The Melting Pot was kind of a disaster last night! I knew it was a fondue place but I didn't know ALL of the courses are fondue style. You have to cook your own food!
First they give you a menu and you can choose to order individual entrees that come with an entree and a salad or you could choose the "Big Night Out," which is a four course meal where you get the cheese fondue, a salad, an entree, and chocolate fondue for dessert. The only problem with this is that your table has to agree on everything. That wasn't happening at my table.
There were eight of us: myself, the boyfriend, the roommate, my parents, my brother, and my Nana & Pop. My Nana, Pop, and brother are the pickiest eaters though and like only certain things so we couldn't all order the Big Night Out. Also, they weren't exactly warm to the fact you need to cook your own entree! We ended up choosing the individual entrees and ordering chocolate fondue at the end.
Sorry about the picture quality. It's really dark in there and my camera was just not cooperating!So after an hour of deliberation and a 10 minute speech by the waitress about how this place works, two fondue pots were brought out. You choose what you want to cook everything in - vegetable broth or oil. We chose the vegetable broth. It was really good, loaded with spices.
Then they bring out your raw entree, everyone gets skewers with a different colored handle, and you spear things one at a time and place them in the fondue pot, waiting 1-3 minutes for it took cook. This makes for a really long dining experience!
As I said, my Pop and Nana weren't exactly into cooking your own food and at first just started dumping their food into the pot without the sticks! Then everyone else's food takes way longer to cook.
I ordered the Vegetarian. It included tofu, spinach gorgonzola ravioli, eggplant, portobellos, asparagus, artichoke hearts, and a sliver of red bell pepper. It was really good! You also get a small vegetable bowl to share with the person next to you that includes broccoli, button mushrooms, and potatoes and a variety of sauces are placed around the table for dipping.
I actually liked cooking the food myself. I could only eat 2 things at a time (you were given two skewers each) and I had a tendency to eat way too fast so it forced me to slow down. Also, the meal lasted 3 hours so I never ended up feeling overly full.
Then it was time for dessert, the real reason I chose this restaurant! I ordered two chocolate fondue pots, s'mores (chocolate, marshmallow, and grahm crackers) and turtle (chocolate, caramel, and pecans). It was so good! They brought out little plates with all sorts of things to dip into the fondue: banana slices, strawberries, marshmallows, cheesecake, brownie bites, and rice krispie treats. Unfortunately, I was so excited about just digging in that I forgot to take a picture!
I tried them all. The banana slices and rice krispie treats were probably my favorite dippers. I had the S'mores pot in front of me and you couldn't really taste the marshmallow once it's mixed but it was good either way.
So would I recommend the Melting Pot? It's definitely an interesting experience if you have people who are up for it. I think it would be great for a couple, rather than a large group. The food was good, I just wish I had been prepared knowing you had to cook it yourself. If I go back, I think I would just go for appetizers and dessert.
Off to get ready for graduation, graduate, and then drive the 6 hours it takes to get home. I filled up three cars with all my stuff. Not looking forward to unpacking!
The quest to healthify my home life officially begins tomorrow!
