Taureau

I had the 3 course prix fixe here (cheese fondue + meat fondue + chocolate fondue). I recommend it, and will be coming back.

Ultimately not much food, especially for the price, but a nice change of experience for a dinner out.
We used the $ 10 for $ 20 Unilocal Deal at our Unilocal SeatMe reservation on a Friday night @ 7:30. The space adjoins La Sirene and they share an entrance, which can be confusing since you enter through the restaurant you’re not dining at, and it’s a narrow entrance indeed, with vastly different temperatures across the 3 sections. Seems most tips on the listing are from a while ago when they were BYOB and boasted different menu (they’re still cash amex Bitcoin personal check only), but now there are really 2 (though they said 3) options, and we went with the pricier one (Full Village), largely to try the most-​mentioned and most-​appealing. Service was friendly enough but kinda bumbling, forgetting to turn down our heat until olive oil splashed everywhere or smoke billowed from one table to the rest of the space. They also called 2:45pm the day of to confirm, despite the reservation being on the books for quite some time, and not listening listen when I reminded them we have a Unilocal deal, continually insisting they don’t accept it until I convinced them they’re the ones offering it.

Everyone was very friendly. The cheese and chocolate fondue was delicious! We could have done without the meat. More work than it was worth but part of the experience at the same time! Get the smoked gouda fondue. I can’t remember the name! Pricey, but again, it was all a part of the experience.

I thoroughly enjoy fondue and wanted to surprise someone special who had also mentioned their fondness of it. We enjoyed the fondue at Taureau and it was nothing special but we still had a great night and the restaurant was small and cozy. In short, decent fondue place but maybe for a more casual night out.

Fondue is one of my favorite foods. Few things are better than cheese, filet mignon, and delicious chocolate. I’ve had fondue in Montréal and Paris, and Taureau is the real deal!
My husband and I recently came here for a date night! There is something super fun about cooking fondue at your table. Plus, it is romantic feeding each other chocolate dipped fruit. ;)
The staff is extremely nice and accommodating. The atmosphere is dark and romantic. I have zero complaints. This is a perfect date spot!

