The Melting Pot

Too bad this place is closed now… this was a spot my bf and I frequented a few times a year. I think im gonna cry now. I was in love with the The Melting Pot… and now I have to go to San Mateo to get my fondue fix.
BUMMER.
(insert tears here)

This location is closing. I got an email today…
«Dear Club Fondue Member
At this time it is our unfortunate responsibility to inform you that our San Jose location on 72 South First Street will no longer be operating as a Melting Pot restaurant.
We invite you to enjoy The Melting Pot experience that you have come to enjoy at The Melting Pot of San Mateo located at 2 North B Street or The Melting Pot of Larkspur located at 125 E. Sir Francis Drake Blvd. »

I usually don’t write reviews for places that are already in the triple digit review count — however, I wanted to acknowledge an awesome server.
Scott rocks. He was pleasant, funny, and left us alone. He timed his visits to our table perfectly.
As for the rest of the review… I agree with everyone. Nice décor, awesome food, and you can request a table with privacy. And of course, fondue is the best way to celebrate or do something special.
I just don’t like the location. Would rather stay away from downtown SJ.
Rock on Scott!

I really like the atmosphere at this place — its nice and cozy and romantic. You pretty much feel like you are the only one there if you get a both.
Fondue is fondue. You can’t go wrong nomatter which fondue you choose. My favorite is the jalepeno cheese appetizer (not sure about dipping apples in cheese but it wasn’t too bad). The lobster in the cajun fondue was very good and the dessert fondues are what makes this place. HEAVEN.
If you are on a first date. this is perfect!
1) the place is dark — if he didnt look so good the first time you saw him after you met him while drunk in the club — the lighting will mask that
2) if you didn’t like your date, you can just concentrate on the food — it makes putting up with a bad date worth it.
3) you dont have to fake a smile cause the chocolate fondues will definitely help u there!

Oh god this place is amazingly good. Come here expecting to gain 15 pounds in one night… if you get the big night out that is. Yeah, it’s a LOT of food. What’s nice is that it’s exactly what you want… a bit of everything. You can change around the fondues to your own liking, so if you don’t like what you have, it’s because you don’t know what you like and you didn’t order the right thing. Like if you don’t like red wine, don’t order coq au vin for your main course! Silly people: p
What I really like is their variety. You get a sampling with different breads, fruits, entrees, dessert items, etc. I love all the different sauces they pull out for your main course, and I love cooking my dinner hot pot style. Yes, I’m hella asian. You’ll live.
As for dessert, the whole entire meal is so good, but somehow it got better! Yeah, and then you wish that you hadn’t eaten all of that bread because you could have made room for chocolate. mMMmmMmm chocolate.
My favorite dessert combination is white chocolate with a shot of bailey’s irish cream, and they flambé it with a shot of bacardi 151. Delicious! By the end of the night I’m drunk off the fondue, that’s how much alcohol they put in it. That’s also how pathetically low my alcohol tolerance is, but hey for all you Unilocal men out there, cheap date!

After being here multiple times, I have finally found my *perfect* menu
Cooking style: Coq au Vin
*Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue
*Pacific rim
*Cookies n’ Cream Marshmallow Dream
A few times I’ve came, depending on what you order, it lacks a lot of flavor, so you want to order something that has a kick to it (just from the name) and its almost guaranteed to taste delicious!
As for the entrée cooking, it takes forever because you normally get 2 fondue skewers per person, and basically you sit and wait until 1 – 2 pieces of meat is cooked per person … being impatient and devastatingly hungry, i pretty much pour all the meats in at once, and enjoy my meal after everything is cooked!
They do cute little celebratory things (birthdays, anniversary) and i believe for $ 10 (or more), you can get martinelli apple cider + balloons, candy [fondue chips] and flower petals. and if you perfer wine, they have that too. Just ask for a private booth, if you want to celebrate something =D just hopefully not the booth the with the crazy A/​C vent blowing down (gets very cold!!)

