The Melting Pot

Going downhill. Our service was so terrible today that other service staff notices and pitched in to assist without us saying a word. Mgmnt came to our table and and after she observed for some time she offered to comp the meal. That was very nice. For that reason alone we will give the place another try. I have been here maybe 6 or 7 times over 10 years and it has never been updated. The bar area is not a place to be, and the bathrooms could use a revamp. The best part of the meal is hands down the cheese and chocolate fondue. Some cuts of meat are tough and could use tenderizing. Hope mgmnt will continue to improve this restaurant.

The Melting Pot always has delicious fare, and has never disappointed. At the beginning of our evening, I was impressed with the stellar wait staff, unfortunately service became slow toward the end of our meal as they became busy. Overall, the food was scrumptious, always fresh and delectable. The brie and bacon cheese was savory and wonderful.

Wonderful restaurant. Always get wonderful food and great service. More on the pricy side, but worth the cost. Great fondue! Great place to eat for special occasions!!!

I feel sort of anti-​feminist when writing this review, since I realize most girls just LOVE fondue. Not that I don’t enjoy the process of fondue, but I have not been terribly impressed with The Melting Pot either time I’ve been there.
The restaurant is very nice and comfortable for seating groups. And I get it… most of their kitchen is in the dining room. Duh. But it is just SO DANG HUMID in there!!! I feel sticky and smelly the entire time I’m there, and I hate having to clean coats after going to restaurants that leave your clothing reeking.
The groups I’ve been with have always been able to agree on cooking methods and shared dishes, but had we not been able to, they offered to bring a second burner to allow other people to cook differently, which was considerate.
As far as the food goes, the cheese fondue appetizer is delicious. But the vegetables… WTH??? Carrots and celery? Ridiculous. Why not cauliflower? As for the entrees. if you mess those up, its your own fault. I do love their duck breast something fierce. The chocolate fondue for dessert is fabulous, but the little desserts they serve are only OK — seems like mostly frozen pound cake and store-​bought rice crispie treats. There is enough of a fruit/​sweet treat balance that you at least don’t feel like you’re going into a diabetic coma. The wine selection isn’t bad, but it’s mostly your usual grocery-​store selections at a much higher price point than many restaurants. And expect to drop a lot of cash on this meal. For me and my husband, our bill was over $ 110 before tip.
Service, on the other hand, is just not good. Most recently, for a birthday dinner, we arrived at 6:15pm and didn’t get out of there until 9:40pm. We waited more than 25 minutes between when our server removed our oil from the entrée and when he came back to take our dessert order. He was a chatter, boy!!! Only a few other tables in his section were filled, and we counted… other sections turned TWICE in the time we were there. I don’t mind taking my time, but I’d prefer not to be held hostage by a restaurant!
I get that this is a special occasion treat for some people, but for me, I can’t be bothered to invest that kind of money in an experience that leaves me bored and disappointed, even if the food is nice. I wouldn’t mind stopping for a cheese appetizer and glass of wine or dessert at the bar, but the whole multi-​course entrée in a slow-​moving, steamy restaurant has just not been much fun at The Melting Pot for me.

The start of our love was rocky. As a first timer, you need some guidance on what would be right for you (and your group), our waiter had swayed us on overordering and we felt disappointed. We were swayed to come back and this time we were armed with the knowledge and experience of what we liked and did not. This is why I recommend having your first time with an experienced guide.
Once we had a better grasp of what the menu offered (and the size of the portions), this love affair began in earnest and it is now the absolute place to celebrate special occasions. A run down of the meal is as follows:
Choose a cheese. A pro-​tip that we were let in on was that if you want your cheese to be less sharp, you can request to substitute chicken broth for the wine. I HIGHLY recommend this substitution despite my love of wine. The heat and the alcohol make the cheese REALLY sharp and for us that was less enjoyable (despite the fact that in every other situation we prefer a sharp cheese)
We usually skip the salad as it takes up valuable stomach space, but when we have it, it is delicious.
The cooking style for us was key, the oil has made all the difference. Deep fry the Wild Mushroom Sachette or the Spinach Ravioli and have an amazing meal. Skip the sesame breading and go straight for the tempura. Breading the mushroom first and frying it and THEN adding the green goddess dressing while it is cooling ensures you do not lose the stuffing in the oil and the dressing still gets warm (and cools the mushroom faster)
MOST IMPORTANT: If you choose the oil, ALWAYS have something cooking (like a potato), this keeps the oil from overheating.
Choose a chocolate: you can’t go wrong here. Or you can always drop a mint from the front desk into the chocolate to make a SUPREME mint chocolate concoction.
Good luck, and good eating!

