Melting Pot — Restaurant in Downers Grove

Consider this post to be both a concerted review and quick tips guide to successful fondue ventures based on personal experience via: The Melting Pot.

Quick tips for a successful fondue venture:

cheese/chocolate fondues The veggies grant one a most delightful crunch with cheese fondant; don't shy away due to the presence of bread

Wait 1-2 minutes after cheese is initially stirred into base before dipping selected edible: this allows cheese time to thicken for a more tantalizing application

Order the dippers; well worth $5 upcharge (array of toppings that add zest and a bit of fun to the cheese)

Chocolate based fondues harden quite rapidly- ensure edible is fastened onto skewer before dipping to avoid "losing" anything in the pot

Entreé fondues Alternate between entreé servings by using multiple skewers at one time once breading (and, if you're into it, crumb flakes)  coated onto fondant

Unless you're feeling particularly adventurous,  try to adhere to the recommended cooking times for ultimate satisfaction

Partially lift and rotate skewers intermittently; settling of edible may result in sticking to bottom/ side of pot (you will most likely lose breading, or it may shed altogether)

Coat breading evenly by pushing edible towards middle/ upper fork portion of skewer prior to dipping

Try the Melting Pot exclusive garlic and wine seasoning over edible or breading for additional burst of flavor (application prior to cooking yields tastiest results)

After applying crumb flakes (which settle nicely into pre-cooked breading topping) to edible, keep skewer close to surface (edible partially submerged and rotating) for 10-20 seconds (this allows breading and flakes to solidify a bit before propper settling of the skewer in pot)

Concerted review:

Incredibly serene atmosphere; intimacy of experience heightened by booth privacy, warm lighting and minimalist mod decor; altogether makes for a most serene environment. Highly impressed with quality of ingredients, pace of experience (tastefully moderated by exemplary, most knowledgable table attendant), price (prepare your budget for +$40/ person prior to making a reservation), variability of menu (allowing for both full-meal, multiple course dining as well as lighter options), and most surprisingly; kid-friendliness (+5 points for versatility).

Thank you, Melting Pot, for a most cozy evening; what a lovely dining experience.

See...

We would have given 4 stars for overall experience (good service and good food) except for two things. The biggest issue is that a group of three older adults harassed us throughout our meal. We were by ourselves within a little out-of-the-way section with our 1 year old already in the middle of enjoying our meal. These people specifically asked for a booth in our section (they could have sat anywhere in this large restaurant as it was before 6 pm and quite empty) and proceeded to then start saying things like "shut up", "oh my god stop", and "We're just trying to enjoy a nice meal out" in loud voices intended for us to hear. Our baby wasn't even crying or anything... she was just making normal amounts of noise for a baby.

After the meal we discretely tried to alert our server that we felt like the table near us made for a very hostile meal experience for us and we didn't get to enjoy the rest of our meal. He brought out a manager who proceeded to tell us, "I'm sorry about that and sorry that I can't do more." She didn't do anything at all and didn't even try or offer a single suggestion. So we just dropped a nice chunk of change at this restaurant and the manager could not think of one single thing that could help us not have such a bad experience...right... Management at this restaurant seems to think they don't need to do anything to protect their customers from their other customers or remedy harassment situations.

The other issue, which wasn't as big of a deal, is that when we arrived there was no one at the host stand for a few minutes. We started trying to look for some employee somewhere to help us when the hostess breezed in the door from outside smelling like about 10 packs of cigarettes and hastily seated us. Again, not the biggest deal, but it definitely is not a good or professional first impression.

Our server was great (the harassment never happened when he was around) and the food was good. But being harassed during our meal made for a horrible dining experience and talking to management...

TLDR: Expensive dinner, come on an empty stomach. 5/5 experience, 6/5 service, 5/5 food. Recommends others to try, will be back to try more.

Good experience, we came here as a party of 14 and had a great time. It was a little slow to start but maybe that was because we were all very hungry. But once it started it didn't stop. Most of us did the 4 course meal that included picking a cheese fondue, salad, entree, and chocolate fondue. Be warned it is pricy, but would be back to try more.

Service: Would give 6/5 stars. It was excellent. The staff was very attentive and helpful. The main waiter at our table was very friendly. We tossed jokes around and he gave us great service.

Food: Holy cow there was a lot. First off we had the Classic Alpine cheese fondue, served with veggies, bread, and apples. They don't bring a lot out right away, but don't be fooled you can keep asking for your favorite dipping item when it runs low or out until the cheese is gone! The next menu item I experienced was their caeser salad, with the parmesan-dusted pine nuts. Those pin nuts packed a lot of flavor and added to the salads taste. After salad was finished up we moved on to the entrees in which we had to choose a cooking style. Our table tried the Mojo. Which worked out very well with the side veggies of potato, broccoli and mushrooms. For the main dish I got the Pacific Rim. Included was teriyaki marinated sirloin, honey orange duck breast, shrimp, and chicken dumplings. All of which were phenomenal, however I personally was not a fan of the duck's marinade. During this course you could also ask for more veggies for the table. And to finish off the night we got the chocolate s'mores fondue, which came with a variety of dessert assortment. By that time you should be stuffed and barely have room for dessert, however as we all know there is ALWAYS room for dessert.

All in all, no one left hungry. I would recommend to others but make sure you give yourself a decent sized budget for it. I will be back to try...