La Cave des Fondus

this place is closed

Pretty good fondue and the wine in the baby bottles was a cool experience. A bit expensive for the quality of the food.

Only been here for the chocolate fondue. Not bad but there are so many other places that are better, ie Max Brenners.
Only uniqueness about this place is that all beverages were serves in baby bottles! Quite weird! Wine, beer, water, cocktails, etc. all served in baby bottles.
That’s all I have to say about this place.

Came here a while while back, so have limited memories of the place. What I do remember:
1) mediocre food
2) rather expensive prices
But the most important thing, drinking wine out of baby bottles! Not sure if that is a plus or minus.

Just love this place. The ambiance is great. The waiters speak French. Wine is served in baby bottles, and you have to step on the table to get to your seat. When you come, you just have to have a good time. The beef fondue is great!

Fondue and fries were good, wine in the bottles was a fun concept even though it spoils the taste because you’re drinking rubber. Love the cave, makes you feel like you’re not in NY. Servers were very cute, couldn’t speak English that well but rather charming.

I don’t understand why this place has such bad reviews. True it is a mimic of Le Refuge des Fondues, which I never got to try in Paris but I did eat at another fondue place in Paris on Rue Mouffetard, it’s still very authentic! I don’t know what everyone is saying about the bad service because when my two girlfriends and I went, the service was exceptional! They were waiting on us hand and foot, constantly stirring our cheese to make sure it didn’t get too thickish. They monitored our fire well and were always asking if everything was ok and if we needed anything else. Our waiter was French and I practiced a little with him so that made me feel like the place was even more legit! I enjoyed my dinner here and remember, mockery is the best form of flattery! I knocked off one star simply because it’s not fondue from Paris! Hehe.

I came here awhile ago with some friends with whom I studied abroad in Paris. We’re diehard fans of the original Le Refuge des Fondues in Montmartre, the concept of which La Cave has unapologetically copied. I get where La Cave is coming from, because Le Refuge is a fantastic restaurant: it’s tiny, no-​nonsense, no-​frills, just lots of people jostled together in extremely close quarters eating neverending quantities of cheese, bread, and wine. The proprietors in Paris clearly enjoy their work, and everyone leaves flushed, full, and happy. We need more restaurants like that in New York.
Unfortunately, La Cave is like the American remake of a foreign film, meaning they added a bunch of other meal components — new sauces and new stuff to dunk in the cheese. They also doubled the size of the room, while pointlessly keeping the requirement that you step over the table to get to the seats along the wall. They put the young, hip waitstaff in cheesy Pareesy outfits (berets and striped shirts, I kid you not). And, of course, they doubled the price; we paid about $ 35 each, including wine and chocolate fondue.
Don’t get me wrong, we had a good time here too. Fondue is communal food, which is always fun for group outings. We got two cheese pots and two meat pots, which was a good call — we all got to try everything. The fries really are great, and we all got enough food. The chocolate fondue, though, really wasn’t worth the price. You get a teeny tiny dish of hot chocolate, and three mini-​profiteroles and a little dish of fruit to dunk. Save your money and get gelato or something instead.
The bottom line is that though the atmosphere here is cool enough, this place lacks the soul of the Paris original. It’s too slick and pretty, and definitely too expensive, to capture my heart the same way La Cave does with its scruffy bonhomie (c’mon, you know I had to throw a French word in here). La Cave should quit trying to be like the French version and just accept what it is — a pretty good, fairly chill fondue restaurant.

When my friends and I heard about this place we definitely had to check it out. We love wine and the idea of sucking them out of baby bottles seemed hysterical. The plans was to stop here for a late dinner before heading out for the night.
La Cave des Fondus is located downstairs from Jacques. The stairs are steep deadly and we almost all ate shit when we went down them in heels. The décor is really cute and the wait staff is pretty attentive (although there were only two other couples there at the time). We all ordered wine, the Fondue Savoyarde, and the La Fondue Bourguignonne. Sadly I can say that I’ve definitely made better fondue than this place. The quality of the food you get is definitely not worth the price they’re making you pay. One of my friends was still starving and got the chocolate fondue. For some reason it would not heat up properly so overall our fondue experience was ruined. The couples next to us seemed to be really wastey and having a grand olé time. Definitely more of an intimate date place. I’m not so sure if I liked the baby bottles except for the fact that it made for a good Kodak moment. At one point we all just unscrewed the tops and started drinking it straight from the bottle because it was just taking wayyy too long.