I guess I’m giving Melting Pot a pitty star. Let me explain.
So, the fondue experience in itself is not that exciting or complicated. First you eat some cheese with some bread and such. You then get a bunch of various proteins and veggies and decide how you want to cook that stuff yourself. Then you dip some sweet shit in chocolate.
It’s hard to compare that experience to a similar monetary investment in a thoughtful unique culinary experience at a real restaurant. I ask myself: «Do they even have a chef here?» Probably not in its real meaning, because he or she doesn’t cook anything.
Now my gripes about the cooking options for the main course. So, you can choose between boiling your meat or simmering it in canola oil. So I have boiled meat or canola-​saturated meat as my options here. LAME. Neither of these sound good to me. Any possibility of caramelization? Prolly not. If you want to poach in oil, use olive or BUTTER. Don’t come at me with canola. Please.
Other issue: the service. Calling it pedestrian is too much of a compliment. I’m not sure my server could cross the street all alone. Typical corporate chain in that regard.
Yes, the service at La Fondue is better, but you are confronted with the same issues. You have to ask yourself, is good service worth another 30% on top or already inflated food prices.
Despite the obvious short-​comings, Melting Pot is a nice place to come with a date. It could be more romantic, but there was a degree of intimacy there. The time-​spent and the experience of cooking your food and trying the sauces allows a lot of time for conversation. You’re not just shoveling and leaving.
For a date, and a unique experience, I’m not paying more than Melting Pot, so for me, they win the South Bay fondue battle. As far as a culinary experience goes, I’d say it’s the karaōke of cuisine.

I went here with a couple of friends after we had already had a couple of cocktails and some dessert. We ordered a round of cocktails — lychee martinis for the girls. We both loved our martinis. We were still a little hungry so we also ordered the Wisconsin fondue. It tasted fine though I could have done without the shallots and the scallions. I was way happier about the dessert — we had the amaretto. The almond flavor was subtle. My favorite of the dipping items was the rice crispies treat and the oreo covered marshmallow.
Our server was cute and charming, almost too cute and charming. Actually bordering on annoying. But she put up with us being a tad bit obnoxious, so all good.
I guess I’d come back, but only for dessert.

All we had was dessert here and we had the chocolate turtle (we love nuts!) for two. Techincally it was a party of 5, but only 3 ate. We pointed this out, but were still charged gratuity. Not a big deal since they didn’t ignore the ones that weren’t eating and were given water, utensils, etc. The waiter kept hinting that what we ordered would only be enough for 2. Whatever man, we just had dinner AND dessert (not here though) like 20 minutes ago.
ahaha and we were seated at the very front so that people could gawk at us (or the other way around!). We had no reservations and it was around 9pm, so it wasn’t that busy.
The spread was okay. Good chocolate. I wished the waiter spent less time convincing us that what we ordered would’t be enough, and tell us to wait for the chocolate to heat up before we started dipping away.
I really enjoyed the marshmallows that were coated with cookie crumb of sorts. There was only one piece of cheesecake, which was good but difficult to share or dip. There were banana slices, brownies, cake, and the usual strawberries. And au contraire, Mr. Waiter, all that was enough for three of us.

3.5 stars for the service
–1.5 stars on the food.
But technically… shouldn’t I be blaming myself when i’m supposed to be the one cooking the food? OW the conflict!
I’ve only been here twice and the last time I went was a bacholorette pre game dining. (by pre game i mean getting the bride to be wasted at Vivid down the street). The waiter was funny, knowledgeable of the menu and very nice. My only prob with the restaurant is the entrée. Not impressive. We actually had a set course menu since it was a large party. It included chicken, steak etc. But I dont know what it is about eating cubes of meat. But it is not as special it may sound. The cheese fondue and dessert fondue were good though. I recommend some champange/​sparkling wine with the dessert.
Parking in the area is difficult since it is downtown SJ (and of course you have to pay). So if looking for a space is the sort of thing that drives you nuts, come to melting pot on an off day, and off hour because it is located in a very hot spot of downtown.

Alrighty I’ve been here twice now, and I’ve had similar experiences.
This place is alright… not GREAT. you just have to remember, you’re paying for the EXPERIENCE and the food is just kinda there. its fun just going here with a group and dipping your food in the wonderful cheese and broth and of course, the chocolate…
pet peeves: i LOVE garlic, seriously i do. however, this does not mean for you [the waiter] to drop a whole pound of garlic in my cheese fondue. then i can’t taste the cheese anymore, dumbass. gosh damn.
ok but seriously their chocolate fondue is to die for. the first time we went, we got the flaming turtle or whatever. that was awesomeeeeeeee. last month we got the s’mores. once again: awesome.
word to the wise: defintiely get reservations before coming. first of all, they’ll seat you much faster, secondly, they won’t give you a dirty look. seriously, first time we came here, the place was pretty empty [6pm on a wed night] and they glared at us for not having a reservation. sheesh.

I loooooooove fondue, but I give it only three stars because it is WAY overpriced and your clothing smell for days. In fact, when I brought my peacoat home, it made my entire closet smell. Ick.
The food is great. The ambiance is fantastic. But, I give it three stars because spending $ 35+ per person is just too much for pieces of bread, carrots, apples to dip in things. Also, service is SUPER slow. Like minimum 2 hours if you’re asking the waiter to hurry up.
It’s definitely worth going to for dessert though. And if you’re going to order the entrée, I’d order the beef. The chicken is alwyas bland.

