The Melting Pot - Not worth the $$

One of my foodie coworkers was dying to try out the relatively new(less than a year old)fondue restaurant near our office, so we went tonight to their "tasting" night. 6 different wines, appetizer fondues (3 different cheese combinations with bread or veggies for dipping), kebobs (steak, chicken, scallops, peppers, onion) with gongonzola port sauce, teriyaki sauce, plum sauce, garlic butter sauce, and finishing with two different chocolate sauces with strawberries, bananas, pineapple, pound cake, and brownie bits for dipping. All I can say is thank goodness we were there for one of their promotional events and not paying full menu prices ($50-88 pp) The wine specialist they had come in was very informative and interesting, so he alone was worth the price of the evening, )side note:I discovered I like Vouvray and Pinot Noir) But the food - not so much. The cheese sauces were gritty and bland. The entree sauces were decent but the meats were dry and overcooked (scallops seriously rubbery) and the peppers and onion totally tasteless. I know the emphasis is on the fondues, but shouldn't the stuff you dip complement the sauces, not rely completely on the sauce for edibility? The dessert section saved the day and was easily the best course of the food portion of the evening. We won't be going there again!

Any one else been to one of these restaurants? Did you have a better experience?

I've never been there, but I know people who have and I think the general concensus is that they're overpriced for a place that makes you cook your own food, food that's not that good to begin with.

I don't have a problem with fondue as a cooking method- I just think fondue restaurants take advantage of the gimmick and overcharge people quite a bit. I think it would be fun to do fondue at home, though.

There is an exception however; I don't know where you're located, but I hear Geja's in Chicago is quite lovely (http://www.gejascafe.com). I haven't been there yet (hint, hint, Mr. Froeman!)

My girlfriend and I have gone several times. It's kind of a romantic date. The food is OK the deserts are the best. Not a place to go to regularly, but it's kind of nice for a change. I agree its a little pricey.

I have been to the one in Pittsburgh many times and have always gotten very good food and excellent service. Still, there is no denying they are expensive. I agree with scbuzz about it being a romantic place. I have taken several dates there and they have always loved it. The Melting Pots I have eaten at in other cities have been inconsistent.

Have to agree it is overpriced...grossly overpriced, and tthe quality is only so-so. I go about once year when a client insists...always the same.

I have been twice. The first time for a full dinner in a party of 6. The bill came to close to $500. It was ok. It takes a LONG time to eat dinner. I think that is part of the reason they charge so much. They don't get a lot of table turnover. I did not think it was worth it but it was fun to do once. The second time we went for cheese and chocolate only. This was much better. We went about 10:30 and it was a nice romantic setting. Those are the two best food items anyways. The bill for that time came to about $30. So I would go back but only for the appetizer and dessert. It is a nice after movie or after theater destination.

I don't get it. If the food was overcooked, that had to be your fault. Fondue doesn't start with already-cooked food, that's the entire point.

That said, a chef friend of mine said it's worth it if all you get is the dessert portion. He said it's nice for a romantic evening with his girlfriend, but agrees that in general it's WAY overpriced for what it actually is.

quote:

Originally posted by felix4067

That said, a chef friend of mine said it's worth it if all you get is the dessert portion. He said it's nice for a romantic evening with his girlfriend, but agrees that in general it's WAY overpriced for what it actually is.

See, I guess I don't think it's overpriced. All fondue restaurants are about the same PPA, so either the entire market is overpriced or that's just what it is. I agree that it's expensive, but, to me, expensive and overpricd aren't the same.

Is it cheaper to do it at home? Obviously, there's the cost of the fondue pot and all, but are the restaurants worth the price vs. doing it at home (not considering the atmosphere, though, but you could make it romantic at home).

I've made romantic fondue meals at home several times, which is better, in part because of the cheaper cost, but also because the bedroom is MUCH closer .

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

I've made romantic fondue meals at home several times, which is better, in part because of the cheaper cost, but also because the bedroom is MUCH closer .

You eat fondue in your bedroom?

Michael, Xannie posted some good advice.

quote:

Originally posted by -Tricky-

See, I guess I don't think it's overpriced. All fondue restaurants are about the same PPA, so either the entire market is overpriced or that's just what it is. I agree that it's expensive, but, to me, expensive and overpricd aren't the same.

I would have to say the entire market is overpriced. How they get away with charging what they do for food you have to cook yourself is beyond me.

Felix- For the same reason they charge so much 'inside' a stadium or BallPark or in many cases an airport. The customers have their minds focused on something else (the primary reason they are present at that location). In the Fondue Case- Much like many Prom and Banquet prices the folks are diverted from the food to the anticipated 'rewards' of the evening.
I am not a fan of the 'fondue' market. (And have forgotten what the eventual reward is or was! )

Felix -

The restaurant put on a limited seating, reservation-only special promotional event combining a wine tasting with a specially prepared menu. We didn't do any of the cooking. This was not a sit down dinner, the different fondue courses served cocktail buffet style rotating each course in turn as appropriate to the wines that were being introduced and discussed. Everything was prepared when it was brought into the room, nothing was prepared at the serving tables. So no, it was not my fault the food was overcooked. Since I have never been to a fondue restaurant before, this was my first and only experience with how things are done at one. Perhaps, they do things differently for the regular customers and thus my view of the restaurant and its food is therefore not a true reflection of this particular restaurant's preparation and presentation skills. But it is my opinion, and the meats and vegetables which were cooked by the kitchen staff before being presented to us to eat were not of the quality I would have expected from this particular location of this establishment with its attendant reputation and price structure. Especially when the goal of the event was marketing and promotion of the restaurant.

