Our wedding anniversary is July 26th, but because we’ll be on a plane to Hawaii that day, we decided to celebrate it early this weekend with a dinner date at La Fondue in Saratoga. We drove down to the South Bay and dropped Mio off with the grandparents (since they live in San Jose now) so that we could enjoy a lovely evening to ourselves. It had been a while since we’d had a date night, so it was so nice to just have that time together as a couple, knowing that Mio was in good hands.

Friends had told us about what an amazing dining experience La Fondue was and how it was the perfect restaurant for a romantic dinner and special occasions. I’d been wanting to go for years but we hadn’t because it’s kind of far from the East Bay where we live, and it was too fancy for us to just swing by on past occasions when we did happen to find ourselves in the area. But this year, since we needed to drop Mio off in the South Bay anyway, we decided that it was the perfect opportunity to finally visit what is easily the best fondue restaurant in the Bay Area.

 

Outside of La Fondue
Outside of La Fondue in Saratoga

 

Cool interior decor
The decor inside the restaurant was very retro and artsy… I loved it!

 

Gun lamp
Each table had one of these cool lamps, which feature a gold gun as the handle.

 

The inscription read, "Happiness is a hot gun."
The inscription reads, “Happiness is a hot gun.”

 

Loved the decor!
I loved the bold decor!

 

We decided to go with the Fondue Feast, which is a four-course meal that includes a salad for each person, appetizer cheese fondue, a main entrée fondue with meats, and dessert chocolate fondue. Good thing I went hungry!

 

Spinach salad with lemon tarragon dressing
My spinach salad with lemon tarragon dressing. Dan got the chef salad with blue cheese.

 

for the appetizer fondue
Fruits, vegetables, and bread (in the background) to be dipped in the cheese fondue for the appetizer.

 

Cheese fondue for appetizer
We chose the Cajun cheese fondue for the appetizer. It was awesome!

 

For the main entrée, we could choose a selection of six meats, so we chose Polynesian chicken, Pacific Catch (mango shark), tiger blue shrimp, sea scallops, alligator tail, and wild nilgai antelope. It came with some vegetables, too. This was the first time trying alligator and antelope for the both of us!

Polynesian chicken, Pacific Catch (mango shark), tiger blue shrimp, sea scallops, alligator tail, wild nilgai antelope, and veggies
Our selection of meats for the main entrée.

 

We opted for the punsch cooking method, which is spiced red wine with cloves and rosemary.

We opted for the punsch cooking method, which is spiced red wine with cloves and rosemary.
It was very flavorful, with no fat or broth.

 

Dan enjoying the dinner!
The hubster enjoying the dinner. All the meats were wonderful.

 

Ever the seafood lover, my favorites were the shrimp and sea scallops!
Ever the seafood lover, my favorites were the shrimp and sea scallops!

 

Hubby checking out the chocolate fondue options
Dan is overwhelmed by all the options and possible combinations for the chocolate fondue.

 

After much deliberation over which chocolate fondue we wanted, we decided to go with The Decadent One, which is a dark and milk chocolate bowl, mixed with espresso, kahlua, and creme. The array of desserts they brought for us to dip into the chocolate was very impressive! There were strawberries, bananas, grapes, apples, marshmallows, cream puffs, wafer cookie sticks, cream cheese balls, cookie dough, pound cake, and even Snickers chocolates! And you request extra of your favorites afterwards. (I was too full at the end, but Dan requested extra strawberries.) Even Dan said that as much as he hated to admit it, the dessert was his favorite part of the meal!

Heavenly selection of desserts!
A heavenly selection of desserts!

 

Trying a strawberry
I tried the strawberry first…

 

chocolate-covered strawberry!
…because there are few things that are sweeter than a chocolate-covered strawberry!

 

marshmallows + chocolate = always amazing!
marshmallows + chocolate = always amazing!

 

Our waiter even brought us some champagne on the house for our anniversary! 🙂

anniversary champagne
Anniversary champagne! The strawberry was a nice touch.

 

Dan with his champagne
Cheers, hubby!

 

Such a romantic and delicious dinner!

 

It was such a memorable, romantic, and delicious dinner! The ambience, the food, the service… everything was so perfect. We both agreed that this was probably our favorite anniversary dinner yet. It’ll be hard to top this one, but we look forward to many more anniversaries together.

Marriage is not always easy — in fact, it can be a pretty bumpy ride and at times unbelievably trying — but it’s been a wonderful journey thusfar, and we wouldn’t change a moment of it. We’re not perfect and don’t pretend to be; marriage is a constant work in progress, but I believe that’s what makes it so exciting and worthwhile. There’s no better partner I could imagine weathering life’s challenges and experiencing all of its wonders and joys with. I’m so thankful every day to have Dan by my side, knowing that he’ll be with me wherever life takes us. Happy (early) anniversary, Dan — I love you! ♥