Melting Pot — Restaurant in Edmonton

Booked a reservation here for 7:00 pm to celebrate an anniversary. From what I remembered this was a mid - higher end place, we decided to dress up since it was a special night. Let’s start with it is no longer in the business casual category, there was everything from ball caps and ripped jeans to business. Got there and was not seated until 7:15 – although many people coming in after us got seated way before (not sure what that was). Got to our table and a waitress came over, she was very giggly and asked to take our drink order, when she said she didn’t have Corona, we asked what beers they had, she listed off a few so we picked one, only for her to laugh and say nope sorry don’t have it, this went back and forth a few times before we gave up and ordered a vodka. When she left we were both a little stunned as to her demeanor but laughed it off to a new waitress. When she returned with our drinks and started to explain the food menu, which made no sense, we asked how long she had been there (assuming she was new to this) only to find out she had been there a long time, so we laughed when she said oh I’m just tongue tied and not with it today. Our mistake, we assumed she would shake it off, We placed our food order, the 4 course meal, about 20 min later she came with the Cheese fondue, while adding the cheese to the pot she was stirring and laughing so hard the cheese was flying all over the table and heating element, my boyfriend and I just stared at each other and hoped it wasn’t going to land on us. She then left in a hurry, and when we tried to start we realized no utensils were left, took us about 10 min to flag someone down, when she came by another 15 min later, she dropped our salads on the table and laughed about the utensils, didn’t ask if we wanted another drink we had to get her to stop and take the order, 25 min later we still didn’t have drinks, all the dirty dishes and glasses were on the table, waitress was nowhere to be found. We decided to just quietly ask for our bill and leave, it was a disappointment, we had already been there over an hour (after being seated) and couldn’t get a drink or service. When we asked for the bill (from a whole other waitress) she obviously knew something was wrong and got the manager, sadly although the manager went through all the customer service training items, of “oh that’s terrible”, “oh that shouldn’t have happened”, and gave us a complimentary chocolate fondue (which is useless since we won’t be back) but there wasn’t an ounce of genuineness. It bothered me that we paid $70.00 for a cheese fondue, salad and two drinks but I was prepared for that but when the manager came off as condescending it took all my power to just walk away without a scene, I have to admit at that point my boyfriend got annoyed and made a comment about going to Wendy’s for better service, at which time the manager quipped back I hear the frosty’s are good there. I have to say I’m still a bit speechless about the whole experience however we went to Royal Pizza to actually get something to eat and had a great time with the best service…just comes to show price doesn’t always guarantee...

This evening, I treated myself to a solo dinner. The Melting Pot feels a lot like a place for couples on a special night out or maybe some friends celebrating a birthday. I overheard it all tonight; however, I was out to just dine solo. Called when they opened at 4pm and they had availability for 4:30pm. So I changed into a sweater dress, put on some nice heeled boots and off I went. Their location is easy to find and parking has never been an issue. The establishment was still decorated for Valentine's Day. I was seated quite quickly in the bar area and was the first table to be occupied. The server/bartender, Carter was a delight. He was friendly, able to give me suggestions and knew the menu very well. He was soo kind as to tell me that the menu for two can actually be for one, just ½ the cost. What a great idea and that was my selection. Decided on an Angry Orchid Cider and I went with the four course meal. I started off with their homemade mushroom soup. It was creamy, flavored nicely and the croutons softened in the bowl. Perfect way to start. Decided on the Fiesta Cheese Fondue next. Was given lots of bread, tomatoes, apples and broccoli for dipping. It was perfect to get back into the swing of fondue and I love that stringy cheese that follows your food. Felt like a kid and may have giggled a few times. For my main I pick their Land and Sea with their Mojo broth. This was also accompanied with mushroom caps, potatoes, broccoli and six dipping sauces. Ordered extra mushroom caps as they are my favorite. Small tip for any first timers or forgetful people, add your potatoes to the pot immediately. They need time to cook and soften. Also, put your meat on your fondue fork, place speared meat into the pot. That way you know where to find it later and not need the rescue spoon. This part of the meal was my favorite as you get to see what pairs best together. Try all the sauces as each one is delicious. During this portion of the meal I also ordered another cider. When it came time to pick my dessert I asked Carter what was his favorite. I had tried their Flaming Turtle but I wanted his opinion. He was partial to the Banana Foster which also caught my eye so it was decided. Another server brought it over. Added the liquor and set it ablaze. When he added the cinnamon, sparks went off and it was kidish fun right at my table. They offer, pound cake, blonde bars, brownies, pineapple, strawberries, bananas and marshmallows oh my as dippers! It was all so good. I asked for a piece each of the pound cake, brownie, banana and marshmallow to finish up what was in the pot and they well over served me four pieces of each. Knowing my limit I had a few then called it game over. My whole experience here tonight was exceptional. I spent just over 2½ hours enjoying my food, novel and drinks. I will be back for another solo evening as it was a perfect...

The melting pot may be surprised that I’m rating them 5 stars because of our experience tonight (LOL), but they were absolutely impecable and I 10/10 recommend this place for any local guide. I have social anxiety so when we were seated I immediately felt uncomfortable, we were in an area that was a bit noisey so my partner asked our hostess if we could be moved to somewhere a bit quieter, they moved us without issue and even asked my partner to come view the area we were moving to prior to us moving. The hostess was so sweet and stunning (she could literally be a model, girl, you need an agent 🤩) and so genuine when she told us not to worry about being moved because I kept apologizing because I was embarrassed. I’m likely on the spectrum and I enjoy going out but struggle with crowds, noise and people, so I felt wonderful with her grace. We ordered the deal for two, and our cheese fondue and veggies were spectacular! Literally, SOOOO GOOD, U G H. They replenished us without issue and another server even came around gushing over our baby and asked if they could make her a plate of fruits, which they did so. They even brought over a second plate of bananas for our little girl because she was loving them! The issue we had was with our mains, but not because of quality or quantity. Our oil didn’t get turned on unfortunately when it was placed on our table, which was partly my own fault, one of the bus boys and myself were joking and laughing and I distracted him unintentionally (literally, truly sorry my guy) so when my partner and I dipped our first meat entree, we realized the oil was cold because our food wasn’t cooking, and it was going to take some time for it to heat up, and then for our items to cook. I started spiraling because of my social anxiety and how late it was because it was going to take F O R E V E R which was also on me; we shouldn’t have had reservations later in the evening as first timers, but we were so unaware of what the night would look like. I asked our incredible server if we could pack up our stuff and they did without issue, then they included another order of chocolate covered strawberries free of charge, which I was already happy with, AND THEN, they comp’d our champagne and original order of chocolate covered strawberries which was completely shocking; they felt terrible for our experience which I had felt like was my own fault. I will be back here with my partner and children, and also alone with my partner because kiddos lol. But I have nothing but good things to say about this place! The service is the main thing I look for at places like this, then the quality of food. Everyone in Edmonton knows the food here is fresh (you’re literally dipping fresh veggies and cooking meat yourself lol, you’ve gotta’ be fresh for that) but the service is truly what will keep us coming back. We felt seen and...