Ryan and I went out on a fondue date last night!
Our first date night of 2013 took us to The Melting Pot in downtown Ocala.
Downtown Ocala is still decorated for the holidays, so we had fun walking around the square before dinner and taking in the holiday sights before they’re put away until next year.
Once we meandered over to the restaurant, we were immediately greeted by the hostess and escorted to a cozy booth.
Drinks!
Tipsy Turtle + Blackberry Bourbon Bramble
Ryan and I planned our date night after I received a press release from The Melting Pot inviting me to try some of the dishes on the restaurant’s new Skinny Dipping menu. The Skinny Dipping menu features three courses – a salad, fondue entrée and dark chocolate fondue dessert – for less than 700 calories. I selected a salad and entrée off the Skinny Dipping menu last night and loved both of my choices! (I veered off the Skinny Dipping menu for the cheese and chocolate fondue courses.)
Our meal began with the cheese fondue!
Ryan and I selected the special of the day which included a big pot of brie and bacon cheese fondue, served with bread, tart apple slices and fresh vegetables for dipping.
Oh cheese fondue, you are so fabulous!
Our waitress suggested placing a piece of bread and an apple slice on our fondue forks at the same time before dipping it into the cheese and the flavor combination was fantastic!
Salads were delivered to our table shortly after we finished the cheese course.
I ordered the spinach salad topped with baby Portobello mushrooms, red onion, chopped bacon, Roma tomatoes and a warm burgundy shallot vinaigrette. Though this salad came off the Skinny Dipping menu, it didn’t taste lightened up at all! The toppings were quite generous and the dressing was delicious.
When it came time to order our entrees, I decided to go for a combination of shrimp and teriyaki-marinated sirloin.
At first I thought the portion looked rather small, but as I started eating, I filled up fast. (I think I had a head start on filling my belly with the cheese course!)
Every entrée comes with fresh vegetables to cook in your fondue pot and I couldn’t get enough of the mushrooms! They were the best, especially when dipped in the various sauces.
Ryan and I both agreed that the five dipping sauces that came with our entrees added so much to our meal. My favorite two sauces were the teriyaki and the mild, yogurt-based curry sauce.
And then it was time for dessert! The shining star of any fondue experience!
It didn’t take much convincing from our waitress for us to order the crème brûlée white chocolate fondue for dessert.
Caramel shavings were sprinkled atop creamy white chocolate and set afire before we cracked the caramel coating with our fondue forks and dipping items.
I am normally not a huge white chocolate fan, but the caramel component of this fondue took it to another level. Ryan and I used our spoons to get every last bit of chocolate out of our fondue pot. Incredible!
And now here’s the really fun part!
One of YOU will win a $100 gift card to The Melting Pot to enjoy your own fantastic fondue experience! (To find a location near you, you can visit The Melting Pot’s Locations page.)
To enter this giveaway, please tell me what course you would look forward to enjoying the most if you won the gift card. Cheese? Chocolate? Entrée?
I will randomly select a winner on Tuesday.
Good luck!!!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
The cheese fondue looks fantastic!! But I’ll always lovelovelove chocolate the most!!
The cheese course! My husband and I are trying to get in one last date night before our son is born (in 3 weeks! gulp) and this sounds like a great meal =).
While I love chocolate, I think my fiance would appreciate the cheese more!
Ohh I’m a chocoholic, so definitely the dessert!!! My boyfriend and I have never had a fondue date night so this would be really special for his upcoming birthday.
CHEESE!!!!!!!!
ooooh my goodness. definitely the chocolate!
The brie cheese and bacon course with apple slices sounds amazing. I’d love to take my mom on a mother-daughter “date-night” to the Melting Pot to thank her for all she does for me!
As much as I love dessert, the cheese is what I look forward to the most at a meal at the melting pot!
You can’t beat the dessert course! Fresh fruits and chocolate are my favorite combination!
I think I would have to say that chocolate fondue!! I love white chocolate!!