Went there for a change in dining experience last weekend. With the options in the area, we chose this based on not having been there in years. Service was amazing, but the quality of the food for the price was lacking. Did the Cincinnati deal and when the bill came, I’m wishing we would’ve waited for a later reservation at another local fine dining place that offers up much superior food for much less. Will likely not return as there are much better options locally that are not as expensive.

Amazing. We went to the Melting Pot for my birthday. The service and food were both fantastic.
We started with an off menu cheese, the Bourbon bacon cheddar, recommended by the table across from us. The salad and entrée were great but nothing specific to mention. For dessert we had the flaming turtle. I highly recommend both our cheese and dessert.

This was my first time here and I loved the experience. My boyfriend took me as a surprise and let me tell you. I was not disappointed! The food is awesome and out waiter Lee was even more awesome! (Highly recommend him!!) he was helpful with explaining the menu, he gave suggestions, kept the veggies coming for the cheese and the brownies coming for the chocolate! This was an amazing experience and I will definitely be coming back!

Avoid the Course I, II (Salad) and III. Jump directly to Course IV :)) Not worth your money. Course 4 Chocolate, deserts are good. Others — Not worth it.

If you can’t be happy with a vat of bubbly cheese and gooey chocolate bliss within reach of your greedy little digits, there’s just nothing that’s gonna help you. The Melting Pot is a perfect indulgence. It’s not just a meal, but a whole experience in itself — choosing which flavors to combine, blending with the mix of tasty sauces they bring to the table, «cooking» your meal in a low-​key, relaxed environment & having a special evening.
I’ve been a few times for special occasions, most recently for a belated Mother’s Day dinner with my mom. Every flavor choice was mom’s as it was her gift. With a lot of food allergies, including to wine & other alcohol (a key ingredient in some cooking broths & other items) our server did a great job proactively helping my mom with the menu & making sure all the food would be prepared far from her allergic items. Service is always attentive, but was especially good this time, as our server brought extra veggies for the main course, extra dipping sauce, & didn’t rush our meal progression. She also let us in on a «secret» that if you want a dish changed up a little bit, no problem. We got the dark chocolate & chunky peanut butter mix for dessert, but also had caramel put in it (an off-​menu addition to that particular menu item.)
Also, as it can be a more expensive evening if you’re doing the four-​course dinner, especially, look at their website often for specials (Ladies Night or health worker professionals night, breast cancer awareness, etc.) They can have some great deals there.

Overall a good girls night out experience. The alpine cheese fondue was flavorful and creamy. California salad fresh and sweet. Flaming turtle chocolate fondue… yummy! Easy parking, friendly server. $ 5 house wine special. $ 6 Martinis.
The not so good… the hostesses were the quite unfriendly when we came in. A smile would be a nice addition!
The Thursday ladies night special with 3 courses does not include an entrée. Really!!! Who offers 3 courses, none of which are the main course?! Definitely misleading advertising. Seemed kinda like a bait and switch. We were told that for $ 40 more, we could add the entrée. Ouch! $ 40 for raw meat as an add on?!
Flaming turtle chocolate fondue. No nuts in it. Odd to serve chocolate and caramel only for a turtle offering.

