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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i’ve never been to the Melting Pot but I would love to try the chocolate fondue!
I’m not usually a huge cheese lover but I’m pregnant with my third and all things cheese sound delicious. 🙂
Dessert! Always!
100% the chocolate course. The dark chocolate sounds fantastic!
It would definitely be cheese – I’ve never been to the Melting Pot but here wonderful things about it!
I love the melting pot! I have to say the chocolate fondue is definitely my favorite
I would definitely order the Spinach and Artichoke cheese, Petite Seafood Trio (have to at least tryyyy to be healthy while at Melting Pot, right?) and the Flaming Turtle Chocolate. They also have a great Riesling to pair with it all!
I’d look forward to the dessert! Chocolate plus cheesecake, bananas, strawberries, etc… Yum!
Chocolate!
I would love to try the dark chocolate fondue!
Tough choice, but chocolate always comes in for the win!
Cheese! Savory wins for me!
My family has a tradition of always having a cheese fondue for dinner on New Years day, and I have great memories of enjoying cheese fondue. For that reason I think I would most enjoy the cheese fondue. The chocolate would be a close second, though (:
Chocolate fondue! My sweet tooth is crazy!
The Chesse course!! My husband and I have never been there, but it sounds amazing!
I am all about the cheese!
I would definitely go for the chocolate dessert fondue!!!
When I was in high school, my friends and I would go to The Melting Pot on a Girls’ Night Out. We would only go for the dessert, but I’ve eaten whole meals there too. It is all delicious, but the awesome desserts are definitely my favorite!
Without question, the cheese course, hands down! Cheese fanatic over here!
Im all about dessert ….. Chocolate fondue Sounds amazing!
CHEESE!!!
I am a huge fan of The Melting Pot–it is such a fun dining experience! The cheese is amazing but I have to go with the hot pot of decadent chocolate 🙂 Thanks, Julie!!
Dark Chocolate with berries sounds amazing
Oh my gosh, SUCH a delicious place! My first time there was in high school for a friend’s birthday and I literally dreamed of it for months. This post has me drooling. The cheese course is the best!
I have never been to a Melting Pot restaurant, but I would absolutely love to try the chocolate fondue! If they have a flavor option that includes peanut butter with the chocolate, then my husband and I would be all over that!!
Chocolate fondue! I’m not a big fan of cheese but I didn’t realize there were so many other options! Yum!
I would love to try a new cheese fondue dish! I’ve had the beer-based cheddar cheese and it is delicious! I’d like to be adventurous and try the brie you reviewed!
Omg the cheese!! This is one of the very few occasions where I don’t seem like a weirdo saying ‘I Love Cheese’!!!
Do many cool options! I have to say the cheese, however!
chocolate!
Chocolate!!! I would skip everything else for the chocolate fondue! 😉
Oh my, I definitely would have to say the cheese!!!
Such a hard decision…but I think I’d go with chocolate! I love the brownies and cheesecake they give you to dip : )
I would probably look forward to everything! The cheese would be great, but dessert is always more exciting. The “Bananas Foster” sounds amazing, and I know my boyfriend would like the “Cookies n Cream Marshmallow Dream”!
Our family loves Melting Pot! I love the Big Night Out entree and I put green goddess on everything!
The dessert course is hands down the best!
Your meal seriously looked amazing.
I love cheese! But I think the chocolate course would most definitely be what I look forward to the most!
Chocolate…always the best part! 🙂
awww! your date night sounds so great! I’ve never been to a fondue restraunt but I love the idea! I’m a sucker for melty-cheesey-deliciousness!!
Cheeeeeeese!
Too close to call between the cheese and dessert!
Cheese! Cheese, cheese, cheese. 😉 Forget the entree!
Cheese!!!
definitely the dessert would be what i’d look forward to the most!!
Such a tough question, but I’m going with the cheese! Last time we went to melting pot we had a beer cheese combination and it was awesome!!
MMmm.. I would love to eat the cheese fondue, but I think the skinny fondue menu sounds awesome as well!!! It would be a tough choice!
I’ve always wanted to try Melting Pot! The cheese looks the best!
oooh that’s a tough choice but I would have to say the cheese portion…I love cheese! I like the fact that they have a “skinny” menu now…that’s great!
S’mores chocolate fondue all the way!!
Definitely the entree course. I love the dipping sauces and veggies.