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!!!
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Oh goodness sounds yummy! My hubby has been trying to get me to go to the melting pot for months now and I keep having to turn him down. I’ve been battling anorexia & finally in recovery, so the thought of all that cheesy, chocolaty, dessert filled goodness has honestly terrified me. But now with the skinny dipping menu (YAY) and a new positive mindset I just mayyyyy be able to finally take him up on a fondue date! So I’d have to say I look most forward to treating myself to the dark chocolate, sounds amazing! Hope I get to go soon & finally see why people love this place so much 🙂
I’ve always wanted to try The Melting Pot – I’ve heard such great things about it!
Based on your pictures, I think the entree portion of the meal looks awesome! Yum!
I am torn between the cheese fondue and the chocolate fondue!! The both sound so delicious!
While the dessert course of obviously delicious, it’s the cheese course that always gets me. So gooey and comforting – such a great start to the meal!
My girlfriends and I took our mom’s to The Melting Pot for my 22nd birthday! That was 5 years ago! I am dying to go back! Dipping the bite size cheesecake and banana slices into the chocolate fondue was pure heaven!
I just moved to a city with a Melting Pot and cannot wait to try it! I am definitely looking forward to the dessert course the most!
I have to choose?! Ok then cheese. No wait, chocolate. Cheese?! Too hard!
The chocolate of course! I could probably skip everything else and just have the chocolate fondue for dinner! 🙂
Cheese and chocolate!
Definitely the chocolate.. but the cheese is a VERY close 2nd! 🙂
Cheese fondue has got to be the ultimate!
Cheese for sure! Since it’s the first course, it always gets me excited for the rest of the meal thats still to come!
I would love the dark chocolate fondue course!! I’ve been telling my boyfriend I want to take him to th melting pot and he would love the cheese course!!
The chocolate! I’m a dessert person 🙂
Chocolate AND Cheese! How can you pick just one?
Cheese, cheese and more cheese!
I would have to go with dessert! If I could get three different courses of dessert I probably would! My favorite is the chocolate and peanut butter 😀
Yummmm. I always hear about this place and it sounds AMAZING.
I wold definitely be most excited for the cheese!!! I have at home fondue nights all the time, but it would be awesome to actually be able to try out the Melting Pot. Plus, the combination you talked about of bread and an apple slice dipped in cheese sounded mouthwatering 🙂
This is the best giveaway ever to e, especially since I’m pregnant!!! CHOCOLATE all the way, although cheese is sounding delicious now too…
Cheese! I don’t think you can go wrong with cheese and bread! And my fiancé would flip if he knew about the bacon, hahaha
There is noon way to pick between chocolate and cheese!!! I love this place. My husband and I went here a couple of times when we first started dating … So many good memories!
I would definitely look forward to the chocolate course! That is my favorite part of Melting Pot!!
I would love to try the smores chocolate fondue 🙂
So hard to decide between the cheese or chocolate courses! I think I would be most excited for the chocolate because of all the great treats available to dip!
Cheese! I can’t get enough cheesy goodness in my life and I love the idea of putting bread and apple in at the same time! Mmmm
Cheese! The cheese fondue would be amazing and it would be fun to take my boyfriend out ( I think he would be torn between the cheese and the chocolate course as his favorite)
The cheese…. I want all the cheese!!! It’s by far my favorite part of the fondue experience. The chocolate comes in a close second though 😉
omg, definitely chocolate! though i love them all. I went to the melting pot so much in high school – brings back memories of birthdays and graduation. my grandmother was definitely rather tipsy the night before my graduation and kept saying “i’m drunk as a skunk!”
I’ve been to fondue places, but never the Melting Pot. Yumm. More cheese please!
Chocolate for sure! I hear there is a s’more fondue that is incredible!
I would look forward to the chocolate. Yours sounded delicious!
Most definitely the chocolate course! I’m such a sucker for anything chocolate! 🙂
I really don’t know how to choose between cheese or chocolate… So BOTH! Mmm.
I love love love the cheese course, I probably could do all three courses with just cheese! Thats really awesome they are doing a new skinny menu! I’d love to try that out.
Sometimes I go to the Melting Pot JUST for the chocolate dessert! I love it 🙂
What a fun date night! The courses all make my mouth water, and I’m usually a girl who loves her desserts (who doesn’t have a sweet tooth though?) But lately, I’ve been on a veggie kick and eating tons of grilled broccoli, roasted brussels, sauteed mushrooms. I’d love to try the fondue veggies just to add some variety and mix things up!
Oh my, the Brie and bacon cheese fondue sounds right up my alley!!! Yum!!!!!
I love the melting pot and I’m glad to hear they have a Skinny Dippings menu! Despite that, I still look forward to the chocolate dipping the most 😉
I’ve never been to the Melting Pot, but have always wanted to. The cheese and bread looked delicious.
hmm that’s tough…they all sound amazing. but I’d have to go with dessert! I have a crazy sweet tooth
Ummmm – Chocolate of course! 🙂
YUM!!! My husband and I love love love the Melting Pot, even though we have only been once. My favorite course is the cheese, but my husband prefers the chocolate. He actually keeps the apples from the cheese course to use with the chocolate.
The cheese course is my favorite but the dessert course is a close second!
Cho-co-late. Is there any other answer?
Definitely the cheese!!!
CHEESE! You can never go wrong with cheese!
the cheese! the cheese!
you can’t beat dessert at the Meting Pot!
I would love to visit the Melting Pot! CHEESE!!!!