So we ended up here on Saturday night b/​c Café Habana across the street could not accommodate a party of 10 on a Saturday night, and reasonably so. So we chose the next available option, which was this place. It is located in the basement, and the interior is cute, dimly lit, with communal tables. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table, which was OK, and in the mean time, we had a few beers and everyone was able to chat a bit. When we were seated, the waiter came by to explain the menu, but I had no idea what he said. Yes… he had a beautiful French accent, and I could have probably listened to him all night, but I had no idea what the menu was about. Another waitress, who was very perceptive, noticed we all had blank stares after the waiter told us about the menu, and so she came by and explained the menu very clearly :) In any case, the have 2 types of fondue, cheese and meat. We were a party of 10, and so we all had fondue at $ 21/​person. I don’t think that the food was enough honestly. I dont’ eat that much, but I felt bad for the others who had a healthy appetite. The fries were very good, but you can get good fries anywhere. The meat was excellent, tender and flavourful, but really a small portion. We also had some bread and also some ham. We did not order the wine in the baby bottles, but they looked interesting. The salad that came with the meal was really just so-​so. This place could have really been fantastic, but it needed some work.
If you’re the owner and reading this, things to improve on:
1) Waitstaff that can explain the menu clearly, or better yet, have a menu
2) More cheese in the fondue please… please don’t skimp on the cheese, this is a FONDUE place :)
3) Lets work on the veggies please! Perhaps bigger bowls of salad, come on, last I checked, greens are not that expensive
4) Mmm… the price is a bit steep and considering how the portions were pretty small, I would say that customers might opt to go somewhere else
I will have to check out Le Refuge in Paris, and make a comparison…

As other reviewers have mentioned, this place is a poor copy of Le Refuge des Fondues in the Montmarte section of Paris. Many nuances, however, have been lost in translation: take the wine in baby bottles, for example. In the French original, this tactic was devised as a way of circumventing the astronomical Parisian wine-​glass tax. Transported to New York, it becomes a pointless and bizarre gimmick.
Copycat-​ism is hardly ever commendable, but in this case, in the absence of consideration for context and culture, it’s also incredibly stupid.

This place belongs in the Epcot Center.

My rating is basically a battle between the exceptional meat and the underwhelming everything else.
The meat is really good. The cheese/​bread/​everything else ranges from bland to unacceptable. The baby bottle gag is clever, but they skimp out on the amount of wine you get. The décor is dark and mysterious enough to be a clever first date place. If I went back, I’d only get the meat.

«La Cave des Fondus» completely misses the mark. I went to this place because I heard it was modeled on «Refuge des Fondus» in Paris. I am a huge fan of «Refuge,» and I was really excited to see if it could happen in New York. Unfortunately this place is a sad joke.
The décor is similar to «Refuge,» although the space in New York is somewhat bigger. The staff was dressed in ridiculous «French» outfits worthy of a theme restaurant in Disney. The staff at «Refuge» is more reminiscent of the no-​nonsense service you get at Peter Luger actually. The poor waiters at «La Cave» looked humiliated and confused.
We started out ordering the wine in baby bottles. At «Refuge,» you get two choices: red or white. Here, they have a variety of wines priced from $ 8-​$ 10 per baby bottle. In Paris, they don’t explain the baby bottle thing. It’s just the way it is, and you’re gonna like it. They fill your baby bottle to the top, and you’re gonna get drunk and have fun. At «La Cave» they only fill up the baby bottles about ¾ of the way, which immediately pissed me off. My biggest advice to this place is: FILL THE BOTTLES UP. That way if people are drunk, maybe they’ll forget how pathetic the food is.
For the food you get two choices: meat or cheese for $ 21 per person. This comes with a miniature salad, as other reviewers have mentioned. The salad is so small, I don’t even see what the point is. In Paris they serve a large plate of different cheeses, olives and cured meats as an appetizer.
The meat fondue at «La Cave» is tasty, but very small. The sauces served with it were bernaise, dijon mustard and something that resembled ketchup mixed with mayo. Give me a break. The only good part were the fries that came with the meat, but those are pretty easy to find elsewhere.
The cheese was kind of mealy and bland. It is only served with cubes of ham (very Spam-​like) and pieces of white baguette! That’s it. Who wants to eat ham cubes in cheese fondue? Gross.
Listen folks, this place is a joke. The food sucks, and the experience is anything but authentic. If you’re ever in Paris, do try «Refuge des Fondus.» I give them 5 stars. Unfortunately, «La Cave» is a sad imitation that royally fails.