A lot of work at the beginning — there were a lot of decision making to do: three-​course meal or no three-​course meal? How many portions of cheese fondue would be enough appetizer for all of us? Which ones of the entrée choices are we going to go with? What about the ‘cooking style’? Chocolate fondue or no chocolate fondue for dessert (and which one is it?)
We ended up ordering two different cheese fondues: ricotta and spinach, and cheddar cheese. The cheddar cheese ended up being blah… the ricotta and spinach, on the other hand, was a gem. An average three-​star for the cheese fondue.
The entrée was great — high quality meat and chicken, awesome dipping sauces (my favorite was curry), and plentiful of food. We were surprisingly full at the end of it.
But the chocolate fondue!!! OH! We were so glad we decided to get it. The cheesecake was the best of it all, albeit a bit crumbly — care must be taken so as to prevent it from coming off your fondue fork and into the chocolate. Four stars on the dessert alone.
All in all, a 3.5-star… now if only Unilocal allows half-​star ratings…

Let me start off by saying that if you were to look up the word «delicious» in the dictionary, you’d see two things … a vat of melted cheese and a drink called The Love Martini.
Ok, now that we have that out of the way, it’s review time:
I went to The Melting Pot for the first time last evening with a friend. I have been to La Fondue a few times in the past so I had something to compare it to. The restaurant is pretty dark, but it’s way bigger than I thought it was going to be. They had booths and open tables. The booths were really private (as least where we were — we couldn’t see any other diners, we could only hear them) so it’s a nice place to sit if you’re coming for a romantic meal or want some privacy.
Our server was attentive in the beginning, but he eventually slacked quite a bit which is why I deducted one star. He made good suggestions and also told us what to stay away from.
Drinks: The Love Martini. Good grief was this thing ever good. If my memory serves me correctly, it had Malibu rum, peach schnapps and cranberry juice along with freshly sliced strawberries. I drank a few and woke up with a slight headache this morning, but it was totally worth it.
First Course: Cheese Fondue. All I can say is YUM. We ordered something that wasn’t on the menu and boy was it ever good. Cheddar, beer, garlic, sour cream, cream cheese, chives, onions and some other spices. With all those ingredients, how can you go wrong? It was VERY good.
Second Course: Salad. Meh. It was a plate of lettuce with a few slivers of ham and pepperoni and a few roasted bell peppers thrown in for good measure. Next time I won’t order a salad. It just takes up the necessary room you’ll need for courses #3 and #4!
Third Course: Fondue Feast — Mojo cooking method. Chicken. Lobster. Filet Mignon. Flank Steak. Shrimp. Pork Tenderloin. Ravioli. Potatoes. Mushrooms. Broccoli. Zucchini. Do I even need to say anymore? It was all really wonderful although I didn’t care much for the ravioli. The curry dipping sauce was my favorite.
Fourth Course: Dark Chocolate Cookies & Cream Marshmallow Dream. It was dark chocolate (duh), marshmallow cream with crushed oreos. Yep, it was beyond good. They did this whole flambé thing before serving which was a nice touch. The plate of dipping items had a nice selection — the bananas and strawberries being my favorite. Other choices were: rice krispy treats, cheesecake, marshmallows, brownies and pound cake.
I left there feeling like I had eaten a week’s worth of food in one sitting. A walk around the block after dinner was definitely in order.
The location is good and there are plenty of places to park nearby.
It was a bit spendy, but a great place for a special night out. If you’re thinking of checking it out, you definitely should.

Great for a date night, evening out with just the girls or to celebrate something special.
LOVE all their chocolate fondues! Had the Big Night Out meal (cheese fondue, salad, meat fondue and chocolate fondue-​$ 96). So yummy!

My boyfriend and I spent our second year anniversary here. I reserved a private table and ordered the Balloon package (rose petals distributed all across the table, 5 balloons and a bag of chocolate as its weight). It was so beautiful! We aren’t a romantic, mushy couple, but it was a nice change from the couch & tube scene.
Our waiter was chill, and always checked/​served us at the right times. He offered a buttload of suggestions/​techniques on how to cook the food and gave his opinion as to which sauces complimented specific meats and vegetables. He really made us, newbies, feel like pros.
The dessert was, of course, my favorite part of the evening =) We ordered the Chocolate S’mores. Instead of the typical melted chocolate, our waiter added melted marshmallow and flambeed graham cracker crumbs. Mmmm! It tasted as amazing as it was to watch! The beautifully presented dippings (view photos) suited remarkably with the fondue as well.
Everything came out to be about $ 112. Yeah, it sounds pricey, but it was well worth every penny!

