Geja's Cafe

overall...meh. Awesome, spectacular service....incredibly good cheese fondu starter.....incredibly good chocolate fondu dessert.......incredibly overpriced, small-portioned, stinky soybean oil main entree. We went to Second City after leaving Geja's and everyone within 10 feet of where we were sitting could smell the saturated oil in our clothes. The place settings while you cook the meat get loaded with oil as well, leaving you feeling like you need to take a shower after eating there.

Would I go again? Yes, but only for the appetizer and dessert. For $100 I would expect much more food. When the entree arrived I thought to myself "where's the rest??" 2 cubes of beef...2 small pieces of lobster...3 scallops....2 shrimp....3 cubes of chicken.....all yours for $50. And you get to smell like a grease trap when you're finished! No thank you.

Staff was incredibly friendly and helpful however. Not their fault for the "sorta good" review.…

Great experience!. My boyfriend and I have never had fondue and decided to give it a try. We went there with a Living Social coupon and they still treated us like normal guests. The food was absolutely amazing! We both loved the cheese and chocolate fondues, and the salad was very yummy too! We both didn't like the main course as much (frying the meats) because of all the grease (you end up smelling like it), but the dipping sauces were very yummy! It's pretty expensive even with the $60 coupon we used (our total was almost $100), but we'd love to go back. We'd probably only get the cheese and chocolate and skip the meat portion. You would think that you'd get more meat because that really racks up the cost of dinner, but it's filling because you have to wait while the food is cooking. We were both stuffed at the end. Thanks Geja's!!…

Great fondue. Last Friday Erica and I decided to have a nice, romantic fondue dinner at Geja's. I'm surprised there are not more fondue places in Chicago. The melting pot is fine but has the obvious feeling of a chain restaurant and none of the charm of a neighborhood gem like Geja's.

Writing a food review of fondue is tricky similar to a "build-your-own stir fry." Many of the flavors are self directed along with your success or failure. However, what separates Geja's, and makes it a fun and worthwhile meal, is the quality of experience. The setting and decor is great, the wine list superb, and the main course options extensive. Geja's does have an a la carte option, but most people choose the full premier dinner - salad, cheese fondue, main course and chocolate fondue. For our meal we both selected the beef tenderloin and scallops, even though each person can pick different "proteins."

Everything was great and we left unable to finish our chocolate (a rarity, but Erica was too stuffed to help me). The cheese course was amazing and it took self-restraint not to kill our appetite on bread dipped in melted cheese. Our meat and scallops were also fantastic, especially when I did not overcook my steak. The main course is served with a variety of vegetables, including broccoli, peppers, potatoes, onions and mushrooms. The vegetables were especially important while cooking the scallops so the scallops did not fall off the skewer. Once cooked you have a choice of eight dipping sauces to flavor your treats. I enjoyed the BBQ sauce (sweet baby ray's) and teriaki sauce for my vegetables and tenderloin, respectively. The butter sauce and dill sauce worked well with the scallops. Everyone has their favorite, but they are all very good. Lastly, the chocolate course is the most well known fondue experience. You get a basket of marshmallows, pound cake, bananas, strawberries, etc to dip into a warm pot of melted chocolate. There is no good explanation why dipping treats and fruit into warm chocolate is so much fun. Marshmallows and bananas were my favorite chocolate transporters.

Geja's remains my go-to fondue spot in Chicago and highly recommended for first-timers or experienced masters of hot oil skewer cooking. It is a romantic dinner experience at a good value if you arrive hungry (most Premier Dinners are $40-$50 per person). Weekend nights usually feature live guitar music as well. Next time I might stick with the favorites and try the cheese-chocolate option.

(Last note: be prepared to dry clean your clothes afterward- similar to Japanese teppan style, the cooking oils and flavors permeate everything :)

my blog: jjrappeats.blogspot…

Horribly Overpriced Food. Horribly overpriced food with excellent service. For two people with one cheap drink each, the bill was $129.95. For that money, you get (with the seafood platter, not the most expensive item on the menu, and no a la carte):

1. Three pieces of lettuce with two slices of cucumber as a salad (one salad per person)

2. Cheese fondue with 4 small slices of apple, two small slices of pear, 6 grapes, and 4 cubes of bread.

3. Fondue dinner with 6 scallops total, 6 shrimp, two small "wads" of supposedly shaved lobster, 5 mushrooms, some sliced onion, sliced green pepper, two potato cubes, and 8 dipping sauces.

4. Chocolate fondue with 6 triangles of pineapple, 6 cubes of apple, 4 cubes of pound cake, and 6 quarter-sized pieces of banana.

That's all you get for $129.95. Not even half an apple for two people. Very small portions with a very limited selection.

The atmosphere was loud, cramped, but still romantic. The service is the best in Chicago. Very friendly people that are genuinely interested in making you happy.

The food is, by far, the worst for your money in Chicago. Six shrimp, six scallops, some shaved lobster the size of an iphone, a quarter of an apple, and a couple of cubes of bread for two people at $129.95. Just horrible and insulting for a fondue place where you cook your own food on a stick.

The service is, by far, the best in Chicago. It's quite a dichotomy of a restaurant, but stay away since you now know that the price for the food will ruin your night (if you're the one paying, that is).…