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! Yum!!
Dessert!! I love the melting pot!
The cheese course–I can never get enough!
My favorite is the cheese! My husband and I had an awesome cheddar garlic fondue at the Melting Pot on New Year’s Eve. Our entire meal was fantastic!
Ahh both the cheese and dessert courses sound amazing- I couldn’t possibly choose one!
Cheese is my favorite, but chocolate is right on the heels of cheese!
Ooh it all looks delicious but I’d have to say dessert!
LOOOVE the chocolate fondue! the one y’all ordered looks SO yummy!!!
Definitely the cheese course. Mmmmmmm!
Oh my gosh, that crème brûlée white chocolate fondue looks amazing!
Normally I am all about dessert, but, something about cheese fondue calls to me! I wouldn’t even need the entree!
Definitely Cheese. I was blown away by the Meliting Pot’s beer cheese after I learned that it can be made gluten free by using a gluten free ale. Absolutely delish!
Chocolate, of course! Yum!
I’ve been wanting to visit this place for forever. Unfortunately the closet one is 2.5 hours away in Minneapolis but that gift card would make it a whole lot easier to travel the distance. 😉 I would love to try the dessert course, can’t go wrong with chocolate!
Melting Pot is delicious. Although the cheese and entree portions are delicious, the chocolate dessert is my favorite 🙂
I would definitely look forward to trying out their chocolate fondue the most! Sounds incredible! 🙂
Cheese tops chocolate for me!
My fiancé and I love to go to the melting pot! We have agreed that the two favorite are the cheese and the chocolate fondue. Although the actual meal part is tasty you could be extremely satisfied with the cheese and chocolate alone. Mmmmmm!
Dessert at the Melting Pot is the highlight of the meal! I love dipping their brownies into their classic melted milk chocolate!
I’m always looking forward to my next chance to eat dessert! Their chocolate fondue is killer!
The cheese is always my fave course. Apples in cheese, bread in cheese, you name it, yum!!
The cheese looks delicious! I love cheese haha!
Brie and bacon? Yes, please!!!
Definitely some sort of dark chocolate fondue!
There’s a melting pot that opened near us about a year ago and I have been wanting to try it out. I love cheese and chocolate, but I think I’d be most excited to try the cheese, yum!
Without a doubt the chocolate!
I ADORE the Melting Pot! I have to say, the desserts are my favorite, no contest about it!
The Melting Pot sounds delicious! And I would dive right into the dessert course – chocolate and bananas please!
The cheese! I love the cheese fondue.
The white chocolate with caramel shavings is something I’ve never tried, especially as fondue! My mouth is watering just looking at that picture!
Dessert of course! 😉
I love fondue. I would have to say the cheese wins for my favorite course. I have never tried the main course though because its just too expensive for a poor physical therapy grad student. But, I don’t think it could trump the cheese for me.
We LOVE the melting pot but with a little one in the house can rarely afford to go 🙂 The cheese course is probably our favorite with a close second of the chocolate course!
I loveeeee cheese fondue! Cheese just makes everything better haha
i went to the melting pot by me a couple weeks ago but just for drinks…
i would love to try the cheese fondue….
The cheese of course
I really really want to try this restaurant! The dessert of course… chocolate and marshmallows…cheesecake.. strawberries and chocolate.. mmm I would be in heaven!
CHEEEESE!
Ohhhh dessert for sure!!! YUM!
I absolutely LOVE all 3 courses but for some reason I most look forward to the cheese course!
I have only been to the melting pot once so far, but I loved the dessert. It is always my favorite course so I would like to try the new chocolate options they have.
cheese for sure!!
While cheese is super yummy… I’m going to have to go with the dessert round! There’s nothing like dipping something sweet into something even sweeter 🙂
I would LOVE to have that same chocolate fondue you guys had – sounds amazing!
Definately the chocolate!!!
Definitely the pb and chocolate fondue although that Brie sounds amazing!!!
I’m going to have to go with the entree course. Love trying out various types of sauces with cooked meat!
I have never been there but I would def say the chocolate!!! I love pretty much any sweets!
I love the Melting Pot, so glad we have them here in Chicagoland. I love the cheese and chocolate. I could eat just those two courses and be happy!
I think the melted chocolate would win my vote for favorite!!!!!