The Melting Pot

This is not just dinner but fun fun as well... Plan on spending several hours...Super huge wine list and great atmosphere so have funnnn

So we like to dine out. There are many different reasons we do. Maybe it is a special occasion, perhaps a weekly tradition, or a reason to get out of the house. If you've been out dine before you may have noticed that all restaurants tend to have the same routine. The same boring "Hi, how's it going?" Or the ever welcoming miserable host/hostess that simply says, "How many?" As if everyone that comes in is on an assembly line of, "How fast can I get you seated, served, and out the door?" I like to dine out frequently and am always on the lookout for a place that breaks the norm to provide a truly unique dining experience. I heard some buzz about a restaurant called "The Melting Pot." I read a few reviews and saw that it was voted the most romantic restaurant to dine in by the Phoenix New Times. I looked up their website to get more information. The website portrayed sort of a tavern like atmosphere. It made it look much like an Applebee’s or Chili’s atmosphere; I have to say that this made me reconsider going a bit. I mean why pay over $100 dollars for dinner when you could go to one of these restaurants and get good food for the same experience. Nevertheless it did have good ratings by critics as a perfect place to have a truly unique dining experience. So I made reservations and off we went. When we walked in we were greeted by a very pleasant hostess. We proceeded to give her our name for the reservation and she led us to our table. At this point I noticed that the atmosphere was nothing like what was portrayed in the website. It was very intimate, elegant, and calm. The booths were private and some of them even had curtains for even more privacy. The lighting was dim and along with a large glass encased fireplace in the middle, it provided a romantic atmosphere. When we were seated at our table, there was a small ceramic stove top in the center of it. The silverware consisted of a cloth napkin wrapped around two fondue forks. Our server approached us shortly thereafter and greeted us by name. He provided us with menus and told us about the featured dish for the evening. The menu was impressive yet a little difficult to understand, however our server was very knowledgeable and made it easier to follow. Their wine list boasted various wines from different parts of the world. After reviewing the menu we decided on “The Big Night Out”. This selection featured a cheese fondue appetizer, a fresh salad, the main course with your personal selection of meats, assorted vegetables, and fondue sauce, as well as dessert.

The first course was the appetizer. The server placed a small fondue bowl on the cook top and placed three types of cheeses in it including; goat, parmesan, and fontina cheeses all blended with a white wine garlic sauce. He then provided a plate full of various types of bread, vegetables, and granny smith apples all cut into bite size pieces. At first I thought that the apples were a funny mixture among the breads, except when I dipped it in the cheese sauce. The sweetness from the apple and the garlic tartness of the cheeses were absolutely delicious together! Next up was the salad. It was a mixture of baby greens with fresh cut roma tomatoes and slices of fresh mozzarella, all topped with an Italian balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The greens were crisp and light; the romas were perfectly ripe and were an excellent complement to the mozzarella. All these ingredients combined with the balsamic dressing made for a perfect sweet and sour combination. In between our salad and the main course the restaurant manager approached us and introduced himself. He asked how we were enjoying our experience so far and thanked us for visiting. The main course followed consisting of three types of marinated meats. They were chicken, filet mignon, and lobster tail. These were also cut into bite size portions and were raw. The vegetables came on another plate and included baby carrots, fingerling potatoes, and bite size asparagus, these were also raw. The cooking sauce was Caribbean bullion and had hint of garlic in it. Next we actually cooked the meat and vegetables in the sauce. There were also various dipping sauces for each of the meat portions. Such as cocktail sauce for the lobster, honey mustard for the chicken, and horseradish sauce for the filet mignon. The filet mignon was so tender it practically melted in your mouth, the cooking sauce made the chicken and lobster very moist as well. The rich warm flavors of the vegetables paired with a glass of Napa Valley Merlot brought the whole meal together nicely. It was so much fun cooking it as well! The final course was dessert. We chose a raspberry chocolate fondue. I was expecting a couple of strawberries and a small bowl of chocolate. What we got was another bowl of chocolate fondue and an assortment of desserts that included: bite size portions of pound cake, cheese cake, brownies, marshmallows, rice krispies treats, strawberries, and bananas. At this point in time we were so full we didn’t know if we would even have room for dessert, but it all looked so delicious, we couldn’t resist. The chocolate was smooth and creamy. The pound cake, cheesecake, and brownies were baked to optimum moistness. The strawberries and bananas were perfectly ripened. Dipped in the chocolate... Need I say more? I think it was THE best dessert I ever had! I have been to many fine dining restaurants to date. There is no other restaurant that I have been to that has been able to provide me with this type experience and this type of dish. The restaurant was elegant and romantic, the service was impeccable, and “The Big Night Out” was definitely an unforgettable and fulfilling meal. I think my husband put it perfectly when he said, “Wow, they really treat you good here.”