Looking at all the other reviews here I’m totally disappointed. I think this place is super fun, tasty, and above all CHEAP. Of course it’s not going to have 8 different kinds of fondue — it’s $ 21/​person! I’ll admit that they don’t have a varied beer/​wine list, but again that’s not the point of this place. It’s peasant food — it’s supposed to be simple! I find the food to be rustic, yummy and enjoyable. At $ 36/​person incl tax, tip, extra sides and 2 rounds of drinks, it’s a bargain.
I’ve had a number of fondue meals in the city, and though other places (namely the Bourgeois Pig and Artisanal) might have better and more upscale food, I haven’t made many return trips. The Pig is too small to accommodate groups bigger than 2 or 3, and Artisanal is too fancy pants and snotty for my taste or regular business. And if that’s your type of restaurant, I urge you to stay away, because you’re not going to enjoy this place, and plus I don’t want you ruining the great vibes and mellow neighborhood crowd this place attracts. Fondue is supposed to be cosy and for groups, and La Cave is perfect for that.
If you don’t like the baby bottles (which I think is fun and kitschy), ask for a different glass. The wait staff will happily oblige. In fact, they’ll bend over backwards to make sure you’re having a good time. And at the end of each of the 3 meals I’ve had there, our waiter treated my table (and the tables around me) to a free round a drinks. I doubt that will last too long, but if they’re trying to encourage repeat customers, it’s working for me!
The murals on the wall, while cheesy (pardon the pun) at first, upon examination actually depict the a prototypical fondue experience — people sitting at communal tables after a hard day’s work, socializing, drinking cheap vino and enjoying themselves. This is exactly the experience I’ve had at La Cave Des Fondus, and it’s why I’ve been back 3 times since it opened. I’ve brought friends and co-​workers each time, and we’ve always left full, laughing and warm. And we’ve all vowed to come back.

Quite a disappointment. I went here with some girl friends recently and none of us were particularly thrilled. The whole wine-​in-​baby-​bottles thing is just a bizarre gimmick that none of us found particularly funny. And the menu selection is no good; only one kind of cheese fondue and only one kind of chocolate. Neither is really worth writing home about.
The staff was impeccably friendly, and the atmosphere was enjoyable aside from those damned baby bottles. And the frites were tasty. That was the good part. Overall, not so much. Next time I want to feel all medieval-​peasanty, I’ll just get a giant goblet of some strange Belgian brew at Burp Castle.

I went here the first weekend it opened and was disappointed to find a very cramped space with mediocre food. The music was also very loud — so loud it was hard to hear yourself talk at times. The communal tables were so tight that you had to climb to get into your seat, and the wine served in baby bottles was less than appealing. There was only one type of cheese fondue and meat fondue option, neither of which we found very flavorful. We ordered additional sides (the Jacques famous frites, sauteed mushrooms, fingerling potatoes), and while the frites were tasty, it just wasn’t enough to rate this restaurant three stars.

Let me start by saying I can’t drink wine from a baby bottle. Kitchy & cute, maybe. Enjoyable wine experience, not at all. I skipped a second round of baby bottle and got my wine in a rocks glass, which was nice because I could smell the wine that way. The place is Disney cute, the music is good, service was fine, but fondue was not good at all. We ordered the cheese fondue and it had great consistency but barely any flavor, so what’s the point. The chocolate fondue, which had great flavor, had a watery consistency. Nothing was completely awful but nothing was good either.

It is very accessible by subway, which is why it earned one of the 2 stars I am awarding to them.
At 8pm when we arrived, we were greeted by a friendly hostess who offered to take our coats for us. She said the wait would be a just few minutes and pointed us to the bar. We ordered the wine so as to get them in the baby bottles, which was fun. We ended up waiting over an hour with no status updates or anything from our hostess.
We sit, and order. And wait. For about an hour. We ordered the cheese fondue with broccoli instead of the ham that it comes with, and bread. Our server, after an hour, brought out our cheese and broccoli to dip, and salads (every person participating in the fondue gets the tiniest salad you’ve ever seen). We finish the broccoli and our salads while we were told the kitchen was «slicing the bread» and that it will be out in a minute. We waiting 45 minutes for the bread, while our cheese fondue was just sitting there.
We did not receive good service at all and were completely «forgotten about» the entire time.
The interior of the place is cool– 2 long tables where everyone sits next to each other, decorated in an «immigrant dining hall” — type of way. The cheese fondue was good. That’s about it. That is where they earned their other star.
I’ll never go back and am taking names of better fondue places in the city.

I have decided that from now on I will only drink wine from baby bottles. This place is pretty great, from the baby bottles, climbing over the table to get a seat next to the wall, the cozy and inviting underground atmosphere, and the excellent fondue, you can’t go wrong. The Fondue Bourguignonne came with beef broth, thinly sliced hanger steak, Jacques frites, and a baby salad. Be careful when you take your steak out of the broth, it’s very hot and you might burn your face, but once you get it in your mouth be prepared for wonderfully tender steak with just enough jus to give it a little more beefy flavor. The frites come with a herbed mayonnaise which should really be the only condiment for fries. My friend had La Fondue Savoyarde which is a blend of 3 cheeses, and comes with diced ham and a bread basket. I’m not really sure how to rate this considering I don’t eat cheese, but from what I gathered it was pretty tasty, although it did begin to separate toward the end of the meal. This place is perfect if you’re in the mood for wine with a little rubber added to the bouquet, and food that is not only tasty but fun to play with.