Taureau is a French fondue joint down in SoHo that’s owned and operated by the same badass chef dude, Didier, who runs neighboring La Sirene and cross-​town East Village gem Le Village.
The atmosphere here is cozy, with dim, warm lighting. Taureau derives its name, logo and décor concepts from the Taurus zodiac sign. It’s an earth sign specifically, and everything served and used for décor is of the earth (no fish on the menu, lots of natural objects for décor, dark wood and earth tones for the seating and tables, etc).
The concept of fondue is pretty simple: melted cheeses, hot oils, mulled wines and melted chocolates, in which various meats, veggies, fruits, breads and other items are dunked and dipped prior to eating. It’s not complicated or messed with here at Taureau. As with his traditional French bistro La Sirene, Didier has kept his fondue concept restaurant straightforward, and I believe it’s the only fondue gig in town.
The fondue experience is inherently communal. No guys: there’s no LSD, cult leaders, hippies or outdoor multi-​day music festivals. I only mean «communal» as in everyone is using the same cooking vessel. As such this lends itself to be a good place to go both with a group of friends, or even for an intimate date. After you share cooking vessels, you can share a bed together. And with music like Barry White playing during the meal, the mood for such behavior is subconsciously set. One caution I will give you is this: be prepared to come away with a scent of cooking oil on your clothing. Didier has some good air circulation in the restaurant, so it wasn’t as thick as I expected. However sometimes the fondue pots can smoke up a little bit, and the oil smells can cling to your fabrics — JUST the oil smells though; the cheese and chocolate smells don’t cling. So even though Barry White may have lubricated your libido while you were indulging in chocolate covered strawberries with your lover, you both may come away with a «fast food employee» smell on your persons that could ruin the mood. I suppose you can simply double down on the sexy and eat topless if you want; then there will be no smell on your clothing. However, while it’s perfectly legal to go topless in NYC, it may be frowned upon by the restaurant and its diners, and if you drip hot oil, liquefied cheese or melted chocolate on your nipples, you may regret the topless dining decision very quickly (unless, of course, you’re into that weird shit).
I have to be honest here: I had been to a fondue joint out on Long Island once and I didn’t like it very much. It felt over-​priced and the food was underwhelming. But here, I knew I was in good hands with Didier. Everything I have ever tasted from his kitchens was high quality and really delicious. As such I was excited to dive in.
Okay so, basically, you choose your price point and fondue accompaniments (very reasonably priced, ranging from $ 43/​pp to $ 52/​pp), and soon the food starts to come out as the fondue pots heat up on built-​in electric heaters that are embedded in the tables. They serve wine too, so you can pair your cheese fondue with white, and then transition over to red for the meats:
The first course is a salad along with some croutons, which is unlimited if you choose to gorge yourself:
The salad is mixed greens, lightly but evenly dressed. The croutons are for your cheese fondue course that comes out with this. We tried four different cheese concoctions. The first was a nutmeg-​infused cheese, which smelled like fall:
Then a combination of various Swiss cheeses:
And a couldron of Monterey jack and cheddar cheese:
But my favorite was this earthy truffle perigord cheese:
It went perfectly with our side items for dipping, which consisted of broccoli, chorizo, fennel sausage, and portobello mushrooms:
In particular, the mushrooms with the truffle cheese was an incredible «double-​down» on the earthy flavor notes. And the chorizo went really nicely with the nutmeg cheese. The spice of the sausage was off-​set and balanced by that touch of sweetness from the cheese. We kept diving in, dipping food, and dodging and ducking from any errant drips of melty cheese as we reached over and across each other. Dodge, dip, dive, duck and dodge. Just like the five D’s of dodgeball, from the Dodgeball movie:
Some drip-​catching plates could have been helpful, I suppose, and I guess we could add a 6^th D for the dodgeball reference, for Didier. He has truly created some really amazing cheese combinations, and that truffle cheese was the big star of the show for the evening. I just kept going at it, even when all that was left to dip was the broccoli!
After about 15 hits of truffle cheese, I thought I might be full, but then the meat course… REVIEW CUT FOR LENGTH

Let me start by saying the manager (believe her name is Katya) is absolutely wonderful. My bf and I arrived about 20 mins before our actual reservation and she did her best to seat us as quickly as possible.
We went with the prix fine menu which includes 3 fondues. The cheese fondue (cheddar) was GREAT as well as the salad and croutons that it comes with. What I didn’t enjoy so much was the 2^nd course. The steak was very dry and the portion was very small. I did enjoy one of the sauces it came with, but that was about it. The milk chocolate fondue was sooooo good and my fav part of the entire meal.
It’s NYC so I understand the pricing but our total was very high considering the small portions that they serve. Would probably only revisit for the chocolate fondue.

Had a reservation at 730 on a Saturday night. Place was pretty empty when we arrived, but did get busier as the night went on. We did the Prix Fixe menu (3 fondues). The cheese was good and really filling. Meat was good pieces and tasty, the dark chocolate fondue was amazing.
We enjoyed our selves and would consider going back. For what the meal is, it is extremely expensive, even for the city. The Prix Fixe, a glass of wine, a $ 13 beer and a side of potatoes ran us $ 180 with a 20% tip. I’m sure we could of had a better meal for that cost some where else, but the expereience was good.

Used to be a go to date spot for my girlfriend and myself but they have changed significantly a lot over the past few years. Don’t think I will be going back. First, it USED to be a BYOB, but now they have a liquor license which is unfortunate but understandable. My issue of it was when the hostest tried to tell me that they always have had it and made a point to tell us that we were wrong. Whatever, still sat down for the reservation.
They also made it completely a pri fixe menu without any option for a la cart ordering. Not a fan of this because the first couple time we went here we would get every course, but realized that the dessert course of chocolate just happens to be too much and we would always leave in a food coma (a good one). We were promptly told that they couldn’t accommodate this request.
End of the day is that I’m sure the food is still great, but we went to what equated to a memory not the same place we came to love. Please tell Unilocal that you are no longer a BYOB and do not have a corking fee… kind of important feature for dining expectations.

