It’s fun, tasty, ideal for sharing and something that’s just that little bit different.
Speciality fondue nights have found their way to the heart of George Town, offering an enjoyable meal out for family and friends.
Bacchus Restaurant & Wine Bar hosts the fondue nights every Monday and Wednesday, offering fondue lovers an opportunity to delight in this traditional Swiss dish.
Think fondue and cheese is likely to spring to mind. It’s probably one of the most popular fondue dishes, and, quietly rightly so, features first on the menu at Bacchus.
Traditional cheese fondue is made with a mixture of emmenthal and gruyere cheeses, mixed together with wine and melted in a communal pot, which is served at the table on top of a small burner to keep it hot.
Bacchus’s cheese fondue is a twist on the original, incorporating a delicious blend of gorgonzola, manchego and gruyere cheeses.
The dish is served with bite sized pieces of cubed crusty baguette bread, made moist and mouth-wateringly tasty by dipping it into the pot of molten cheese mix with a long, sharp, two pronged fondue fork.
Leave the bread in the cheese a little too long and you risk losing it in the molten mix; but its all part of the fun.
A selection of fresh vegetables, which can also be dipped into the melted cheese, rounds off the dish.
The bourguignon is another fondue option at Bacchus. In place of the melted cheese is a pot of boiling oil. Raw meats – beef tenderloin strips, chicken breast and tiger shrimps – are skewered on the fork and cooked in the oil. Careful. The oil’s hot and can spit a little. The skewers are sharp too – much to the shock of my guest who managed to cut their finger while over-enthusiastically skewering a tasty piece of meat.
The chicken and shrimp take the longest to cook. The beef the least, and can be left in the oil to taste.
The bourguignon comes with rice, chips, roasted potatoes, vegetables and a staggering selection of delicious dipping sauces. Wash it all down with a glass, ($6 and up) or a bottle ($30 and up), of wine from the restaurant’s extensive wine list and you have yourself a hearty meal bound to satisfy.
As a self-confessed chocoholic, the dessert was the real treat – a chocolate lovers dream. A fondue pot filled almost to the brim with delicious melted chocolate. Gazing into the pot of swirling chocolate, I couldn’t wait to dip one of the accompanying fresh fruit – banana, strawberries, kiwi, orange and grapes – and savour the taste. Regrettably, I was over enthusiastic with the other two fondue dishes and didn’t leave quite enough room to do the dish real justice, leaving far too much of the chocolate sauce swimming at the bottom of the pot.
Local saxophone player Gary Ebanks plays live on the two fondue nights creating a lively and enjoyable atmosphere and, as you would expect from an award winning restaurant, staff are eager and only too happy to please, which made the whole dining experience a real pleasure.
Keith Griffin, chef and owner of Bacchus, said that the fondue nights have proved really popular, especially with large groups who enjoy the communal dining experience of fondue.
‘Since we started offering the all you can eat lobster night we have had a lot of large groups and families in. From talking to the clients we realised that there was a demand for family style dinners, so we thought that fondue would be perfect for that sort of occasion,’ he said.
‘A number of restaurants offered fondue before Hurricane Ivan, but nobody has really picked up on it since. It just seemed like a fun idea and it has gone down really well.
‘People are coming in everyday and asking for it, so we are now offering it, on request, on other nights too.’
Mr. Griffin said the chocolate fondue has proved the most popular with the ladies, followed closely by the cheese fondue.
Customers will be pleased to learn that prices are easy on the wallet. The cheese fondue is $18.95 per person, the bourguignon, $34.95 per person, and the chocolate fondue $12.95 per person.
After three full fondue dishes, my guest and I staggered with full bellies out the restaurant, already planning our next visit to Bacchus.
The restaurant, located on Fort Street, George Town, is open Monday to Friday 10am to 1pm. Saturday and Sunday, 10am to midnight. Bacchus hosts various specials; all you can eat and drink lobster and champagne nights on Tuesday and Thursdays, super steak Fridays and three course wine dinner specials Monday, Wednesday and Saturdays. Call 949-5747 for reservations or visit www.bacchus.ky.
FONDUE
Fondue originated in isolated mountain villages of Switzerland as a way of using up hardened cheese and old bread. The Swiss found that melting stale cheese made it edible. Local wines and seasonings were added and even dry and hard bread tasted delicious after it was swirled in the creamy melted cheese.
Deriving from the French verb fondre, meaning “to melt,” fondue was a classic peasant dish. Traditionally, the communal dish is shared at the table in an earthenware pot, or caquelon, over a small burner.
Though cheese fondues are the best known kind, there are several other possibilities for the contents of the pot and what is used for dipping.
As with other communal dishes, fondue has etiquette standards, ranging from practical to amusing. Some people consider it rude to allow one’s lips or tongue to touch the fondue fork, and with meat fondues diners should use a dinner fork to remove the meat from the dipping utensil. If a dipped morsel is lost in the sauce, it is tradition for that person to buy a round of drinks.
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