The Melting Pot

Well A group of us went to the Melting Pot restaurant on Old Wake Forest RD. in Raleigh, N.C. I thought the atmosphere was great with the place packed and people enjoying their meals and spirits through out the restaurant and bar area. Our server was very helpful in choosing our meals and desserts. She was extremely knowledgeable in regards to the menu and how every thing works, since we were mostly first timers at The Melting Pot it was hard to immediately understand the ordering process and menu packages they offered. But our server was very helpful with that. OK the food, You should know that The Melting Pot is a franchised based fondue restaurant and that is all they serve. The starter items are the classic fondue gooey cheese melted in a pot with wine, garlic and a blend of herbs, basically you get a bowl of bread cubes a few long skewers and you dip them in a hot pot filled with melted cheese of your choice. The cheese fondue was great and everyone at the table had that this is SO good look pasted on their faces. But the main course really lacked presentation and flavor. What you got was a plate full of mixed raw meats and raw seafood along with a bowl of raw or blanched vegetable. You were then suppose to skewer your raw meat and dip it in a bubbling pot of basically chicken or beef stock with added herbs and wines for flavor, but it really looked like dirty water to be honest. Once the meat was dipped in the pot you needed to let it stay there and cook for a bit. When you took the skewered meat out of the pot it was shriveled and gray looking and not that tasty. My recommendation would be to save your money and skip the main course and just get the starters and the desserts. The desserts were great as they should be, being every ones favorite part of the meal. Who could pass up the chance to dunk mounds of fresh cut fruit in to a pot filled with melted chocolate with flavors that resemble the likes of bananas foster. it is a fun place to try once in a while and it is very different from your basic fast casual food chains that line the roads these days. We all would go back to the Melting Pot some day.