Having been to the melting pot a few times it is hard to decide the best part of it. Besides being fantastic food it is simply a fantastic experience. You can never go wrong with chocolate tho 😉
I would definitely enjoy the cheese course the best, especially the apples and cheese! Seems like a weird combo but I love it!
Tough decision between the cheese and chocolate, but ultimately chocolate is my choice!
i’ve never been to the melting pot but have always wanted to go! I would be most excited about the cheese!!
I LOVE The Melting Pot! My husband and I went there in October for our anniversary. I always leave a little too stuffed for my liking, but it’s so worth it. 😉 It’s a tough call between the cheese and the chocolate for my favorite, but I’d probably go with the chocolate!
I would look forward to the cheese course the most.. that brie and bacon fondue you had looked AWESOME!
I love it all but cheese is my favorite!
My whole family is such a huge fan of fondue! Honestly and unfourtantly I have never had chocolate so I would love to try it!
I would have to pick the cheese however they all look so good! What a fun date night idea!
I’ve never been to The Melting Pot before! I would definitely go all out on the cheese….that brie and bacon fondue sounds AMAZING!
Definitely dessert! I LOVE chocolate!!! 🙂
Dessert! I love chocolate fondue! I’m interested to see how they make the dessert course skinny.
The Melting Pot is so much fun & kinda romantic. 😉 I LOVE the chocolate course since I have a major sweet tooth, but the cheese one is a close contender. Mmm…
Definitely the chocolate course!!
Dessert is always the best course!
Cheese? Chocolate? How about all of the above!
Yum!! I would probably look forward to the cheese most! The white chocolate brûlée looks delicious too though!!
I would definitely enjoy the chocolate the most((: I love white chocolate, so that dessert looked ahhmazing!
Well the caesar salad might be my favorite part of Melting Pot (roasted pine nuts, yum)…. But fondue wise i certainly look most forward to the desserts 🙂
Mmm dessert most definitely 🙂
Oh that all looks so good. There is a melting pot not far from us but we have never been. Of course the dessert looks delicious but I am loving spinach salads right now and yours sounds great. I think I would have to try the skinny dipping menu also.
I would love the fresh veggies and cheese!
I looove cheese fondu and I always devour that course the most when eating fondu!
CHEESE! My husband and I love the Melting Pot! It’s one of our special occasion restaurants that we only frequent 1-2 per year. I thunk it’s awesome they have a skinny menu now. Can’t wait to try it!
Cheese!!!
I have never been to The Melting Pot, but the cheese and chocolate options look amazing! I would love to take my husband there for an anniversary dinner since he loves cheese and has always wanted to go!
Definitely dessert! It would have to be chocolate too.
I absolutely love the chocolate turtle fondue @ the melting pot – chocolate, caramel, & pecans? Divine!!
I want to say chocolate but the cheese fondue sounds fabulous too!
I would enjoy all 3 courses! Every course that you had last night was right up my alley. I have also never been to the melting pot but would love to go.
Honestly all of it look delish!! But I would have to say my favorite part of the meal would be the dessert-the fruit looked amazing and fresh. So dipping all those little pieces of heaven into that gorgeous white chocolate would be a great way to end the meal!
The cheese course all the way! You cannot get better than cheese and bread!
Can I just say that I would look forward to all of the courses? Because I think I would…But maybe the cheese if someone was twisting my arm. I’ve never been and we have one really close to us. This post made me so hungry!
Chocolate for sure!! I could have three courses of just that!
That’s a really tough one…but I think I am going to choose the cheese, though dessert is a very close second!
Mmm….the shrimp would be fantastic! And dessert! 🙂
Obviously the chocolate!
The chocolate course is my favorite! I really just love all the dipping items – marshmallows & strawberries & bananas! Yum!
Def the DELISH chocolate!!
So hard to choose, but if I had to, I would pick the yummy cheese, especially with the bread and apple to dip:)