The Melting Pot: making fondue fun

The face of dining out is changing. Instead of a typical three course meal, The Melting Pot, a popular fondue restaurant, offers an interactive dining experience for its customers.

The best part? Being able to play with your food!

Customers of the Melting Pot can expect a cozy and romantic atmosphere with its low lighting and comfortable booths.

According to its website, the first Melting Pot opened in Florida in 1975. At that time the menu only consisted of three items, but as its popularity grew so did its menu.

It now offers a four course meal of a variety of cheese fondues, salads, entrées and chocolate fondues.

The four course meal starts off with a cheese fondue that includes “dippers” such as fresh breads, vegetables and apples. Tortilla chips are also included for certain cheeses.

Every table has burners. The cheese and chocolate fondue are prepared in a small pot by the server right at the table. Each person is given a set of skewers for dipping.

Entrées include a variety of seafood, chicken and beef. However, they are served uncooked so the customer has to cook their entrée on the burner themselves.

Perhaps the best part of the fondue experience at the Melting Pot is the dessert.

The menu offers many different chocolate fondues including The Original, which is milk chocolate and peanut butter as well as Cookies and Cream Marshmallow Dream.

The chocolate fondue also includes fresh strawberries and bananas, brownies, pound cake, marshmallows and cheesecake for dipping.

The only downsides of dining at the Melting Pot are the expense and timing.

All together, a four course meal for two people can cost almost $100 or more. However, this can be rectified by going with a large group and forgoing the entrée.

Also, because it can take awhile to cook the food, customers can expect to be there for up to three hours.

“It might be a little on the expensive side for college students,” Samantha Branco, an employee of the Melting Pot in King of Prussia, said. “But if they’re looking for a fun place to celebrate a special occasion and are with a large group it’s completely worth it.”

The Melting Pot has a variety of locations throughout the country including King of Prussia. For more information go to meltingpot.com.