I wish I could comment on the food, but despite having a rezzo, and after being pushed back 3 times, we never actually were seated.
Rezzo was for 9. Received a phone call at 8:15 saying we were moved to 10:30 because of traffic. I stated 10:30 didn’t work and to cancel it and then she said she could get us in at 9:30 but that was the best she could do because we booked a reservation late. I pointed out that they probably should not have offered a reservation they couldn’t honour and then she moved us to 9:15.
Showed up at 9:13 and was told they had a table for 2 (there were 3 of us, which was what the rezzo was for) that we could sit there. We declined for obvious reasons. She then explained that because people were eating fondue that it was hard to know when tables were available. THAT’S ALL YOU DO IS FONDUE! Perhaps build that into your planning. No info/​timeline for the 3 of us available as «traffic was bad so they were behind.» We heard them say the same thing to 2 other groups.
Your food reviews are great and we were quite disappointed as we wanted to try the food; however, based on the utter ineptitude I wouldn’t eat there for free. Good riddance.

Reservation made for 9pm. They called to say they couldn’t seat us until 10:30. Eventually relented to 9:15. We arrive at 9:10. Sorry, the hostess says, but it’s fondue and people linger. And the earlier patrons arrived late because they were stuck in traffic.
Ok. Fuck off. You’re a fondue restaurant. You don’t know how long people take to eat fondue? You have not one metric that helps you establish reservations? It’s the only fucking thing you do. Serve fondue.
Unacceptable response. And earlier diners’ traffic issues are not mine. You shouldn’t have had an open 9pm reservation if you couldn’t fill it.
And as far as perception goes, lie to us. Tell us that patrons are staying long… Don’t tell us «it’s fondue» and expect that to be an acceptable excuse. You’re a fucking fondue restaurant. The thing you do can’t be the excuse you use to not seat us.

I would like to preface this Unilocal Review by saying how great of an experience this restaurant is. I am not just saying this because I love the food but the management is beyond exceptional and does everything they can to make your experience wonderful. My boyfriend and I came in and had the 3-​course meal, where you choose a cheese fondue, then you cook meat/​chicken, and then you finish your meal with a choice of chocolate fondue.
The cheese fondue we had was exceptional. It was an aged swiss that is cooked in wine. The fondue condensation and texture was fantastic and beats any fondue I’ve ever had at the Melting Pot. This is fresh, homemade fondue and is not even comparable to the chains that serve cheese fondue. The croutons that you get to dip the fondue in are wonderful, as is the salad that comes with it if you choose to dip that as well.
We had never cooked meat/​chicken in oil at a restaurant and the second course was fantastic. The dipping sauces were very tasty and the meat was very easy to cook. High quality thinly cut meat with exceptional sauces is how I would sum up this.
Then came the milk chocolate fondue that we had. It was absolutely exceptional and came with an assortment of fruits and marshmallows. I did not taste the cake that it came with but I heard it was unbelieveable.
Thank you again for a wonderful experience Taureau! We will be back!

I would like to give this place 3.5 stars for the fondue. I’m used to The Melting Pot so my experience here is compared to that. I ordered the prix fix menu where you get a cheese fondue, two meats, your choice of broth or oil and a chocolate fondue.
The choices are much less here. I’m used to getting veggies free of charge at The Melting Pot for the cheese fondue but here, fruits and veggies were a $ 7 — $ 8 addition. You can only choose two meats and at The Melting Pot I get a wide variety and Taureau didn’t have any seafood options. The choices for chocolate were either dark or milk.
With that being said the food I did eat was absolutely delicious! I got the Pyrenees cheese and that was so good I just started eating that with my fork. I got hangar steak and filet mignon and they were both tender and delicious. The sauces were excellent and the only one I didn’t like was the mushroom sauce. The chocolate fondue was also delicious and the selection of fruits and cake with the chocolate fondue was on par with The Melting Pot.
Like a lot of New York City restaurants, it’s very close quarters. You will be crammed in there but if you’re an average size person or below you’ll be comfortable.
The price for the prix fix menu was about $ 52 per person and for the selection I didn’t think it was worth it. I pay less at The Melting Pot for far more food.
The staff were very nice and gave fast and friendly service.

