The Melting Pot

11.17.06

This Saturday was the birthday of a member of our small group (as well as another next Tuesday), so this week we passed on the Bible study and decided to all go out to eat. The birthday girl got do help decide, and ended up on The Melting Pot. Normally, this swanky of a place would be a bit outside or normal food budget, but all three couples had Happenings books, and there was a $23 coupon in there that we could each use. Good thing, too, since the typical meal for two was $60!

But it was a birthday, a special occasion, so we all went for it. The waiter recommended the specialty of the four-course meal: cheese fondu, salad, main course, and chocolate fondu. We had already planned on going to Muddy Paws Cheesecake for dessert, so we opted for the somewhat cheaper option without the chocolate fondu.

The experience was a lot of fun, even if it over-priced (I mean, come on - they don't even have to have a cook!). The first course is the cheese fondu - we chose the Quatro Formaggio (my favorite) and the Wisconsin Three-Cheese. They brought out an assortment of breads as well as apple chunks and vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower (yuck!). I stuck with the bread mostly, as I detest cauliflower. The consensus on the apple chunks was "interesting..." We all ate a *lot* of this yumminess, and it was a good thing that they didn't give us too much or we wouldn't have had any more room for the main course!

The salad was pretty good also, but more of a palate cleanser, which was a good thing. The nice thing about the atmosphere was that it was very relaxed - the whole meal took about two hours, so we had a nice good break between the cheese and the main course to rev our appetite back up.

We got the Pacific Rim, which contained seasoned sirloin, pork tenderloin, potstickers, shrimp, duck, and chicken. All were excellent, and I was especially pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the duck. We had two different fondu liquids - the standard beef bullion as well as the mojo. I liked the mojo best because it didn't interfere too much with the taste of the meat, which was awesome. The bullion was a bit more overpowering, but that was actually a good thing for the chicken and shrimp, which weren't very exciting by themselves.

So this isn't a place I would go normally, and probably not even for a special thing without the Happenings coupon (although it wouldn't have been the *most* expensive place we've ever eaten), but it was very good. If you're looking for a fun experience as well as really good quality food, and you're willing to pay for it, this is your place.

* Mello Yello available