This past Sunday was Mark’s and my 7^th anniversary. It’s crazy how fast time has flown since we said our vows, danced the night away, and nearly suffocated on wedding cake thanks to a photographer who was really awful at giving instructions. Good times!

Since we’re old folk who like to relax on Sunday evenings, we opted to celebrate by going to dinner on Saturday night.

I know fondue and The Melting Pot are nothing new, but our local restaurant didn’t open until last year—and I’ve been sitting on a gift card for more than twice that long.

So, fondue it was!

Since Mark noted it was our anniversary when making the reservation, we were nestled in a quiet corner of the restaurant and greeted with a signed card. Nice personal touch.

After chatting with our waiter about our options, we started out with some wine. I went with La Crema Chardonnay (I’m on a white wine kick lately after avoiding it for years) and Mark had the 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon.

We decided to share a 4-course entrée—and I’m glad we did. It was plenty of food for the both of us.

We chose the Alpine cheese fondue, which included Gruyere, Raclette, and fontina cheeses. It was definitely strong, but we do love our cheese so we handled it well.

I opted for the California salad with candied pecans, gorgonzola, tomatoes, and tangy raspberry-walnut vinaigrette; Mark chose the strawberry caprese topped with fresh strawberries, mozzarella, honey-roasted almonds, and a white balsamic dressing. Both were fresh and delicious.

We got a bit of everything with our “fondue delight” main course: filet mignon, Pacific white shrimp, lobster tail, chicken, wild mushroom sacchetti, and veggies (potato, broccoli, and mushrooms) with a variety of dipping sauces.

I’ll admit that the raw chicken was super sketchy, but we let it cook a bit longer than recommended and are still alive today. 🙂

For dessert, we chose the flaming turtle. It was quite decadent but a little too sweet for me with the caramel mixed in. I wish we’d gone with a simple dark chocolate, but it was fun dipping the strawberries and other treats in the pot.

I’m glad we finally experienced what The Melting Pot is all about, but I don’t think we’ll be in a hurry to return. The food was good, but I feel like once you’ve experienced the novelty of cooking and dipping your own food, then the quality is just ordinary. It was still pretty expensive despite our sharing an entrée, but we enjoyed ourselves and left satisfied. There are many other restaurants I’d love to try next, but I’d keep The Melting Pot on the radar for another special occasion.