Melting Pot- Boston

Monday night. 6 pm. We walk into the Back Bay Melting Pot and the place is dead. There was no one to greet us at the front desk so we wandered further into the restaurant where we came upon some attitudinal waitstaff that rudely directed us towards the front of the house. Finally, we were seated and our waitress for the night was actually quite nice, thank goodness. It's funny to point out that when I made the reservation, the website asked if I wanted to purchase roses or chocolates for my dinner date as this place is supposedly one of the more "romantic" places (though I beg to differ) to dine at in Boston. We did the four course meal and the two of us girls had to practically be rolled out of the restaurant given the size of our round tummies after dinner.

Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue

I would highly recommend this artichoke dip for your starter. They added quite a bit of garlic to the cheesy concoction which was absolutely savory. It comes with plenty of bread, chips, veggies and apple for dipping. And if you run out of dippers (most likely, you won't), they're happy to refill it for you. The cheese itself was great, not overly salty and perfectly melted.

California Salad

This is your run of the mill salad consisting of mixed greens, tomatoes and crumbled Gorgonzola sprinkled on top. What I really enjoyed was the raspberry black walnut vinaigrette. It tends on the sweeter side of most dressings but the vinaigrette was definitely the star of this dish. The Gorgonzola keeps the sweetness in check by adding that sharp, salty component.

Coq au Vin Broth (I apologize for these less than appetizing photos)
For the entree, we made the sad mistake of electing the wine broth. To the base broth (which I'm guessing is some chicken or beef stock), they added some chopped herbs, mushroom, garlic and red wine. As my dinner date pointed out, the broth smelled like the packet of powdered spice you find in instant noodle kits (and don't get me wrong, I love ramen but in this context, this comparison is not a compliment). The wine was far too strong and the vegetables that we threw into the pot soaked up an unwanted amount of the alcoholic taste. I would not recommend this selection for your broth.

Land and Sea Combo- Ratatouille-Stuffed Raviolis, Beef Tenderloin, Chicken Breast, Shrimp
As for the accompaniments, the chunks of beef were seasoned with way too much pepper. Even after taking a hot bath in the broth, the beef was still encrusted with pepper. My favorite was the ravioli, which was savory and creamy. The meats also came with a side of potatoes, mushrooms and broccoli. Following our waitress's suggestion for making a stuffed mushroom cap,  we cooked the mushrooms in the broth and then filled it with a heaping of the "Green Goddess" sauce (a blend of cream cheese, sour cream, onion and chives).

Chocolate S'mores Fondue

Milk chocolate, melted marshmallow, bits of graham cracker

Dippers- Cheesecake, Pound Cake, Brownie Bite, Coated Marshmallows, Rice Krispies Treat
Now for my favorite part of the entire meal and probably the primary reason why I revisited the Melting Pot, dessert!! The waitress flambeed the fondue table-side, which I think is more for show than anything else. The chocolate was so good!! It's the perfect amount of smooth, creamy chocolate. What a yummy end to a huge meal.

Overall, the meal had its share of high points along with some horrible lows. I would love to return again for the cheese fondue as well as the chocolate fondue but outside of that, I couldn't imagine why I would ever go back for an average salad and an even less-than-average entree.

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