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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Definitely the cheese course! Cheese and bread are my weaknesses!
I am definitely a main course kinda gal, but I know my fella would be all over the chocolate (I’d of course try to help him out…) 🙂
Chocolate, dessert is the best!
I would have to choose the cheese portion of the meal. Me and my boyfriend both attend VCU and its hard to afford “healthy” dates on a college budget downtown Richmond!
I would probably dive head first into the chocolate. I’ve never been to Melting Pot, but it looks so good and such a fun date night!
Dessert!!! Nom nom nom …
I have only been to Melting Pot once and didn’t have dessert, so definitely would like to try that!
I would defianatly choose the cheeses course. Yum! My husband and I would love to go on a date to the melting pot!
the cheese! sounds so good!
Cheese definitely… yum! That dinner looks amazing 🙂
I would love to try the melting pot, I have yet to go to one but it sounds delicious. I would be most excited about the cheese course!
Cheese with apples 🙂 yummmm. Never been there but it all looks delicious.
Although all of the courses look delicious, the cheese is definitely my favorite!
Dark chocolate for dessert is my absolute favorite! But with the new year and new resolutions I’d love to try the shrimp and beef with the sauces!
The caramel dessert course sounds amazing! I have wanted to try this restaurant for a while, but have heard its a bit pricey. Since we are planning a wedding, I would probably not try this until after we are married!
It all looks delicious! I guess if I had to choose one, I would say the cheese!
I’ve only been to the Melting Pot once (too expensive) but I LOVED the chocolate!! Everything looks amazing though 🙂
I am obsessed with cheese fondue!
the dessert is the best!!!
Chocolate! I love dessert! Yum.
What a fun date night idea! The chocolate course sounds best to me.
I love the Melting Pot! We never think to go there. I love that it is an experience and you get a lot of time to talk and enjoy the meal. My favorite course is the cheese course! Although chocolate is a close second, there is nothing better than dipping ANYTHING into melted cheese!
I would love the cheese fondue. Definitely my favorite! Nothing better than that.
Ive never been to the melting pot but when i get a chance im diving into the chocolate! yum yum yum!
The dessert for sure!!!!
Definitely the dessert!! I have never been and definitely want to go!
Mmmm!! I love The Melting Pot, though I haven’t been there in a while. I’ve been wanting to take my 13 year old daughter sometime to let her experience the fun AND the chocolate-peanut butter dessert course!! 🙂
Oh my how FUN! I went here once before and LOOVED the dessert, so I would say the dessert again! Cant beat dripping chocolate 😉
I LOVE white chocolate, so that creme brulee dessert sounds UNREAL. And hubby happens to be trying to lose weight at the moment, so he’d be excited about the skinny options. Perfect date night!
As much as I love the cheese course, the chance to dip dessert…IN DESSERT is just too fantastic to pass up 🙂
Chocolate, of course!
Can be no other choice than chocolate !
DESSERT. For sure! Oh how I would love a big pot of warm chocolate right now….
The chocolate course looked amazing! YUM!
I love the cheese course… But, they’re all good. I tried the creme brulee last time we were there. Soooo good!
Chocolate, for sure!
Cheese + Chocolate would make my Melting Pot experience an amazing one. Cheese & Chocolate are two of my all time favorite things! Yum!
Thanks for the giveaway!
I’d love to try the chocolate the most but I know my fiance would love the entree the most! I think we’d both just enjoy the entire experience 🙂
Mmmmmm – chocolate! This would be a really fun date night. Thanks for the giveaway!
Chocolate of course!
The dessert would be my favorite part, no question – dark chocolate all the way!
Can’t choose just one, cheese and chocolate!
I can never get enough cheese!!
The chocolate part is the best part! YUM!
Cheese, of course! I would love to win this gift card. My boyfriend and I went to Melting Pot on one of our first dates 🙂
Definitely the chocolate one! 🙂
I love the Melting Pot!! I will definitely have to check out their Skinny menu, sounds right up my alley. My favorite course is always dessert and the crime brûlée sounds so yummy!!
Oh my goodness…drooling over your meal right now. Hands down my favorite course is the cheese course, I’d even pick it twice in lieu of the dessert course and that’s a crazy choice for me!
My boyfriend and I are trying to get into better shape this year, but still enjoy eating out once or twice a week. It helps us to work hard on our healthy eating and exercising and we look forward to treating ourselves with going out to eat. We have never been to the Melting Pot, but look forward to trying it sometime. The creme brûlée white chocolate fondue for dessert looks amazing! And it seems like the perfect end-of-the-week payoff for working hard on our healthy lifestyles! =)
I would love to try the chocolate fondue! I’ve never tried any kind of fondue..looks like I’m missing out.