Horrible Horrible Horrible
I've never done fondue before, so I had no idea what to expect. Unfortunately, the experience was a disappointment from beginning to end.

I made a reservation for 6:30 on a Saturday night, it was very crowded, but we were seated right away -- at the worst table you could possible have, the one right near the front door of the restaurant, so there were lots of people just standing right by us waiting for their tables and the door kept opening and hitting us with the 25° F Ohio temps. I was freezing the whole time.

Let me start by saying that we had a bad server who got cheese on me and red wine on someone else in our party and she almost forgot to give us dinner dishes. (which by the way remind me of prison issue cafeteria trays except they were oval shaped and not rectangular) She also forgot that we specified no garlic and was about to dump a bunch into the fondue pot before we all shouted for her to stop (garlic gives me heartburn).

But beyond the sub-par service, the food left something to be desired. Since we were all new to fondue, we decided to order the "big night out", which included the cheese course, salad course, main course and desert. We ordered the "Quattro Frommagio" cheese which was mixed by our server at the table. I was a little afraid of being scalded by hot cheese the whole time she mixed and the white wine in the cheese added an overwhelming flavor to the fondue that got much stronger the closer to the bottom of the pot you got. that came with a small bowl of stale bread, a cut up granny smith apple and a "bowl" of vegetables that was really about 4 small pieces of cauliflower (with brown spots on it), about 5 baby carrots and some sliced celery (also looking kind of old).

We each got to order our own salad, I got a "mushroom salad" which was some old iceberg chunks literally covered with at least 1 1/2 cups of sliced raw mushrooms. When it arrived, I thought I got a bowl of mushrooms.

The entree we chose was the "fondue feast" and here is where I just think fondue is not for me -- I did not appreciate having a plate a raw meats put in front of me. All I could think about was 1) don't contaminate your dinner plate with the raw meat plate. 2) I wished for a second fork I could use to help get my raw meat on the fondue fork . 3) I wonder how long before I get a stomachache.

However, I was game to try everything; my husband and another person at our table were put off by the Porcini-rubbed strip sirloin because it looked like poop on the plate.

It felt like a lot of work to skewer the raw meat and wait for it to cook (for the right amount of time) and nothing ever looked appetizing. My silver prison issue dish always had one lonely little piece of meat all by itself on it. It didn't feel like a treat or "fun" it was hard to keep up conversation and not forget about the food on the fondue forks sitting in the pot. they also give you a couple of raviolis on the raw meat plate, but they just fell apart in the fondue pot and were just average tasting. The portions were adequate.

I have to say that the dessert was the most disappointing. Here is the description of what we ordered: Pure Chocolate - Milk, dark or white chocolate, melted for the most pure of all chocolate fondues. Fresh strawberries, bananas and pineapple, plus cheesecake, tasty marshmallows, pound cake and brownies for you to dip into any of our decadent chocolate fondue creations. I don't know what was worse, the fact that the fondue tasted like Hershey's syrup mixed with Smuckers hot fudge sauce or that you received exactly 2 strawberries, 2 - 1/2" slices of banana, 2 marshmallows, 4 small slices of pineapple, a piece of brownie and a piece of (stale) pound cake that were both just slightly larger that a die (not a pair of dice but one die) And I can't forget the piece of (Entemann's?) cheesecake. What was most irritating was the presentation, everything was spread out on a large platter and dusted with powered sugar. It was pathetic and for some reason reminded me of writing book reports in the 6th grade that had to be 2 pages long so you used the wide rule paper, big margins, your biggest handwriting and the word "very" excessively to fill up those 2 pages. Really they should be ashamed of calling that dessert. I guess I was looking forward to that part the most -- I always associated the word "fondue" with melted chocolate and pound cake.

I felt very ripped off when we got our bill for $208 (4 people, 6 drinks). Honestly, we could have gotten a bottle of Hershey's syrup and a Sara Lee pound cake and sat in the comfort of my warm house and enjoyed that more than the whole meal we had at The Melting Pot. Let me finish by saying that I have never written a review of a restaurant before. We eat out at least once a week -- usually at a non-chain restaurant and enjoy all types of food. This was just not for us.    [20 Jan 2007 23:10:22]

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     ­Anonymous   

Awesome
All I can say is that this place is the best restaurant I have ever been too! The food, the service, the ambiance, the level of expertise from the hosts, the managers, the owner, by the way-he is very cute, the servers and the presentations are the best.

I loved the cheese fondue made right at the table. The cheese was expertly prepared by the server, who was very attentive, efficient and took their time when making the cheese. They asked if we wanted more garlic or more mustard; it was very nice! The salads were very good and I liked the dressing most of all.

The entree was the bomb! I had steak and lobster with fresh vegetables and sauces and we had the most fun. The dipping of the meat we just cooked into the sauces was so delicious. We didn’t know what to expect but we loved every minute of it! It is a bit weird to cook your own food but the server explained exactly how to prepare our food and how to eat what sauce with what item. It was magical.

But the best was last, the silkiest chocolate fondue dessert you ever had. Fresh strawberries, bananas pineapple and yummy cheese cake dipped into the silkiest chocolate. In fact, the server asked us if we wanted more dippers, they call the plate items dippers, for the chocolate. Wow, so nice. The owner came over, and he is very, very cute, but he is married, sorry girls, and was very sweet as he made us feel very very comfortable.

We spent about 180.00 dollars for 4 but you know what? We got a lot of food, huge martinis and the restaurant is beautiful, even the bathrooms! I highly recommend going, we are going back for spa night.    [25 Feb 2007 15:19:31]

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     ­julie jones, Cleveland