The Melting Pot - Novi, Michigan

First off I have to say that this place's prices make me cringe. I wanted to come here for the longest time but my cheap little heart just could not justify the expense. That being said, I really enjoyed my visit but will not soon return.

For my birthday my husband took me to the Melting Pot. Just so I would not go apoplexic at the prices he found a coupon in the Entertainment Book. The ten dollars off made a very tiny dint in the bill but enough that I did not suffer from tachycardia, merely some minor hyperventilation.

We decided since it was all fairly expensive we might as well go whole hog and get The Big Night Out, picking the Fondue Fusion variety as it had a very good selection of all types of meat and seafood. Negotiating selections for cheese, cooking style and dessert fondue was quite tricky with James. We are quite opposite in taste. Finally we agreed on a dessert fondue and he got to pick the cheese while I won the cooking style selection.

Our cheese selection was of course Cheddar Cheese fondue as it was James who picked. As cheese is his big thing I let him have it. It had a slight zing from the added beer and garlic. They served it with lovely hunks of bread, green apples and assorted veggies. We quickly learned the smaller dips rather than total immersion were the optimal choice for us.

We both chose the Caesar style salads with romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing, shredded Parmesan cheese, crisp croutons and Parmesan encrusted pine nuts. Very tasty indeed.

The cooking style I chose was Coq Au Vin with fresh herbs, mushrooms, garlic, spices and burgundy wine. It complimented everything but was especially good with the pork dish and the broccoli in my opinion. You cook various raw meats, seafood and veggies by total immersion in the boiling pot and need to time it to make sure it cooks fully. It sounds like work but is actually quite fun and romantic. We ended up feeding each other and exploring the array of tasty sauces. We were less impressed with the beef (which in truth we probably overcooked) and ravioli dishes but the shrimp, lobster, pork, chicken and veggies were quite nice.

Dinner is leisurely and staff is very helpful and friendly. The intimate booth helps with romantic privacy and we thoroughly enjoyed feeling like we were the only ones there on a busy Sweetest Day night. It gave us a chance to talk and really enjoy the food together. They have a lot of very tasty looking drinks and push wine a bit (I try not to look at the prices much less drink it) but resist as it is all quite spendy (9 dollars for the average menu drink). We were quite happy with water and pop.

The best part of the Melting Pot is the dessert fondue. We decided on the Flaming Turtle. Oh my goodness it was heaven on a stick. With items for dipping like strawberries, bananas, marshmallow, biscotti, cheesecake, pound cake and brownie to dip you will be utterly happy. They are rather skimpy on portions here which was sad but not enough to diminish the sweetness of the experience.

Bottom line it was enjoyable but definitely not affordable, at least in my bracket. Special occasions only.