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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Cheese! And the mushrooms…I never eat them at home because my fiance hates them, but The Melting Pot is amazing!
they all look amazing! but I most look forward to the entree course … so many different combinations! but the cheese, chocolate, and even salad courses would get their due attention!
Normally, I would say dessert is for sure the meal I would look forward to the most…but that cheese fondue looked amazing, so I think that would probably be my favorite!
The cheese course b/c I’m from Wisconsin! We cheeseheads love cheese 🙂
I love the bananas foster dessert!
I would absolutely look forward to the cheese course the most…. yum!!
I usually don’t like dessert but that looks amazing!
Dessert!!!
I recently just began eating meat again after being vegetarian for 5 years. The teriyaki sirloin sounds incredible!
Chocolate! My sweet tooth never fails me 🙂 I think this would be a perfect date night opportunity for mine and my boyfriend’s two year anniversary coming up next month!
Dessert! Chocolate fondue oh my… my mouth is watering already 🙂
I would most enjoy the entree!! The shrimp looks delicious and I didnt even know they did entrees with all the veggies and everything. This would be amazing!!
I’m a cheese hound, so I’d look forward to the cheese course the most! I love the apple & bread combo!
I would have to say the main entree!! I am a sucker for sauces! There are so many to choose from!!
Of course the dessert course! It looks amazing!
Great idea. I’ve never had fondue, so I’d love to see what kind of experience it is.
Definitely cheese! I love The Melting Pot!
I love the dessert part! But we definitely need to do that as a first course because I am usually so full by the end and can have only a couple of bites.
I think I would order three “main courses” all consisting of chocolate!
Dessert -what is better than melty chocolate?!
The cheese looks amazing! I’ve never been to the melting pot before, but would love to try it out!
I always think I’m most excited for the cheese, until the dessert comes. I LOVE the chocolate with the marshmallows. YUM!!
The cheese course! I could dip anything in cheese.
The cheeeeese course! There isn’t much better on this earth than melted cheese. 🙂
I’ve never been to the Melting Pot, but that cheese course looks to die for!
I would definitely be most excited for the dessert fondue! Chocolate lover I am for sure!
I would look forward to… All of it. 🙂
Cheese! It’s my favorite food!
I would most look forward to the chocolate dessert. Yum!!
I would definitely choose chocolate! Yum!
The chocolate course is the best!
I think I would be able to eat my whole meal with just a salad, cheese fondue, and chocolate fondue!!
The Melting Pot is a great date night idea as I did the same last year! Trying to decide between cheese, chocolate and a main course is tough! I would probably go for the chocolate because that’s always the best part of any meal!
Wow! Everything looks delicious. I would be looking forward to it all. But I think the beginning and end with the cheese and dessert would win me over.
Definitely the chocolate fondue!!
Omg cheeeeessseee please 🙂 and that salad looks fantastic too!
My husband and I love our cheesy date nights…so the cheese of course! We have even skipped the main course and just ordered two pots of cheese…embarrassing I know!
I look forward to the chocolate fondue! I love the various fruit and cakes to dip in.
Chocolate definitely ! I heard their banana foster dip is amazing
We have a melting pot near my house, and I have never been!!! It looks so fun! I would definitely enjoy the chocolate part the most!
I’m a big fan of both cheese and chocolate! This would be a perfect date night with my hubby!
I’ve never been to a Melting Pot, but I have heard such great things! I would be all about the cheeeese!!!
that’s pretty cool they have a lightened up menu now! that always turned me off of the melting pot because it seemed like a huge calorie bomb dinner. I OF COURSE would look forward to dessert the most 🙂 that’s cool you were asked to promote the skinny menu, but they were okay with you subbing out for the “real” stuff besides your salad! smart lady! looks like a fun date! what is it about dipping your food that makes it more fun?! haha!
Cheese!
I would love to win this gift card! I’d look forward to the chocolate course the most. ;)~
I would look forward to dessert!…and cheese…and actually the whole entire meal!
Tough decision but I would have to say the chocolate course!
Cheese! Yummy melted cheese!
Cheese! 🙂
Hands down chocolate! I’ve never tried any kind of fondue before.. shocking!