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 all the way!! Looks so good!
I’ve always wanted to go to the Melting Pot. I’d want to try it all!!!
I would be looking forward to the entire thing, but maybe the cheese course the most!! I have been wanting to try the Melting Pot for a long time!!
My husband and I have never been to The Melting Pot but talk about going all the time! I would most look forward to the CHEESE!! 🙂
I am all about the cheese course!
Loooove the MP! Love their desserts too much!
I know the cheese fondue would be my favorite!
CHOCOLATE!! I have such a sweet tooth 🙂
Definitely the entree! Their seafood & meats are always super fresh and delicious, plus I love all the different dipping sauces. YUM!
CHEESE!!! 🙂
I love the Melting Pot! I’m always torn between the cheese and chocolate. There isn’t much better in life than melting cheese and chocolate.
I LOVE cheese! I have never been to the Melting Pot but would love to try it out!
Cheese for sure. Melted cheese is the best EVER.
I’ve never been there before but I hear the dessert is the best. I may agree afterwards, but what sounds the best to me is the entree! Steak and shrimp with the yogurt-based curry sauce, oh my gosh…my mouth is watering.
The Chocolate course, that crème brûlée white chocolate looks amazing!
Chocolate! I am a total chocoholic! Dark chocolate is my favorite.
I was pleasantly surprised the first time I tried The Melting Pot…I really did not expect to like it. Now I’m super excited to try it again with the addition of the Skinny Dipping menu! It’s a tough call for me between the cheese course and the chocolate course being my favorite 🙂
The cheese course, although, you can’t go wrong with any of the courses at the melting pot.
Chocolate all the way!! Although without a foundation of the “dinner” course, I can picture myself eating chocolate until I was sick!
I bet the whole meal would be amazing, but as a true choco-holic, I’d save all my room for the chocolate fondue!
The chocolate! Ive been to melting pot once before and the dessert was to die for! I swear I still have dreams fantasizing about those fresh strawberries in the chocolate peanut butter swirled warm melty goodness! yum drooling now, lol.
I would be most excited about the cheese!! I love fondue and have never been to the melting pot but have heard amazing things!
Chocolate! Melted chocolate and fruit sounds awesome right now.
Cheesy goodness all the way…followed in a close second by the chocolate! I have a Melting Pot less than 10 mins away but have yet to go there, this could be the perfect excuse!
Cheese. No competition. That brie pot sounds sooo good!
I would be most excited about the cheese. Melted cheese- is there anything better?!
I love the cheese. I love fondu but have never been to the melting pot.
Cheese fondue is one of my favorite foods. The one you and Ryan had sounds amazing!!
It all looks wonderful! Would love to try the entree.
The chocolate of course! 😉
I would definitely go for that chocolate fondue! My sweet tooth is out of control and that caramel topping is right up my alley 😉
I have never been to The Melting Pot!! I would love to try it out. I think I’d LOVE to try the chocolate fondue for dessert, but the teriyaki steak and shrimp sound awesome too! Decisions, decisions!! 🙂
I love the Chocolate Turtle Fondue!
Cheese please!!!!
I love the chocolate!!! But the overall experience is incredible as well!
CHEESE!! Most definitely cheese! 🙂
The cheese! Yes please cheese!
I think the entree course looks the best!
Definitely the chocolate! I love anything and everything chocolate! But everything sure does sound amazing.
My husband and I have been talking about trying The Melting Pot for ages! I would definitely be all about the cheese course! YUM!
I have one in my town and wanted to try, but was scared to do so because of cooking the raw food. I now cant wait to try!! 🙂
That creme brulee dessert looks awesome! I want that!
I’ve always wanted to try the Melting Pot! The spinach artichoke cheese fondue sounds delish!
Chocolate!!
We usually reserve Melting Pot for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. Oddly enough, though I LOVE a giant pot of melty cheese staring me in the face, my absolute favortie is the entree course because of the mushrooms and the cream cheese/herb dipping sauce. I’m pretty sure I could get behind dessert if we had that creme brulle chocolate though 😉
I have only been to the Melting Pot once and it was for my 2 year anniversary with my high school sweet heart. It was awesome. We are married now with 2 kids and have been together for 15 years. We would love the opportunity to go back now. After losing a combined 104 lbs, we would definitely try knowing they have a “skinny” menu. The salad and brie cheese looked the best….second to the yummy drinks 🙂
I’d probably be most excited for either the cheese or chocolate 🙂
I’ve never been to the Melting Pot…I hope I win!! 🙂
Cheese fondue, YUM!!
My husband and I would love the cheese course. It would be fun!!!
I would definitely be looking foward to the chocolate fondue!
I’m a sucker for anything chocolate