Came in with a groupon and we were still treated like valued customers. Our cheese fondue was so good. We had the smoked dutch and it was so creamy and flavorful. We also got a side of thick cut bacon. Just do it. For our main, we got chicken and pork in canola oil. It was a bit scary, but there was no need to worry about oil splashing. The meats also came with an array of sauces and they were all absolutely delicious. Finally, for dessert, we got the dark chocolate fondue and by this time, we were stuffed. However, who can say no to the best part of the meal?
We had a great time at this romantic and intimate fondue spot.

3.5 stars! This place is a good place if you’d like to try different types of Fondue. The place is actually quite small and the entrance is actually through their next door restaurant called La Sirene, so I highly recommend you booking or arriving ahead of time, especially if you are planning to dine there for special occasion. You can try the bread/​cheese fondue, meat fondue as well as dessert fondue (or a combination or even all of them for your meal!).
We went for the 3-​course Prix Fixe option to try all 3 types of fondue and selected the Perigold Cheese Fondue, the meat fondue (we chose the Hanger steak and Filet Mignon in Canola Oil) and Dark Chocolate dessert fondue. The Perigold cheese was definitely great. We loved the hint of the truffle (and maybe garlicy too?) smell of the cheese and really enjoyed the complementary bread that came with it (we finished 2 bowls of bread on this fondue!). Like others mentioned, the bread was sort of like croutons, not baguette bread with some meat, so if you are looking for luxurious eat, then maybe the bread can let you down. For the meat fondue, we definitely enjoy hangar steak (probably your best meat choice out of all the meat options they had), but the filet mignon is quite good, too. Overall, though we personally didn’t see much of a difference between frying the meat at lower heat at our own home vs. fondue that gave us a little more luxurious feel/​entertaining activity to participate in. The dessert fondue was quite ok and probably the last of our favorite (cheese was our favorite out of all 3 fondues!). The dark chocolate wasn’t anything high end and though the fruit/​dessert option had some variety (a couple pieces each of marshmallows, cakes, bananas, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries), we think we can melt our own chocolate at home and make the fondue taste at home ourselves, too (maybe not with the fondue kit… but at least with quick microwave heat, the melting chocolate tub should melt ok).
Overall, it was a full meal, although I wouldn’t call it too luxurious (it’s NYC, so I’m not too surprised the price was a little bit expensive for what you can get elsewhere). If you are looking to try out different kinds of fondue, this is the place! For us, if we were to come back again, we would probably come back to have just the cheese fondue (the dessert fondue, we felt wasn’t worth it given we can make it at home… and hey. the meat fondue… we think we can deep fry our own meat at home, too… so cheese fondue is probably our #1 option). Our waiter/​waitress also mistakenly added some additional amount from another table to our bill, so you should also check your bill before paying to make sure that you ordered all those items on your bill, too (I don’t think the mistake was intentional… but still… if we didn’t look, we would have paid for something we didn’t order. Plus, it wouldn’t take much for them to check the bill before giving it to us.
P.S: Get a $ 10 for $ 20 dining deal from Unilocal to help save you some money if it’s still available!

If you enjoy fondue, step away from the chains and give this place a try! It’s much better than the chains I’ve tried (but not better than swiss fondue, sorry!!) and it has a ma and pa feel — which I love! The place is a quiet little restaurant with dim lighting and makes a good place for small groups and intimate dinners. I came here with a friend, had a lovely time and came back again a few months later for a small birthday dinner. Both experiences were very similar, in a good way!
The service is great, both times I’ve been here the waiters have really catered to our every need! constantly checking up on us and refilling our home made croutons. The menu offers a variety of choice for cheese fondue, I recommend Devil’s whiff for a spicy kick and the smoked dutch as a runner up! They serve you a plate with salad and home made croutons, both are good! you can choose a variety of fruit and veggies, meats to dip with.
Next we got the fondue broth, go with the red wine broth! The chicken that came with broth was also really good. They also bring out a few different dipping sauces for the meat and they are sooo good! Finally, we ended with the chocolate fondue, it’s a basic fondue with an assortment of fruit of your choosing!