I took my bf there cuz neither of us has been to a fondue place and i thought it would be a lot of fun, and it actually was if you like cooking your own food and interacting a lot with your partner while eating.
We made a reservation on Unilocal and got seated right away. Our waiter was very familiar with the menu and extremely helpful. I told him that i was worried 2 four course tastings might be too much for us and he told us to go with one entrée and add whatever we want later and the kitchen will be able to accommodate us. Oh, he had an extremely gentle voice, very comforting, and my bf and I both were like yeah please keep talking… A tad creepy, huh?
The four course entrée was plenty for us. They gave you A LOT of food. We had classic alpine for cheese fondue and it was a little too bitter for us probably cuz of the white wine. And they served green apple to dip cheese, which was a very «you say whaaaaa?» moment.
We chose Fondue Delight for entrée with the COQ AU VIN broth and instead of Chicken, we had BBQ Pork (GET IT. It is better than the filet mignon). They are very flexible with substitutions. Their red meat tasted better when we cooked it more otherwise it stays very chewy. The lobster was delicious. Six sauces came with the protein and the Indian yogurt and teriyaki are our favorites.
We had white chocolate with Oreo. They use RUM 151 to burn the marshmallows. I asked if I could just take that as shot instead.
Overall, soooo much food but what a stuffed fun experience.

We were extremely happy with the service provided by Jordan. He made dinner very fun. Dinner was outstanding! We ordered the bourguignon style of cooking. Didn’t much care for the batter so we just cooked our meat without. We took food home with us and didn’t eat all of the chocolate. We were just stuffed after the four courses. Look forward to the next holiday meal.

Fun dining experience, good food, excellent service, and a great atmosphere. We had a great meal and our kids loved it, it’s their new favorite restaurant!

There is no words that could describe the time I had. It was wonderful just wonderful time I had

This is not authentic European fondue but it’s great Americanized fondue! We did the 3 course meal and it was super fun! Entertaining date and definitely a meal that I would rather go out to eat then try to cook at home!

On a whim, our friends suggested dinning at The Melting Pot this evening. None of us have ever been here and heard about it so we decided to give it a try.
I did some research and decided to make reservations through Unilocal & Open Table. They have many options when booking for special occasion preferences and discounts seen on FB. When we arrived the hosted was pleasant and let us know we will be seated at 7:45 when our reservations were and the place was nicely decorated for the holidays and playing Christmas music, a plus for us.
Once seated our waiter, Eli was delightful and extremely helpful! He really made the experience enjoyable and went above and beyond! We each ordered the 4 Course Meal Option. Which includes 1 Cheese Fondu, 1 Salad, 1 Meal Entrée, 1 Chocolate Dessert. My husband and I chose «The Original» for our entrée, house salad, Turtle on Fire and Pumpkin Flambé Chocolate with the bourgeoisie choose of cooking. It was phenomenal! My husband was able to sub more steak for his shrimp on the original.
We had the bacon & Gorgonzola cheese and the Fiesta Cheese to start. They bring you breads, chips, fruits and veggies to dip into the fondu. Once finished they bring out your salads and heat up your cooking oil options. The house salad and wedge salad was delicious! Once the oil is hot and ready, Eli brought out our main dish meats and explained in detail how long to cook each item as well as how to make stuffed mushrooms with the cheese and sauces they provided. He was truly helpful with how to make the most of our dishes. He came back frequently to check on our progress, refill sauces, drinks and see how we liked his suggestions. All of which were amazingly scrumptious!
Now that dinner has commenced, it’s time for dessert. Since there was two burners we were able to pick two dessert chocolates. We chose the Flaming Turtle and the Pumpkin Pie which Eli flambéed for us to roast our marshmallows on. He also added cinnamon to the pumpkin pie and it was indescribably amazing!!! It is addicting. You get a plate filled with rice crispy treats, brownies, blondie, strawberries, pineapple, coated marshmallows, pound cake and bananas to dip into the chocolate sauces. This was by far my favorite part and was the best end to the evening.
In all, our bill was only $ 75 for two people getting 2 Four Course dinners «The Original» option. The service from Eli was beyond superior and better than any top notch restaurant we’ve ever encountered. He really made the evening delightful and helped us navigate the menu and made suggestions that really put each course far above what we could have made ourselves. This is a place to try at least once. Even if you think you will not like cooking your meal, I dare you to try it. It’s really an enjoyable experience and you can actually enjoy your food!!! I highly recommend The Melting Pot and please request Eli. He will not disappoint.

