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!
Definitely dessert! This is the perfect giveaway with Valentine’s day coming up! I’m having knee surgery in a couple of weeks and then out of work for 2 months so we were considering canceling our Valentine’s day, but this would be great!!
Chocolate!!!
Cheese and chocolate it would have to be! They are both to amazing to pick just one!
I would, without a doubt, say dessert! I’ve never been there before but, it seems like a neat place!
I love the cheese course, especially with apples!
Easy. Cheese fondue for this girl!
Cheese!
Cheese course ALL THE WAY!
The mushrooms with the green goddess sauce is amazing!!
Too funny! I’d be interested to see who DIDN’T say chocolate! Who doesn’t like a giant bowl full of chocolate goodness?! Cheese is a close second but I just can’t forsake my first love 🙂
The Cheese course, or the chocolate course – hard to decide they all sound delish!
Dessert, of course!!! Melted chocolate? Sign me up!! 🙂
I would be most excited to try the dessert course. I’ve wanted to try The Melting Pot for such a long time, but it’s fairly expensive and honestly that typically makes it a no-go for us!
The first time I went to the melting pot I was really looking forward to the dessert but the cheese is amazing!!! I can’t wait to try all the cheeses!!
DEFINITELY the cheese course!!!!
I think I would love either the cheese or chocolate depending on my mood that day — salty or sweet! 🙂
That’s a tough choice between cheese and chocolate….yum! Hope I win, thanks for the opportunity!!
i love white chocolate! so i’d definitely be most excited for dessert.
This looks like the greatest meal EVER!
I would most look forward to the cheese course – the apple and bread combination sounds absolutely fantastic.
Cheese, cheese and more cheese please:)
I would totally enjoy the chocolate fondue the best with my husband who has never been to the melting pot!!
The teriyaki shrimp and sirlion combo would definitely be my first choice. It looks delicious!! 🙂
My favorite course is dessert! Can’t get enough of anything with chocolate.
The cheese!
I love cheese, so the cheese course sounds amazing to me.
I would LOVE a gift card to The Melting Pot. I’ve never been and we never get many chances for “date night”…I LOVE cheese AND chocolate. What’s not to love about The Melting Pot? 🙂
I absolutely love The Melting Pot, but I don’t get to go that much because it is a little pricey! I’d most look forward to the chocolate dessert (cookies and cream marshmallow dream is my favorite!). Delicious!
I’d have to say the dessert course would be my favorite! I am a sucker for caramel & creme brûlée, so the two together is a win-win combo for me!! Looks like a fun date night, glad you guys enjoyed yourselves!
That crime brûlée looks absolutely amazing!!!
Cheeeeeeeese!!! I love chocolate, but cheese fondue is my jam. =) And I’m pretty sure there are 3 near me (definitely one, and possibly 3).
I would love the Cheese course — I love to dip ANYTHING in hot and melted cheese! 🙂
We love The Melting Pot! And, as a mommy of two small girls, we could REALLY use a date night ourselves! 😉 My favorite course is by far the cheese course, though it is a close tie to the dessert course! Those marshmallows dipped in ANYTHING get me everytime! You would think I could do that easily at home, but some things are better left for a special treat!
The chocolate!!!! mmmm 😀
Trying out Melting Pot in 2 weeks, to celebrate 3 years with my boyfriend 🙂 I’m excited to try it all, but the dessert looks incredible!
I would definitely be trying all of the different chocolate fondues!!!!!!
Most definitely the chocolate or anything sweet for that matter! I’m pretty sure I’m made up of 75% sugar and I can never seem to get enough!
hmmm…the entree!
I’ve been wanting to try this restaurant forever!! I’m definitely all about the dessert fondue!
literally can’t stop drooling from this post!! i LOVE the melting pot- definitely have to go with the chocolate fondue for a sweet tooth-satisfying dessert 😀 YUM
The CHEESE because I love cheese and I am a big cheese head
The chocolate fondue of course!!
I love to have a date night with my hubby while trying something new! Your date night looked so fun and I think we would both enjoy trying all the options that are on the menu!
🙂
what a fun dat night! i’m definitely all about the cheese!!
chocolate ofcourse!!!
My husband and I go there every year for our anniversary. We never go any other time throughout the year so it makes it special. We loooove the cheese fondue! Mmm!
Looks delish!!! I would love to try the dessert course!
I’m glad there’s one that’s super close to my boyfriend….the funny thing is I LOVE cheese fondue and he loves the chocolate
I would LOVE the cheese course!
Definitely the chocolate course! 🙂 Thanks for the chance to win!