If you love fondue, you’ve come to the right place. Hands down my favorite place to get fondue in the city. I think I’ve been here 4 times already in these last few months. Some might call it obsession. I’d say they were right.
Get the Pyrenees and Devil’s Whiff, so you can have a sampling of both a sweet fondue and a spicy, savory fondue, respectively. The cheese comes with unlimited bread and a nice small salad and is easily my favorite of the 3 courses in the pre-​fixe menu.
For the meats, I really love the hanger steak and the pork tenderloin. Cooked in the red wine sauce, they are absolutely delicious. I am also a huge fan of the 5 homemade dipping sauces on the side (bordelaise, truffle mushroom, peppercorn, bleu cheese and dijon).
For dessert, I always get the Dark Chocolate Fondue, as I feel like Milk Chocolate can be a tad bit sweet. For me, at least. The dessert comes with a huge variety of fruits, marshmallows and cake. While I’m not the biggest dessert person (minus cheesecake), I find myself eating everything until there’s absolutely nothing left on the plate. No matter who I’m with or when I come, one thing is for certain: I always leave completely full and utterly, happily satisfied.

Such a nice little discrete spot, I describe it as romantic.
Amazing fondue, from the salad to appetizer then entrée & last but not least the dessert!
Definitely go for the pre-​fix.
Best of all it’s BYOB.
Great place for couples. Great service.
I consider it a nice little secret gem!

Très bon restaurant avec du choix et un cadre agréable. Serveurs américain et français :D ! Si vous devez dîner dans le sud de Manhattan c’est vraiment un endroit à essayer !
Merci à vous !

Thank you fellow Unilocalers for leading me to this amazing gem!!!
I want to start of by saying that this is a must try place, but save it for a special occasion because it is a little bit pricy. DO make a reservation because it is a small restaurant, and DO bring lots of cash because they do not accept cards.
I have personally never had fondue, but it has quickly entered my food radar after visiting Taureau. My brother and I did the pre-​fix menu which include a bowl of cheese, side salad and as many croutons as you want (we also ordered extra vegetables to dip, which was totally unnecessary because you get plenty of croutons and personally I felt like it tasted better than the vegetables). The prefix second dish includes a meat of your choosing, I recommend the group choosing different meats and sharing with each other, I personally preferred the beef. Lastly you get the choice of dark or milk chocolate to drop freshly cut fruit in. Everything taste AMAZING !!!
I was very pleased with the service and over all experience. From the reviews I understand that some people are upset with the increased prices and that the place no longer has BYOB, however, I still feel like the prices are reasonable for the amount of food you so get! It sure isn’t an every-​weekend-​spot but I know for sure that I will be back!

Never knew that this is such a small place so I now understood reservation is definitely a must… anyway this is my first time for fondue so everything is purely based on my biased taste, rather than comparison.
It was always hard for me to make decisions, hence I chose the prefixed menu with three courses, that is, three different pots. Salad went with cheese pot, meat with oil or wine, fruit with chocolate. The best part of it, probably you can already tell, is the chocolate pot. Marshmallow always is the best fit with chocolate sauce!

Fondue!!!

Mon cher Didier,
Encore un grand merci pour tes fondues superbes! Je me suis bien amusée à la soirée! This time I had fondue bourguignonne (filet mignon) which came with 4 different dipping sauces. Until now I’ve only had beef fondue with 2 sauces at max, so having extra 2 more sauces really enhanced my dining experience! For me, the magic of French cuisine lies in the mastery of sauces and that’s what Didier delivers to the otherwise regular fondue. Trying different sauces was so fun and creative, I can’t wait to try more new flavors!!!
Because Didier already knows how much I love sweets, he brought me special fondue au chocolat consisting both chocolat noir and chocolat au lait, which were equally delicious!!! Mmmmmm!!! Une tres jolie fondue! This was such a treat!!! Merci!
bisous
Buta Hime