Dinner at the Melting Pot

Last night we went to dinner with our friends Jan and Pat at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. What a deliciously fun evening we had!

Our first task was to try to explain the rather complicated menu to Pat, who was the only first-timer there. After we had achieved a moderate level of success with that, we moved on to the first collaborative portion of the dinner, where we had to decide on a cheese fondue to share and a cooking style for all of our entrees.

After lots of hemming and hawing and trying to pass the buck to others on the final decision, we all finally agreed upon the Quattro Formaggio cheese fondue and the Court Bouillon cooking style. I had had the Quattro Formaggio fondue the last (and only other) time we were at the Melting Pot, and it was a big hit among everyone there, so I recommended we get it as well. It turned out to be hit with Jan and Pat too (Brian did not partake of the cheese fondue).

Actually, the entire meal was a big hit with everyone. Although Jan had been to the Melting Pot once before, she hadn't gotten an entree, so this was her first time trying the meat cooked in the broth. Both she and Pat were really happy with their entree selections, and they also enjoyed the variety of sauces that accompanied the meal. And Brian was very happy to be able to enjoy more of the beef he had on his last visit - he was raving about it for days afterward!

Then, even though everyone was really full from dinner, we simply had to order a chocolate fondue for dessert. Jan and I were in charge of choosing the variety, and we went with the Flaming Turtle, which in addition to chocolate, had caramel and pecans in it, and was lit on fire! It was heavenly! And somehow, despite us all saying how full we were, our plates of strawberries, bananas, mini rice krispie squares, marshmallows, pound cake squares, cheesecake, and brownies bites were empty by the end of the evening, as was the pot of chocolate fondue.

Dinner at the Melting Pot is not a rushed experience - we were there from 6:15 pm to 9:30 pm! But you keep busy the entire time you're there, choosing the menu items, then dipping the different kinds of food, and of course talking and joking all the while.

And it wasn't just the food and the company that was really good; the service was outstanding. We had a great waiter named John who was not only very friendly and funny, but also informative and very attentive. And in addition to John, at least two other men who must have been managers or something (because they were wearing sport coats, not the regular server attire) stopped by our table several times throughout the evening to check on us, and would even refill our water glasses and take away used dishes. We were well taken care of the entire time!

Dinner at the Melting Pot is not an inexpensive outing, but it is a great splurge every now and again, and I think because the overall experience is so great, it is definitely worth every penny when you do go. And really, it's probably a good thing it's too expensive to go there frequently, because I'd definitely gain a bunch of weight if I ate cheese and chocolate fondue all the time!