We were invited back by the manager and we are so glad we went. Our experience this time was stellar. My two big pieces of advice are 1. Get the Bourguignonne style of cooking. It was amazing and so much better than the broth. 2. Do not go for the 4 course meal unless you are huge eaters. We split one entrée and it was more than enough when you get the cheese and the dessert. We started with the Alpine Cheese fondue. It was good. A bit on the tangy side but good with the apples. Probably won’t get that one again but we will try the cheddar or the broth based ones. Next we split the vegetarian plate. We are meat eaters but here it is all about the veggies. I am just not crazy about cooking my meats in a pot. Everything was great but the pastas were the best. Both the ravioli and the sacchetti are phenomenal cooked in the oil. They get crispy and delicious. We will definitely be getting that as our full entrée next time. All of the entrees come with Potatoes, Mushrooms, and broccoli with free refills. They also come with a variety of sauces and two batters if you get the Bourguignonne. This was my favorite part of the entrée. The potatoes were delicious with the blue cheese sauce. The broccoli in the tempura batter was great but for me it was all about the mushrooms. They show you how to stuff the caps with the green goddess sauce and then tempura batter. Amazing! For dessert we went with the s’mores. They flambé it table side so the marshmallow carmelizes. Seriously yum with all of the great dipping sauces. And to top everything off our waiter, Jim, was fantastic. He was super fun and made great suggestions. We will definitely be back.

Once, when I was a wee college lass, way before foodies were a thing, Melting Pot seemed like the ultimate romantic and fancy place to go eat. Things have changed a lot since then. We went with a group of friends to celebrate some birthdays and while the service was really great and we had a nice time, Melting Pot is probably not somewhere I’d go again on my own volition. Here’s why:
The amount of food you get in no way matches up to the prices you pay. My husband ordered the vegetarian entrée so we could share one steak 4 course meal to try to be more cost effective. The vegetarian entrée had a few slices of mushroom (allegedly a very expensive mushroom), 5 – 6 pieces of asparagus, a couple pieces of artichoke, and a few ravioli. I might be missing something but you get the gist– not really worth the price. I did enjoy trying each of the cheese fondues (we had enough people to have three pots so we could try different things), and no girl who loves chocolate can not love the dessert fondue. In the end, the taste and the quantity just wasn’t worth the $ 100+ we spent on two people.
If you MUST go, I would suggest spending your money on the seafood or chicken (steak really doesn’t need to be boiled in broth, there are many better ways to eat it), go with a group so at least you can sample other dips, and just be ready to drop a load.
To end on a positive note, the two waiters we had were great. Very friendly, thoughtful, and they brought out complimentary champagne for our group at the end of the night, with little birthday treats for the birthday girls.

THE FON-DO’S AND DON’TS OF MELTING POT
FON-​DO: Make reservations. Melting Pot is kind of quaint.
FON-DON’T: go alone. Girls are totally into unique dining experiences, so why not bring one? Besides, Fondue for one is like a KFC famous bowl, a sadness meal in a failure bowl. Also akin to TV dinners. Nothing says, yeah, I’m single and not doing anything about it like a TV dinner.
FON-​DO: split a bottle of mid-​range wine. Wine not? You’re livin’ it up tonight.
FON-DON’T: get the green goddess dressing. It doesn’t really taste like anything.
FON-​DO: Order the full meal. Why not? You’re a frickin’ billionaire!
FON-DON’T: Bother spending the extra money to get anything besides the traditional bouillon. The cooking style can actually take away from the flavor of your food if you get something too fancy. We wouldn’t want every veggie tasting like garlic and citrus now would we?
FON-​DO: Get dessert! Mmmmmm… chocolate! Put melted chocolate in your face. Use fruits and sweets as a vehicle to get chocolate into your gullet! Kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia! Obey my dog!
FON-DON’T: Forget that if you want take home chocolate strawberries you must call and tell them ahead of your meal. They take time to cool to the proper temperature.
–AND LASTLY–
FON-​DO: Be a frickin’ billionaire. This place gets pricey in a hurry. Dinner for two will cost you at least a C note and probably more. Then when you go home in your Lamborghini you can rest comfortably on your unicorn skin pillow knowing that this was only a single leaf fallen from your massive oak tree of infinite money.