03-15-2010, 01:42 PM
Last night I took the family and my son's girlfriend to an upscale place in Cheektowaga, NY (near Buffalo) called The Melting Pot. Its' a fondue restaurant. Really cool concept for a restaurant where all food (except for the salad) is dipped in these fondue pots at your table and consumed.
We opted for their Fondue Feast which was a four course meal.
Course one was a cheese fondue. With five of us they allowed us to choose two different cheese fondues. We chose their Fiesta Cheese Fondue, which was Cheddar cheese with Mexican herbs, spices, jalapeno peppers and salsa. It was served with tortilla chips. You can have it as spicy as you like. We ordered it mild, but it was still pretty spicy even for mild. I didn't care for it all that much. I liked the other cheese fondue much better and could not get enough of it. It was their Traditional Swiss Cheese Fondue, which was made with a mixture of Gruyere and Emmenthaler Swiss cheeses, white wine, garlic, nutmeg, lemon and Kirschwasser. It was absolutely delicious.
Second course was a salad. You have the choice of four salads; a house salad, a spinich mushroom salad, a caesar salad and a California salad. I opted for the house salad which was huge and a great mixture of romaine and iceberg lettuce, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, croutons and sliced eggs and dressing. I had the Peppercorn Ranch Dressing which was awesome (the other choice is a sweet and tangy dressing). My wife and my son's girlfriend had the California Salad which was made with mixed baby salad greens, roma tomatoes, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese, topped with with a raspberry black walnut vinaigrette dressing. They both raved about it. My eldest son had the Caesar salad and also said it was good. The youngest son is not a salad fan so he passed on the salad.
The entree platter was amazing. We ordered two different "cooking style" fondue pots. We got the Coq au Vin fondue which was made with fresh herbs, mushrooms, garlic, spices and and burgundy wine as well as their Mojo fondue which was a Caribbean-seasoned bouillon with garlic and citrus flavors. They also have a court bouillon fondue which is basically a seasoned vegetable broth and a Bourguignonne fondue which is for the health conscious since its a European-style fondue in cholesterol-free canola oil with no trans-fat oils
With the fondues we ordered they brought out a platter of assorted raw foods which you would submerge in the fondue pots for a set time to cook them. The platter consisted of pieces of fillet mignon, sauerbraten NY strip steak, smoked bratwurst, shrimp marinated in a Hefeweizen beer, garlic crusted chicken, and Sun Dried Tomato Ravioli. They also brought out a couple bowls of vegetables (potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower which you put in the pots and take them out as they get "done" cooking. As accompaniments, they brought out several little bowls of dips and sauces to use on the food when it was done cooking. My favorites were the bratwurst, the chicken and the shrimp. Some items took 90 seconds to cook while others to about three-four minutes. We were all stuffed when it was said and done, but there was still a good amount of the raw foods left. So they allowed us to cook them all in the fondues and take them home in a take-home box. I KNOW what MY dinner is tonight!
The final course was a dessert chocolate fondue. Although were were stuffed we weren't about to pass on this. There are a mind boggling NINE different dessert fondues you can chose from. We chose their Cookies ‘n Cream Marshmallow Dream fondue (which was dark chocolate topped with
marshmallow cream, then flambeed and swirled together and topped with crushed Oreos, and also their Chocolate S'mores fondue which was milk chocolate topped with marshmallow cream, which was flambeed and topped with crushed graham crackers.
The tab was pretty pricey, but we felt it was well worth it for the experience. If you get a chance to eat at a Melting Pot near you, by all means give it a try. Its' a great fun and filling experience.
We opted for their Fondue Feast which was a four course meal.
Course one was a cheese fondue. With five of us they allowed us to choose two different cheese fondues. We chose their Fiesta Cheese Fondue, which was Cheddar cheese with Mexican herbs, spices, jalapeno peppers and salsa. It was served with tortilla chips. You can have it as spicy as you like. We ordered it mild, but it was still pretty spicy even for mild. I didn't care for it all that much. I liked the other cheese fondue much better and could not get enough of it. It was their Traditional Swiss Cheese Fondue, which was made with a mixture of Gruyere and Emmenthaler Swiss cheeses, white wine, garlic, nutmeg, lemon and Kirschwasser. It was absolutely delicious.
Second course was a salad. You have the choice of four salads; a house salad, a spinich mushroom salad, a caesar salad and a California salad. I opted for the house salad which was huge and a great mixture of romaine and iceberg lettuce, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, croutons and sliced eggs and dressing. I had the Peppercorn Ranch Dressing which was awesome (the other choice is a sweet and tangy dressing). My wife and my son's girlfriend had the California Salad which was made with mixed baby salad greens, roma tomatoes, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese, topped with with a raspberry black walnut vinaigrette dressing. They both raved about it. My eldest son had the Caesar salad and also said it was good. The youngest son is not a salad fan so he passed on the salad.
The entree platter was amazing. We ordered two different "cooking style" fondue pots. We got the Coq au Vin fondue which was made with fresh herbs, mushrooms, garlic, spices and and burgundy wine as well as their Mojo fondue which was a Caribbean-seasoned bouillon with garlic and citrus flavors. They also have a court bouillon fondue which is basically a seasoned vegetable broth and a Bourguignonne fondue which is for the health conscious since its a European-style fondue in cholesterol-free canola oil with no trans-fat oils
With the fondues we ordered they brought out a platter of assorted raw foods which you would submerge in the fondue pots for a set time to cook them. The platter consisted of pieces of fillet mignon, sauerbraten NY strip steak, smoked bratwurst, shrimp marinated in a Hefeweizen beer, garlic crusted chicken, and Sun Dried Tomato Ravioli. They also brought out a couple bowls of vegetables (potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower which you put in the pots and take them out as they get "done" cooking. As accompaniments, they brought out several little bowls of dips and sauces to use on the food when it was done cooking. My favorites were the bratwurst, the chicken and the shrimp. Some items took 90 seconds to cook while others to about three-four minutes. We were all stuffed when it was said and done, but there was still a good amount of the raw foods left. So they allowed us to cook them all in the fondues and take them home in a take-home box. I KNOW what MY dinner is tonight!
The final course was a dessert chocolate fondue. Although were were stuffed we weren't about to pass on this. There are a mind boggling NINE different dessert fondues you can chose from. We chose their Cookies ‘n Cream Marshmallow Dream fondue (which was dark chocolate topped with
marshmallow cream, then flambeed and swirled together and topped with crushed Oreos, and also their Chocolate S'mores fondue which was milk chocolate topped with marshmallow cream, which was flambeed and topped with crushed graham crackers.
The tab was pretty pricey, but we felt it was well worth it for the experience. If you get a chance to eat at a Melting Pot near you, by all means give it a try. Its' a great fun and filling experience.
...