Fondue and laughs (Swiss Club, Melbourne CBD)

Swiss Club
89 Flinders Lane
Melbourne CBD
Web: http://swissclubvic.wordpress.com/

A group of us were seeing a Melbourne Comedy Festival act at the Swiss Club (Dave Thornton: brought the laughs. Recommend.) and decided to kill two birds with one stone and eat dinner there before the show as well. Actually – that’s a pretty bland way to describe the decision-making process. The thought went like this: Swiss Club… fondue… cheese… wine… bread… sold.

“Oh hi! I’m ready for my close up!”

Now we had been having some pre-dinner beverages before we got there, as it was a Friday night, so I must apologise for both the hazy quality of my memories and photos. The night got off to a flying start when the waitress accidentally covered Mr B with beer. However, I also dropped my beer on him about five minutes later, so perhaps he was just wearing his hops-attracting outfit that day.

Beef goulash with spatzli. (Beer is out of shot)

For some reason the boys weren’t into sharing the fondue with L and I (fools). Mr B ordered the cordon bleu (chicken stuffed with cheese and ham) and L’s man went for the beef goulash with spatzli, a sort of short noodly side dish that I note now was on The Foodie List I filled out last week – if only I had tried a little, I could tick it off now! Both chowed down their meals with gusto, but didn’t rave about them, if you know what I mean.

Schnitz and tits, oops, I mean chips.

The fondue came with epic amounts of cubed bread and a strong taste of kirsch, which made it so sweet and fruity that the boys proclaimed it disgusting. L and I lapped it up. By the end, I must admit, it was a little too overpowering and we started to give up.

Deliciously retro.

Half an hour later the full force of consuming around half a litre of cheese for dinner hit me, on top of myriad pints of beer. I began to feel incredibly nauseous.

Luckily, the comedy returned us all to high spirits. Swiss Club looks a little like a suburban RSL on the inside, but is fun if you want to try something different. Maybe get more than two people sharing the fondue, though, if you don’t want CRAZY CHEESE DREAMS that evening. If I went back, I’d probably try the goulash.

“Cheese is a kind of meat… a very tasty treat…”

Other reviews include Sarah Cooks (one of my favourite food bloggers, we have a shared love of Nigella) who was pretty underwhelmed in 2009.

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