ok, if you have changed the menu, shouldn’t you reprint them???), never being offered additional dippers when we had plenty of the cheese course remaining, receiving the wrong selection of meats with our entrée, being told that all of the mini spatulas usually provided with the tongs for grilling the meats had been stolen (who tells customers that???), never being offered another cocktail, not having water glasses refilled until they had been empty for 10+ minutes, not receiving the dippers for our chocolate course until the chocolate had been sitting at the table for 10 minutes, no toilet paper in the restrooms, etc etc etc.
I am almost speechless because I have never seen a restaurant (especially a fairly pricey one) so poorly managed. I can’t believe there were no owners or managers stepping in to help the servers out on a night that was supposedly so busy. We will definitely not be back!

I didn’t like this place much, probably because it was very expensive and I wasn’t full at ALL when I left! It was good food and quality and great atmosphere, but the quantity wasn’t amazing. I liked it, but didn’t LOVE it!
I would eat a snack before if I were you and I didn’t want to spend a TON of money. I like the décor because of how eclectic it is!
Good food, high price, low quantity!

Here’s my breakdown:
Service:
Initially when my wife and I got to the restaurant there was a sign on the door indicating that walkins could not be taken, reservations only… it was a Tuesday night… so, my wife and I not having a reservation went in anyways to see if they could help us out. We had a baby sitter, so we wanted to make our night out count. The manager graciously allowed us to dine there for the evening, bonus points!
Our server was very friendly and helpful. Having never been to a fondue restaurant before, she clearly explained how everything is done. Our food, drinks, and check came in a very timely manner, and she was not hovering over our table bothering us the whole time.
Atmosphere:
I really enjoyed the décor. It was warm and relaxing yet unique. It was very quiet and was a place where you’de feel comfortable being dressed up a little, or just wearing regular street clothes.
Food:
Now the important part… the food! I ordered the combination entrée featuring several different types of chicken, pork, and beef along with a vegetable blend and ravioli. They offer three methods of cooking — boiling, frying, or grilling. My wife and I chose to grill our food. The meat provided was perfectly seasoned and very tender and suculent. My personal favorite was the bacon wrapped steak… delicious. They also provide a variety of flavorful, yet not overpowering dipping sauces. I hate it when a dipping sauce doesn’t allow you to taste the natural flavors of the meats, so these sauces were great.
Normally I do not order dessert at restaurants, but since we were at a fondue place I would feel cheated if I didn’t get some chocolate. We ordered the Snicker’s chocolate fondue. It came with a typical assortment of sweets and fruit to dip in it. It was perfect, no complaints!
Value:
This is not the place to go if you’re looking to save a buck or 2… it’s very pricey, especially for a place where you cook your own food. That was really my only complaint about this place. I felt like I was paying people a bunch of money so I could cook my own food. That being said, it was a very fun experience and worth doing every once in awhile.
Overall I enjoyed my experience at Simply Fondue. I’m generally a stickler when it comes to food quality and service at restaurants, and the met and surpassed my standards in both areas. I would definitely recomend this place!

Pro: There be chocolates, useful staff. Part of OC restaurant week.
Con: Don’t come here hungry, deserts are a plus /​everything else is not. Dark inside. Parking issues.
First, why is this place in San Juan? Second, how in the where did people know this is in San Juan? Third, what in the world is going on with the décor?
This is a business lunch meal with some of my best clients in part with OC restaurant week. By their choice, they picked the fondue place, which we all kind of regretted it.
Don’t get me wrong, the staff was absolutely amazing in their part to bring everything out, explaining the process and just simple making sure we don’t kill ourselves. But fondue isn’t a meal, it’s a playtime event for teens and drunken playtime for adults. Our party was simple not in the right mood for this and it took too long to eat.
I will hit up fondue in general later on just for fun with friends after hour for deserts, never for a meal again.