Last night we were hanging out at Cypress Street Pint & Plate, having a few drinks on the patio near a friend’s apartment. She and a friend were going to see a comedy show at the Fox, so we decided to eat somewhere nearby within walking distance.
Our first choice was Baraonda, which is right next door to the Fox (and we wanted to carb load for a 5K this morning lol), but as expected, it was slammed.
So we decided to go to the Melting Pot, which is also really close to the theater. I have never been to the Melting Pot, or any other fondue restaurant for that matter, so I wasn’t really sure what all the hub-bub was about. I had heard that is was often a “special occasion” kind of place, but I didn’t really see how dipping foods in cheese was considered special (glorified cheese dip?).
However, I must say that it was fun and delicious, albeit a little bit of oil/grease overload. I had to change my shirt when I got home because it reeked of cooked meats (all types).
I have no other complaints though. The restaurant accommodated our party of six promptly, our waiter (who has obviously very busy) did a really great job, especially considering he had to rush to ensure the two in our party could make the show in time.
We couldn’t do the cheese, entree, and chocolate, so the table decided to just do the cheese and entree, which would have been by 2 out of 3 selection, so I was happy.
We ordered one cheese to put on the center of the three induction burners on our table, then we were to cook the entrees on the burners near either end of the table. Our waiter said the induction burners (magnetic) were unique to this location on Peachtree. More info on induction cooking here. It sounds pretty cool. Someone pointed out that a napkin was sitting on the cooktop and the waiter said it was OK because of them being induction cookers. Neato.
The cheese came out quickly, and the waiter quickly and expertly whipped it all up. He added white wine and some other stuff I unfortunately can’t remember, then added the shredded cheese to melt. This was servered with a variety of diced breads, apples, and vegetables such as celery and cauliflower. We knocked it out quickly.
Then our salads (included with entree) came out directly after that. I had the caesar salad, which was just average, except that it had what I believed to be candied pine nuts – definitely an interesting twist which saved the salad from being totally unmemorable.
For my entree I chose the French Quarter, which was a heavily cajun spiced mix of shrimp, chicken, kielbasa, and filet mignon. Along with the meat, both ends of the table got a variety of pre & post fry dipping sauces (8 sauces in total), and a whole bunch of vegetables to fry up.
Check out my meat.
Frying up!
Dipping sauce trio (teriyaki glaze, ginger plum, and yogurt based curry).
Two creamy dipping sauces (one the waiter called the Green Goddess…”the house favorite”).
To wrap it up – it was an enjoyable and interactive meal with good friends and I look forward to doing it again. I’ve heard great things about Dante’s so that is next on my fondue stop.
Proof of the fun below. Once again, sorry for the crap photos – the lighting makes it even worse.
