Restaurant Review: The Melting Pot

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We went to The Melting Pot restaurant in Ann Arbor on Sunday. It was a unique experience, so I thought I would give a complete review, just like the nice lady sometimes does in the newspaper.

The Melting Pot is a chain, but this was different from many of the chain restaurants we've seen. It had a nice bar with a nice countertop on it - not a typical wood bar top, but marble-like and very sleek. There were no moose heads or street signs or sports jerseys hung on the walls. The kids were not given crayons or kids' menus. For sure this was going to cost a lot of money.

The theme of the restaurant is not immigrants and the ethnic make-up of America, but fondue. If you're not familiar with fondue, it was popular in the 70's in the U.S., and it involves warm pots of liquid cheese/oil/chocolate/etc. into which you dip various morsels of food. It was invented by the Swiss, who for some reason had trouble just putting the cheese on top of the bread and eating it like the rest of us. For main courses, you fry meat or veggies in oil, dip them in sauces, and then use the hot treat to burn the roof of your mouth. For deserts, you dip fruit and other sweets into chocolate. For appetizers, aka the "cheese course", you dip bread and veggies into cheese, then stuff them into your cake hole until you feel your heart slowing.

We were seated in an oversized booth that seats as many as eight - there was a group of seven a few booths down from us, and they did look a little cramped, but they laughed a lot so either they were comfortable or tipsy. On the table were two ceramic burners, like chunks of a smooth-top stove. The burners were controlled by switches under the table that the server could reach, and he turned them up and down based on where we were in the meal. At no time did the server offer to let me adjust the burners (I have a college degree!), which I mentioned to the manager later during our visit.

There are different courses - cheese, entrée, and dessert. We decided to have cheese and dessert courses. There were about eight combinations available for those courses, each with its own blend of different kinds of cheese or chocolate. We had a cheddar cheese bowl (with a beer base to keep it liquidy) and a swiss cheese-based blend that was a little milder and had wine mixed in. For dessert, we had a peanut butter and chocolate bowl, and a bowl with chocolate and caramel, topped with pecans. We had a little cheesecake, some Rice Krispy Treats, and fruit to dip into the chocolate. If you hear anyone say I licked the bowl and burned my tongue, don't believe them unless they can show you photographic evidence. I will admit trying to scrape the hardened cheese off the side of the bowl, though. No shame in wanting to get your money's worth.

The server introduced each component of each dipping bowl as he mixed the courses together ("This is the beer base!" "This is cheddar cheese!" "This is a fork!", etc.). This helped us to know what we were going to be exercising to burn off later in the day. The server was prompt and courteous, and had no problem giving our table a senior citizen discount - I think he was lobbying for a big tip.

As far as the rest of the restaurant, the lighting was very dark and fashionable, and we could see through a glass wall to a large wine rack with a hundred different kinds of wines. The bathrooms were almost fancier than the eating area; the next time we go there I would consider having our food delivered directly to the men's room. We also discovered that M, K, and I were the only male patrons in the restaurant - apparently this is a "chick" restaurant. Duly noted. Also noted was the time it took for us to consume the two courses - almost two hours. We were warned that this was not a place to go if we were in a hurry to be somewhere. If we had ordered an entrée course, I believe they would have brought out portable cots for us to use.

Was it kid-friendly? Yes, in the sense that my kids like to eat food smothered in cheese and chocolate. No, in the sense that there were no table-side magicians or TVs with Spongebob Squarepants.

As we were leaving, I asked for a Carry Out menu, resulting in a very strange look from the hostess, and an unnecessary apology from my wife. (I could heat the cheese up at home, I have a microwave. It's not like you have to win Iron Chef to melt cheese and beer in a bowl.)

Overall, we were pleased with our experience there, and while we may not be going back real soon, we will keep it in mind for our next fondue-related outing.

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