This place was nice but I don’t think I’m a fan of fondue so I can’t really judge accordingly. My boyfriend took me here on my birthday because La Fondue is closed and when we got to the table there were ballons and rose petals all over the table. (I’m pretty sure this was an at a overpriced cost, ugh, but still cute.)
I liked the cheese portion but only with the bread. Dipping apple into cheese? Ehhh, not my thing.
Salads were okay. We both got the Caliofornia salad and the dressing was too sweet.
Meat/​seafood portion. Ehhhh, it’s just hot pot basically? Haha, no really though, I wasn’t a fan of this.
Chocolate portion, by far the yummiest!!! We got the marshmellow oreo chocolate one! Sooooo good.
Our server was very helpful and nice.
Would I be back again? Probably not anytime soon, but who knows? It is a cool experience but for the food itself, ehh I’d pass.

Maybe it was because we were in a rush… or there was a huge party on the other side, but really I experienced one of the worse services here (worst being Bella Trattoria in SF).
When my gal pals and I arrived, I headed to the front desk saying that our reservations were for 5pm and the girl was like «5pm? Yeah everyone has a reservation at 5pm.» Then she said to her cohort, «We’re going to be busy now.» But the tone had this aloofness to it… sarcastic or… I don’t know. I just did not get a good vibe.
We were asked to wait in the waiting area or at the bar. We finally got seated at 5:30-ish. Then we sat there. for another 30 – 45 min before we finally got to order. And then it took another 15 – 20 min before we got the actual fondue… mind you we only got dessert so I was like. how long doe it take to quasi-​melted chocolate?
I find it no excuse to take so long since all the tables in our area were open. There was just one larger party on the other side. I found the fondue similar to my fondue which I put hershey kisses (milk choco, dark and caramel) in a pot with small amount of water and heated on the stove. Mine cost about 2 dollars to make and we paid $ 32 plus tax for ours.
Yes it is the «experience» you’re paying for, but really now… come over to my place and I can do it for you for $ 5 if I splurge a little on more expensive chocolate. The only thing that I got out of here was not paying for my 20 year-​old tawny port. Thank you Melting Pot. I will only go back if my friends make me.

A girlfriend of mine suggested eating here since neither of us had ever been here and we’re both relatively familiar with downtown San Jose, and because we made plans to eat on a Saturday, I called ahead to make reservations in anticipation that it would be crowded. Of course, I was right — and in fact, even though I called the day before, their earliest reservation was for 9pm.
We got there 15 minutes early and ended up chillin at the bar to kill time (and brain cells). I ordered a Chocolate Martini, which was Stoli Vanil (and which tastes a little on the «gasoline» side… I should have asked for Absolut Vanilia, which is my personal favorite, but whatevs) and white crème de cacao shaken and poured into a big ass martini glass drizzled with chocolate syrup, rimmed with chocolate shavings with a white chocolate candy dropped into the bottom of the glass. It was big enough for me and my friend to share.
We were seated not too long after that and although our server told us about the «Big Night Out» meal, which has the cheese fondue, salads, entrees, and dessert all in one package, we weren’t down to pay $ 89 per person and instead decided on the Wisconsin cheese trio followed by the Swiss Cheese, both of which were served with bread cubes, veggies and Granny Smith apple slices, and for dessert, we had the Chocolate S’mores fondue, which came with a plate of strawberries, pineapples, graham crackers, cheesecake bites, pound cake bites, brownie pieces, and marshmallows coated in graham cracker crumbs and chocolate cookie crumbs. The whole thing set us back a little under $ 50. Not bad at all!
Everything was delicious, our server Monica was fantastic — she took the time to chop it up with us as she prepared our fondue right in front of us, without even blinking an eye at our often raunchy topics of choice (it was me and Chanel, after all) and in retrospect, I don’t know what the fuck possessed me to consume two pounds of cheese and a lot of chocolate knowing I am currently in training, but it was one hell of a good way to spend a cheat day :)
And believe me, this cheat day will last me well through the month of November!
I will give La Fondue a try in 2007…

Excellent food and even better drinks (try their mint mojito!). I’ve «only» tried their standard fondue meal plan for 2, and it came with a bunch of good stuff, including veggies and then seafood (and of course, dessert). But, it was a party for my younger sister who wouldn’t get something more daring, and it was WAYYYYYY TOOOO EXPENSIVE!
However, I’m sure cheaper stuff there exists (i.e. not whole dinner/​dessert plans). And, because of our spectacular waiter, my rating should really be 4.5 stars.