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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My favorite is always a toss up between the chocolate and cheese!!! But I think the cheese wins 🙂
Mmm looked good! Going with cheese!
Chocolate fondue!!!!
I am an incurable sweet tooth, so I’m pretty sure I’d be saving room for the chocolate portion. Gotta try the Creme Brulee it looks fantastic!
It’s a close call between the cheese and the dessert…but I am going with the dessert because I absolutely love chocolate and fruit as my desert! It also looked like there was red velvet cake on the dessert platter which is my fave!
Ugh, chocolate, of course! I love the milk chocolate with Bailey’s or with creme de cassis. Yum!
Definitely the dessert part!! SUCH a huge sweet
tooth 🙂
The chocolate would be amazing, but I don’t think I could pass up on the melty cheese, never had that type of fondue!
Have you ever thought about if you could only eat sweet or savory foods for the rest of your life which you would pick? This kinda reminds me of that
At the Melting Pot? Why of course it has to be the cheese course…yum!
Definitely the cheese! I’ve never been to the Melting Pot.
Wow that crime brûlée is what sounds unbeatable.
Cheese! What’s better than warm melted cheese!?
Def. the Chocolate! I loooove chocolate!
Omg I worked there for 8 years as a waitress and trainer. Believe me…you eventually get sick of cheese and chocolate. Never thought I would!
I’ve never been to the Melting Pot, but I definitely would most look forward to the chocolate!
chocolate!!!
It’s been a while, but I think that I’d be allllll over the cheese course 😀
Dessert!!! I’d love to try the dark chocolate fondue. Yummm. I love the melting pot.
Cheese!!!
I would definitely enjoy the chocolate and dessert fondue the most! The creme brûlée sounds amazing 🙂
I would love the chocolate course!!
Cheese course for sure!
I would look most forward to the cheese course, as I LOVE appetizers!
I would most enjoy the leisurely date night it would allow David and I to have! They don’t come often with a toddler around 🙂 And I love FUNdo!
Cheese AND chocolate. yum.
Hands down, I’d definitely choose DESSERT. I’d eat dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could (and sometimes do!). I LOVE the melting pot and lucky (or cursed) enough to live a few blocks down from one. In your picture above, I think I spied a red-velvet cake square, which MUST be new to the dessert platter. I would LOVE to try that!
I would love to try the chocolate!
I’ve never been to The Melting Pot. I would look forward to going some place new. 🙂
What a fun date night! I really like your blouse. Where is it from? I would really enjoy some of those mushrooms along with a tasty entree at the Melting Pot!
oooooh the chocolate course!
Those marshmallows looked so good – between them and the fruit – I think the chocolate fondue would be soooo delicious to try. What a fun date night!
Oh definitely the cheese! Looks delicious!
Cheese!
The entree! I had my one and only fondue experience on our honeymoon and my absolute favorite was the seafood dipped. AH-MAZING!
I am weak at the knees for that dark chocolate fondue. mmm 🙂
I feel like I should say chocolate, but it’s the cheese that really tempts me.
Of course I’m looking forward to the chocolate the most!
The dessert is definitely the part I’d be looking forward to!
CHEESE! I love love love cheese! Additionally, my husband gives me such a hard time for my love of dipping sauces so I know The Melting Pot would become a favorite for me!
Cheese! Who doesn’t love cheese! I’d love to take my boyfriend, he’s never been!
The CHEESE COURSE!!!!! I love cheese but honestly have never had fondue. I would be sooo excited to win this one.
Definitely a shrimp entree! Never been to The Melting Pot and would love to try it!
The cheese course! The Brie and Bacon sounds AMAZING!
I have eaten at a Melting Pot one time in my life (on a girls trip with my mom and sister) and it was a loooonnnnggg time ago, but I remember how GOOD it was! I remember the main course as being my favorite – I want to say they had a tempura batter you could use before you fried your main course and man, that sounds delightfully decadent and yummy again – so that would be it for me, the main course!
I absolutely LOVE the cheese fondue!
I have only been to the melting pot one time, and absolutely enjoyed it! I went just before running my first half marathon in Nashville, TN! And I absolutely loved the chocolate dessert! But of course, the cheese portion is wonderful too!
I’ve only been to The Melting Pot once but had a GREAT time! The food is delicious and it’s such a fun experience. I would love to go again..and would definitely look forward to the CHEESE course the most.. 🙂
I’ve been dying to go for forever, but it’s just so dang pricey. I’d be going NUTS for the cheese course!
I have always wanted to try The Melting Pot! The cheese course would definitely be my favorite…yum!
I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this restaurant, but the marshmallows and bananas dipped in hot, dark chocolate stand out in my mind. I can almost taste them right now:)