The Melting Pot in Irvine. Ever been?

[jamesaru]

Hi Everyone!

Noob here! Anywho, I just wanted to see if any of you have been to The Melting Pot in Irvine (or any of the other locations). We'll be going there with a group of friends for a pre Valentine's day dinner. Any recommendations or things to avoid (particularly when it comes to the type of cooking liquid)?

I've searched around and found reviews but they seem pretty mixed. I'm still going to go in there with an open mind though and not let those bad reviews ruin it!

I think I'm mostly looking forward to the chocolate fondue. Mmmmmmm........drool.

"Cookies ‘n Cream Marshmallow Dream

Dark chocolate topped with marshmallow cream, flambéed to

toast the marshmallow, swirled together and garnished with

crushed Oreo cookies."

Thanks!

-james

p.s. If you're interested you can see a menu HERE. (It's a PDF File)

Edited February 11, 2004 by jamesaru (log)

[jschyun]

Hi jamesaru! Welcome to egullet and glad to see another Irvine person.

Haven't been to Melting Pot though. Sorry. Not my thing right now.

[jamesaru]

Thanks for the welcome!

And I actually live in a Orange, but close enough!

After we go to The Melting Pot I'll report back in case anybody is interested.

[Rachel Perlow]

Here's a discussion about fondu and The Melting Pot, from the NJ forum. I've only been to one in Florida, about four years ago. While not the most amazing culinary experience in the world, it is a great social experience. Go and have fun, and if you go with a larger group you get to have more of a variety of cooking liquids and ingredient choices.

[Chris Cognac]

I have had a few friends go and they liked it. I plan on going soon to check it out.

[jamesaru]

Hi Everyone,

So we went to The Melting Pot this past Friday and here's a little write up in case you're interested.

The Mood:

We were a group of 8 and had reservations for 8:30pm. We were seated right when we got there. I'm not sure how crowded it normally is but on the Friday before V-day it was very crowded. I'd definitley suggest you make reservations if you decide to head on over. Anyway, once inside, the restaurant was pretty nice but quite loud. The decor was fairly dark and the lights were dim.

The Food:

There were 8 of us around our table and we all shared two fondue pots. We all ordered "specials for two" which came with a salad, a cheese course, a meat course, and chocolate fondu.

I had the mushroom salad. Basically, it's just bagged lettuce with a massive amount of mushrooms on top and some sort of Italian dressing. The mushrooms were nice and fresh but the rest of the salad was of the average bag salad variety.

For our first course we chose a spinach/artichoke and a fiesta cheese mix. The fiesta mix had cheddar, jalapeno, salsa, and some other things I don't remember. With the cheese we received little trays of bread cubes, apples, and veggies. Those trays are all refillable but the cheese isn't. Also, they prepare these at the table so you get to see them throw all the ingredients in and mix it al up. We were all so hungry that we devoured the cheese in about 5 minutes. All I remember from the first few minutes were a bunch of sharp metal sticks flailing about and many things getting poked and cheese soaked.

Next came the meat. My fiance and I chose one of the V-day specials that consisted of teriyaki steak, center cut filet mignon, tuna, chicken, and pork potstickers. We also decided on the Coq Au Vin (mushrooms, garlic, wine) and Mojo Fondue (citrus garlic) cooking liquids. They also prepare these at the table so you can see them throwing in fresh mushrooms, herbs, a squeeze of orange, etc. We had alot of fun cooking the meat but the pots got a little overcrowded with skewers. Many times I couldn't retrieve my meaty morsel because there were 10 other sticks over/under it. In the end we didn't finish all of our meat because we were just too full. We also received refillable trays of fresh veggies (potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, asparagus) which they suggest you just dump right into the pot. The mushrooms after they had soaked in the wine broth were my favorite. One other thing to mention is that they served about 8 different dipping sauces with the meal. These were things like teriyaki, a curry sauce, creamy horseradish, etc. They were nice for a little flavor but not too extraordinary. Now, on to the chocolate.

For dessert we chose the Amaretto Meltdown (white chocolate and amaretto liqueur) and the Chocolate S'mores (milk chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker). Both were flambeed right in front of us which was pretty cool and it brought out the Beavis and Butthead in me. For dipping we received graham crackers, strawberries, pineapple chunks, cheescake, pound cake squares, brownie squares, and bananas.

The Lowdown:

As Rachel mentioned in an earlier post this is not the most amazing culinary experience but it is a great social experience. We all had alot of fun and it gives you plenty of time to shoot the breeze without feeling rushed. Another plus is that since you eat slowly your stomach actually has time to tell your brain that you're full so you don't need to eat as much. I, however, have mastered the art of turning this reaction off so I can continue to eat.

Another thing is that if you decide to bring a group here make sure you bring patient people. If you don't then someone will be leaving with some stab wounds. In total we were in the restaurant for about 3 1/2 hours.

Cheese, meat, chocolate, and fire. What more could you want?

-james

[jamesaru]

Also, if you're interested, the total tab for the 8 of us was about $450. I believe that includes an 18% gratuity that they tacked on since we were a group of 5 or more! So the $450 includes the food, a couple of high priced "specialty" drinks, and tip.

-james

[Rachel Perlow]

Thanks for the great post, I like your very visual descriptions.

[Chris Cognac]

OK, so I have to decide between the melting pot and the new Kobe Japanese steak house in Seal Beach for my birthday dinner this friday....which one should it be...just me and the wife!

[ludja]

OK, so I have to decide between the melting pot and the new Kobe Japanese steak house in Seal Beach for my birthday dinner this friday....which one should it be...just me and the wife!

Whichever it is (and Happy Birthday in advance) be sure to post on the new thread for sharing b-day dinners...

Birthday Eating

[sml311]

For dessert we chose the Amaretto Meltdown (white chocolate and amaretto liqueur) and the Chocolate S'mores (milk chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker). Both were flambeed right in front of us which was pretty cool and it brought out the Beavis and Butthead in me. For dipping we received graham crackers, strawberries, pineapple chunks, cheescake, pound cake squares, brownie squares, and bananas.

Fire...heh heh...Fire!

Wish this site had sound as I do a pretty fair B & B impression!

BTW-Immediately what goes through my head in that situation too...esp after a few drinks!

SML