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The Fondue Experience

To celebrate both Mike and Victoria's birthdays, Allan and I took them to The Melting Pot in Irvine to experience the joys of fondue. We had an 8:30 p.m. reservation but,luckily, we were seated by 8 p.m. M and V started off with a Good Times martini and a pina colada, respectively, while Allan and I sipped on soda and tea. We decided to go for the whole shebang and ordered two of "Two on the Town". That meant having one cheese course, a salad, a main course and dessert for each couple. So we started off with the cheese fondue, one swiss and the other a 3-cheese blend, that into we dipped apples, bread and raw veggies. Our waitress mixed the fondues at our table and both were a bit heavy on the alcohol (kir, sherry)that Allan and I started feeling flushed after a few bites and even Victoria said she was feeling weird. I couldn't handle much of it. Throughout the cheese and salad portions we were all at one point either extremely giddy or about to fall asleep. The Chef and California salads are worth a mention too because they were very good.

Once our main course arrived we had to put ourselves to work. We had two different "cooking styles". In one pot was canola oil for deep frying and in another was a broth called "Coq au vin" (with mushrooms, shallots)for boiling. We were given vegetables and various raw meats like filet mignon, cajun sirloin, chicken, shrimp, and even potstickers and an array of sauces to dip them in once they were cooked. Having to cook made for slow eating. We had to wait at the most two minutes for each little morsel to cook and we each had only two fondue forks to work with. It was all delicious though and our favorites were the shrimp and cajun sirloin.

By the time we reached dessert we had been at the restaurant for 2 1/2 hours! At first we weren't too excited about more food coming since we were full, not too mention that we were all getting antsy to leave. It was then that we started making slogans for the fondue experience and if I could've fallen to the floor laughing I would have. Fondue is fundue. Fondue it! Do the due! We were all laughing our heads off when our waitress came with the chocolate fondues but I could tell she was none too happy since it was approaching 11 p.m. We had the S'mores fondue and the divine Chocolate Turtle (mixed with caramel). This was the dessert plate and Victoria and I particularly enjoyed the strawberries dipped in the fondue. Yum!

If only someone could've carried me out of the restaurant. I was so full it was hard to walk. One thing that I'm glad about is that we finally got the chance to go out with our friends again and we really enjoyed their company. A piece of advice: if you ever decide to experience fondue for yourself, make sure you have a few hours to spare. So I shall end this with one final slogan...Fondue makes you fondoo. (Don't ask! :)