Ryan and I went out on a fondue date last night!
Our first date night of 2013 took us to The Melting Pot in downtown Ocala.
Downtown Ocala is still decorated for the holidays, so we had fun walking around the square before dinner and taking in the holiday sights before they’re put away until next year.
Once we meandered over to the restaurant, we were immediately greeted by the hostess and escorted to a cozy booth.
Drinks!
Tipsy Turtle + Blackberry Bourbon Bramble
Ryan and I planned our date night after I received a press release from The Melting Pot inviting me to try some of the dishes on the restaurant’s new Skinny Dipping menu. The Skinny Dipping menu features three courses – a salad, fondue entrée and dark chocolate fondue dessert – for less than 700 calories. I selected a salad and entrée off the Skinny Dipping menu last night and loved both of my choices! (I veered off the Skinny Dipping menu for the cheese and chocolate fondue courses.)
Our meal began with the cheese fondue!
Ryan and I selected the special of the day which included a big pot of brie and bacon cheese fondue, served with bread, tart apple slices and fresh vegetables for dipping.
Oh cheese fondue, you are so fabulous!
Our waitress suggested placing a piece of bread and an apple slice on our fondue forks at the same time before dipping it into the cheese and the flavor combination was fantastic!
Salads were delivered to our table shortly after we finished the cheese course.
I ordered the spinach salad topped with baby Portobello mushrooms, red onion, chopped bacon, Roma tomatoes and a warm burgundy shallot vinaigrette. Though this salad came off the Skinny Dipping menu, it didn’t taste lightened up at all! The toppings were quite generous and the dressing was delicious.
When it came time to order our entrees, I decided to go for a combination of shrimp and teriyaki-marinated sirloin.
At first I thought the portion looked rather small, but as I started eating, I filled up fast. (I think I had a head start on filling my belly with the cheese course!)
Every entrée comes with fresh vegetables to cook in your fondue pot and I couldn’t get enough of the mushrooms! They were the best, especially when dipped in the various sauces.
Ryan and I both agreed that the five dipping sauces that came with our entrees added so much to our meal. My favorite two sauces were the teriyaki and the mild, yogurt-based curry sauce.
And then it was time for dessert! The shining star of any fondue experience!
It didn’t take much convincing from our waitress for us to order the crème brûlée white chocolate fondue for dessert.
Caramel shavings were sprinkled atop creamy white chocolate and set afire before we cracked the caramel coating with our fondue forks and dipping items.
I am normally not a huge white chocolate fan, but the caramel component of this fondue took it to another level. Ryan and I used our spoons to get every last bit of chocolate out of our fondue pot. Incredible!
And now here’s the really fun part!
One of YOU will win a $100 gift card to The Melting Pot to enjoy your own fantastic fondue experience! (To find a location near you, you can visit The Melting Pot’s Locations page.)
To enter this giveaway, please tell me what course you would look forward to enjoying the most if you won the gift card. Cheese? Chocolate? Entrée?
I will randomly select a winner on Tuesday.
Good luck!!!
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Chocolate is my favorite course hands down!
Definitely the chocolate! Yum!
The dessert!!!! Although it all looks so good.
Definitely cheese!
Definitely the chocolate! YUM!
I think while I would enjoy the chocolate course, the cheese course would be my favorite. I have never been to a Melting Pot, but have always wanted to go.
Dessert, no question! My husband has never been there so it would be a fun date night.
Chocolate!!!
I would be all over the CHOCOLATE part of the meal!! YUM!
Wow! My husband and I have always wanted to go here! I would look forward to the shrimp and all those wonderful sauces! The cheese looks awesome too!
The chocolate is always the best!
The cheese, of course!!!!!!!! I LOVE melting pot! We try to go twice a year–whenever they come out with a new Big Night Out menu.
Cheese! That would definitely be my favorite.
The chocolate is calling my name!
I love their chocolate fondue!! It’s perfect!
Since I’ve been cutting back on the sweets, the cheese course looks the best to me!
Definitely chocolate! I’ve never been and would love to go!
Chocolate for sure!
i totally agree with you about the portion sizes! but i think the best part about the melting pot is the interactive nature of it makes you sloooow down while you eat, so your brain can tell your stomach you’re actually full! i bet that’s the portion size we’d really be satisfied with if we just slowed down with our eating! such an interesting concept.
i could lie and say i’d be most excited about the first course or entree, but let’s be honest – chocolate fondue (specifically DARK!) is the best thing going. and i love their dipping items like the marshmallows and bananas 🙂 my mouth is watering!
yes!! ryan and i are usually in and out of a restaurant SO fast! it was nice to have a date night last 2 hours last night!
Dessert!! :):):):)
Definitely the cheese! My fiancé and I are cheese fanatics and try every kind we can get our hands on.
I would DEFINITELY go for that cheese fondue. That sounds AH-mazing.
The Brie fondue sounds fabulous!
Cheese for sure!
I would look forward to the cheese course! Yum!
I’m ALL about the chocolate. I can’t stop drooling over the picture, and it’s only 8:30 in the morning – yikes! It all looks delicious though!!
YUM! Melting Pot is my FAVORITE spot for date night… perfect for sharing! The cheese course is definitely my favorite
honestly? the entree! normally I’d say dessert, hands down, but I think I OD’d on desserts over the holidays. sweet tooth = gone!
The simple bread/ cheese combination looks enticing, but I am a hardcore dessert fan. Dip it in chocolate and I’m there!!
I would look forward to just the entire experience in general! My husband and I have talked about going to the melting pot for a while now and this might be enough to get him to make the 2.5 hour drive to the restaurant.
the chocolate course, no doubt about it 🙂
The cheese course of course! I love Brie and the Brie apple bread combo looks delish! I have never been to the melting pot but always wanted to go. Looks like so much fun!
I would definitely be looking forward to the chocolate fondue course all night long! I have a very strong sweet tooth 🙂
Their desserts are amazing.
Cheese appetizer! I am always a fan of the cheese plate app, so that sounds like a neat spin on the idea!
I would normally pick chocolate but the cheese looked delicious!
Cheese!
OMG YES! I haven’t been to the Melting Pot since I was TWELVE and I’ve always wanted to go back! I think I’d most look forward to… hmmm the cheese. Yep, the cheese. I was debating with the chocolate, but I don’t eat cheese often and definitely eat chocolate often…
There is a melting pot right near my house, but I’ve never been.
And of course, I’d love the chocolate course. 🙂
I love fondue but have never been to the melting pot, I would love to try it though! I definitely could skip all courses and go straight to the chocolate course!
I would love to try the cheese course! It looked delicious!
While the cheese looks great, you can’t ever go wrong with CHOCOLATE!! 🙂
Chocolate!
Love the new menu they are rolling out. I would LOVE to try any course, but especially the dessert/chocolate fondue. I have always wanted to go to the melting pot!
That Brie and bacon sounds AMAZING!!!!
It is a toss-up between the cheese and the chocolate…my two favorite things in the world!
Of course the cheese!
Cheese!! By far the best!
Ohhh The Melting Pot is my boyfriend’s favorite place to go! He took me there when we first started dating and we fell in love. We don’t get to go that often because of money but it would be perfect this week-it’s his birthday Thursday! Our favorite course is definitely the cheese.
That gift card would work to fulfill my chocoholic instincts… So the chocolate course!