I had heard of the Melting Pot restaurant in Boise, Idaho, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. I had heard it was a swanky fondue place but I hadn’t really paid much attention. I got the chance to experience it when my husband’s small company decided to have their Christmas party there. Some people couldn’t make it so there only ended up being six of us, but we were all really excited to try it.
Because we were a party, the company had preordered the meals for us which ran about $90 per couple. At least we didn’t have to worry about coming to an agreement on what to eat. Plus they ordered a variety of different foods for us which was great. When we first walked in, I was really impressed with the ambience of the place. It was dimly lit and every table was secluded into little booths. It was all decorated up for Christmas with festive lights. The walls were adorned with all sorts of art so we certainly had plenty to look at. I found the place to be extremely romantic and private and I made a mental note to come back there with just my husband.
We were sat to our table which had two burners instead of one because we were a larger party. The waitress brought our drinks to us which consisted of soda, iced tea, and water. Since my husband’s boss does not drink alcohol, we respectfully declined any wine, though I did get a look at their wine menu which was very extensive (another mental note for later).
First we started with an asiago cheese fondue. I was surprised to see that they actually make the fondue right there at the table. The fondue started with a white wine base (I guess that was okay with the boss.) followed by pesto, herbs, asiago and other cheeses. She stirred this while we watched it melt. I quickly found you must have patience when eating here which is difficult when everything looks so good. They brought out cubes of bread, apples, and assorted vegetables to dip into the cheese. It tasted just as good as it looked.
Next they brought out a ceaser salad. Normally it would be hard to go on about a salad, but this one was excellent. It had some sort of candied nuts in it; I am guessing pine nuts, that really made the salad come alive. I only ate half of my salad (though I certainly wanted more) because I knew we still had two more courses to come. Meanwhile, the waiters kept coming and topping off our drinks. I began to feel like we had our personal own water boy; it was great!
Next they brought out a new fondue pot with a broth like substance in it. They called it Coq au Vin which had flavors of fresh herbs, burgundy wine, and mushrooms. Then they brought out plates of meat and I was shocked to see that it was raw! (What can I say; I am a fondue “newbie”.) They explained that we would place the meat onto our skewers and then simmer them in the pot for 2-3 minutes. When the reservations were first made, they said to plan on the meal taking about three hours, now I understood why. I found all of this very interesting and was really enjoying myself. We had all sorts of meats, and some veggies, to simmer in the pot. We had ravioli, chicken, filet mignon, beef tenderloin, shrimp, and lobster. We also had potatoes, broccoli, and mushrooms. My husband is not a seafood eater so he ate most of the beef while I was in heaven with my lobster tail.
By this point I was really getting stuffed when they bring out this chocolate hazelnut fondue with candied hazelnuts sprinkled over top. As you can imagine, I made some room! They brought out plates of tiny desserts to dip. We had strawberries, bananas, pineapple, biscotti, cheesecake, brownies, and Oreo covered marshmallows. I don’t think I had ever been so full!
I must say, that when I had first heard of how much it was costing ($90 per couple) for us to eat there; I thought it sounded over priced, besides, who takes three hours to eat? But after being there, I can without a doubt say it was more than worth it. It’s not like dining at any old restaurant; it’s an actual dining experience. The food and atmosphere is amazing and it was a lot of fun. I can not wait to go back there for a romantic date with just my husband and me.
