The Melting Pot is a restaurant with a unique style of dining that was first opened in Florida in 1975. Today, they have more than 138 locations across 37 states and have won countless awards for their food, service and community involvement. We are lucky enough to have one located very close to Tech on Peachtree Street NE.
From the valet parking to the personalized service, it is an experience unlike any other. To get the whole experience, be sure to come with a large wallet and an even larger appetite, because the Meting Pot offers a meal choice of a cheese fondue, a salad and a main entrée. And who can resist getting a dessert plate?
The choices for cheese fondue range from beer flavored cheese to good old classic cheddar. Regardless of cheese choice, everyone gets pieces of bread, apples, carrots and celery to dip with. At first, the thought of dipping fruits and vegetables into any type of cheese might be a little odd for those of us without a more sophisticated palette, but, surprisingly, I enjoyed the different taste combinations and jumping in and trying something I normally wouldn’t. The Melting Pot is definitely a place to experiment with different flavors and foods.
Up next, there are several choices of salad to be had, but I almost didn’t want to eat one because I knew the main course was coming and there was no way I was going to miss out on the duck, shrimp, beef, chicken and wonton noodles we ordered. When the main course comes it is really intimidating when the waiter or waitress sets down a whole plate of raw meat, about six different sauces and two types of batter.
The people who work there really know their stuff, because our waiter rattled off the instructions for how to fondue our own meat in a matter of minutes and never got confused about the cooking times.
Each type of meat has to be left in the hot oil for a different amount of time in order for it to be safe to eat. Any time you leave it in after that is a personal choice. First, the meat is dipped into the batter of your choice and then held on a skewer in the oil. All the different sauce choices for dipping after the meat is cooked can really make every bite taste different. It’s kind of scary cooking your own meat, because sometimes it’s hard to tell if it is actually cooked because of the dim lighting. Somehow, we made it through okay without food poisoning and were ready for dessert.
By far, dessert was the best part of the meal. By the time dessert rolled around, I felt like I could not handle eating any more, but I manned up and we ordered a small plate of desserts, which ended up being not so small, just like every other previous course. There are tons of choices for the type of chocolate to dip pieces of cheesecake, pound cake, brownies, marshmallows and strawberries in. There is chocolate with caramel, nuts and even alcohol as a dipping base.
Aside from the nightly dining, the Melting Pot gives customers an option of joining something called The Melting Pot’s Club Fondue where they offer the members wine tastings, food samplings and entry into exclusive events held at the restaurant.
Needless to say, everyone leaves the Melting Pot feeling satisfied, if not overly stuffed. Whether for a birthday, a romantic evening out or a get together with friends, the Melting Pot prides itself on an experience you won’t soon forget.