HankNBugsy -

Well, that makes more sense! I'm guessing the kitchen staff at a fondue place doesn't actually have to have a clue how to cook anything, since for normal dining the entire meal is cooked by the customer. All they have to do is prep work!

@ Al -
Yeah, I guess so. It just seems silly to me to spend an average of $50-$70 per person and have to cook it yourself! For that, I want courses served by a guy in a tuxedo with a towel over his arm.

I'm old enough to remember when fondue was "the" party menu (a billion years ago, snap creak groan)and I'm betting that when I start cleaning out the kitchen cabinets in my mother's house next weekend I will probably find her old serving set (now an antique - like me) (*sigh emptying a packrat's house where nothing has been tossed out in 43 years)

I just expected more from this place, you know?

It will be my turn to select the food event or restaurant we try next month, any suggestions?

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

Michael, Xannie posted some good advice.

apparently, I'm not the only one who added a little inuendo in the discussion of fondue:

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The-Mayor-Bowen

In the Fondue Case...the folks are diverted from the food to the anticipated 'rewards' of the evening.

They have one here in San Antonio,but I really have no yen to go.
The chinese have something similar to fondue called a hot pot.
They add charcoal to this special pot with a chimmeny.Around this chimmeny is this pot to which hot broth is added.Sliced meats,seafood and vegetables of various kinds are dipped by dinners into the hot broth to cook them.At the end,broth is ladled into soup bowls and an egg is poached in the broth or the egg stirred around like in egg drop soup.There is also on in which chrysanthemum flower petals are dropped on top of the broth.If anyone here is chinese I'm sure you can explain it better.
You could also do this with a fondue pot,especially an electric one which would keep the broth hotter.

We have one in Knoxville, TN. I took a friend there sometime ago. I had to leave before I ordered. The oder of the oil was overpowering my olafactory senses. I could not handle it.

I have done fonue at home and I enjoyed it there.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

We just got one in Charlottesville...just for them to get their small sign approved was painful.

I ate at the one in Nashville years ago and liked it. That's probably because my date paid for it.

By the way, putting your fingers in fondue is a fon-don't.

I let my girlfriedn choose whatever restaurant she wanted for a special occasion and she chose The Melting Pot here in Pittsburgh. We had been here a few times before and enjoyed it, but this time not as much. Maybe the appeal of somthing new and different had worn off, but the only thing we liked was the dessert. We got the ying-yang, which was half white chocolate, half milk chocolate. So from now on, we decided we would eat dinner somewhere else and then go to TMP for a dessert fondue. It certainly would be much cheaper that way!

I don't see how they stay in business. I think they are a destination restaurant -- but only ONCE. After that, the cost is extremely off-putting, and what you get isn't really worth the price.

I was extremely pissed off that they wouldn't make an alcohol-free fondue for our appetizers (my then-boyfriend had a severe alcohol allergy). They said it couldn't be done. Hello. The first fancy meal I ever made in home-ec in junior high (yeah, I'm dating myself), made a fondue, and believe you me, you wouldn't be adding alcohol when you're only 12-13 years old. At least, not back in the early seventies.

quote:

Originally posted by Pwingsx

I was extremely pissed off that they wouldn't make an alcohol-free fondue for our appetizers (my then-boyfriend had a severe alcohol allergy). They said it couldn't be done.

They don't make ANY of their fondue mixes on-site, they come from Corporate in frozen bags. So for them, it actually IS impossible to make one alcohol-free, since they have no control over what's in them.

quote:

Originally posted by felix4067

quote:

Originally posted by Pwingsx

I was extremely pissed off that they wouldn't make an alcohol-free fondue for our appetizers (my then-boyfriend had a severe alcohol allergy). They said it couldn't be done.

They don't make ANY of their fondue mixes on-site, they come from Corporate in frozen bags. So for them, it actually IS impossible to make one alcohol-free, since they have no control over what's in them.

I don't think that's true. When we went they mixed up the cheese fondue right in front of us. We got two different kinds. In the swiss one kirsch was used and in the cheddar one he used beer. My guess is that since these are just servers mixing it up and not chefs that they do not know how to appropriately adjust the recipe to account for the lack of alcohol, so they just say that it cannot be done

The chocolate may come pre-mixed as I do not remeber them fixing that one at the table.

Yes, I remember them mixing it in front of us as well. But you know, there's plenty of people who don't drink in restaurants. You'd think they would have an alternative.

My wife and friend usually go just for the appetizers and dessert. That keeps the price down since they're just going for the dessert anyway.

Melting Pot is great but it is pricey. My boyfriend loves their mushroom salad and their garlic and wine seasoning. The Torino Hazelnut chcolate fondue and Quattro Formaggio cheese fondue (both seasonal specials) are excellent. I wish they lowered the prices, though.

We go every few years for the Cheese and Chocolate. I like it but it is way over priced