The Cosmopolitan Blog

I went to FondueMentale for the 3rd time in 5 years, and it was great, as always. But i wanted to write a review this time, because i found the perfect combination of dishes to order. We were 4 people and went for dinner on a Friday night. It is recommended to make a reservation.

When you walk in, the restaurant is very quaint, you have to walk up a few steps and pull an old heavy door. The romantic atmosphere can be felt as soon as you walk in, with wood and candlelight visible from the entrance foyer. There are stairs that lead to the upstairs level, but we were seated one the first floor (I’ve been upstairs before, it’s nice too, more of a modern feel whereas here below, it feels nice and retro).

Fondue is originally a swiss dish that comes in very different varieties, but the 1 common thing is that it’s about putting a piece of something onto a long fork and placing it into a pot of a boiling liquid and leaving it there for a little while.

There is the cheese fondue where you put bread into liquid melted boiling swiss cheese. There’s Chinoise and Bourguignonne ones where u put raw meat into either boiling oil (bourguignonne) or broth (chinoise) to cook your meat. then there’s the ever fabulous chocolate fondue for desert.

So, at Fondue Mentale you can choose any one you like, there have different variations on each. And of course, if there are many of you, you can each take something different for a variety of samples. But what i really recommend you should do it take the menus, you have to be a minimum of 2 people for each menu though.

L’ aventure is the cheapest, at $29 per person, and there’s also La Romantique at $33 per person. We were four people, so we took one of each. For starters, you get a cheese fondue (a smaller portion), but still it’s a very filling dish, and we puposely ended up leaving a little at the bottom of the pot, to save place for the rest of the food. The good thing is, since we get 2 portions of Cheese Fondue (since we had 2 menus), we had a different type of cheese in each fondue.

Then came the fondue Chinoise, where we got dishes of raw beef and chicken (L’ Aventure) and a dish of raw beef, chicken, shrimp, salmon and calamari (La Romantique), that you have to place at the end of your long fork (you get 2 forks per person so you can be more productive)…

Of course, I made sure to tell my dinner companions that, when i was in Switzerland, i had been taught that the rule for fondues was: if a piece drops off your fork (i.e. you pull your fork out of the pot and there’s nothing attached to it), you have to pay a penalty… and the penalty can be anything from kissing your neighbor to handing over a piece of food in penalty

Oh! and rule no2 (way more important if you care about your tummy): with cheese fondue, NEVER drink ice water while eating the fondue, because then the melted cheese solifies in yuor tummy and well, not good! So, ice with no water (small sips only, otherwise effect will be the same, and you’ll be full by the 4th bite) or better yet, a nice bottle of white wine (always good to use this as an opportunity to try a german or swiss wine).

Desert was a fruit fondue, perfect end, a little pot of hot melted chocolate and a plate full of cut up fruit to dip into it. FABULOUS!

Anyway, so, conclusion: for this restaurant, my tips are: go with a group, be adventurous, come hunry, stay away from too much water, stay close to lots of wine, and find a way to maximize the different dishes you end up with. The menus are GREAT ideas because they are designed for maximum sampling. HAPPY FONDU-ING!

FondueMentale is located at 4325 Saint-Denis (between Marie-Anne and Rachel) – (514) 499-1446 – http://www.fonduementale.com/ – open from 5.30 to 10pm (weekdays) and until 11.30pm (weekends).