Fondue anyone?

Yeah, so, I'm not the uber-trendy type, nor do I like to spend more than $20 on a meal unless it's a damn fine plug of meat.

Late this afternoon, I got a call from a friend to meet her and a few others at Dante's Down the Hatch. It's a fondue and jazz place in Buckhead. I've never tried fondue before and there's nothing going on here, so why not?

The place definately has a really neat ambiance about it. There's part of a ship inside. The moat around the ship serves as home to a few crocodiles, turtles, and fish. The live jazz band was very good, but not overpowering. There are life-sized versions of Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, and others stashed in parts of the scenery. Check out the website for some really cool pictures. www.dantesdownthehatch.com

Anyways, the 6 of us decided to split 2 cheese fondues (with bread) and 2 mandarin fondues (sampler of each type of meat available). The food wasn't bad, I'm just not keen on paying $40 a person and walking away after 4 bites of meat, lots of bread, 1 drink (a sweet tea), and a small slice of fudgecake.

I'd rather drive for about 90 minutes and have what's been declared the best fried chicken in GA for many years running, at an all-you-can-eat homestyle restaraunt for $10 a person. It's more than worth the gas money to drive, even when gas was over $4 a gallon.

I might go back some day, but more for the chance to hang with my friends than to eat. I wasn't hungry, but I sure didn't walk out feeling very satisfied either.