Melting Pot — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

Four of us had and amazing experience here for the 'Thursdate' 4 course menu!

Valentina was great, and answered all our questions. The menu is quite complicated, but luckily I'd done my research so I knew what we needed to decide on. (But they could make it clearer how it works and what choices need to be made as not everyone will study up on the menu before visiting like me!)

Our first course was the cheese fondue and we choose the 'Wisconsin Cheddar' option. I hadn't realised that they would literally make the cheese sauce live at the table, and it was not only entertaining, but Valentina told us every ingredient which was going in and asked if we wanted more or less of each of them which made everything feel very personal. It was served with small pieces of bread (pretzel and baguette) as well as some fruit and vegetables. The cheese sauce was really tasty!

The 2nd course was a choice of salad. We went for the 'Caesar' which was really nice. The coated pine nuts were amazing, although personally found them quite sweet for the salad (but that's my preference, and happily ate them separate from the salad)

The 3rd course was the meat extravaganza! You get a selection of different meats to cook and then choose a cooking method. We chose the 'Bourguignonne' which was hot oil and wet got a bowl of sesame tempura batter and panko breadcrumbs. Was great fun coating everything in the batter then breadcrumbs and cooking ourselves. The meat was all really good quality and the batter tasted really good. I found it quite stressful trying to enjoy eating the food whilst keeping an eye on the timers for the food being cooked, but that's all part of the experience! We also got a few potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms, but to be honest we didn't eat much of this as it's all about the meat, but nice to be given some extra veg.

The 4th course was the chocolate dessert. We chose the 'Flaming Turtle' (from the large list of available options) which was milk chocolate, caramel, flambéed and with candied pecans. This was flambéed live at the table which was great fun to watch. It was served with a variety of options to dip in the chocolate (brownie, blondie, marshmallows, Oreo dusted marshmallows, rice crispy cake, strawberry, banana, waffle and pound cake. The chocolate tasted amazing and the portion size was perfect, not too much and not too little (but still felt like a lot after all the previous courses!)

The whole meal/experience felt like a food themed escape room where you won by eating all the food! We spent 3.5 hours here in total and didn't feel rushed in any way at all. We asked for a break before our dessert course and we were told 'no problem just let us know when you're ready'

I highly highly recommend this place, and the 'Thursdate' option is a great value way of trying all their different fondue options.

We will definitely be back next time we're in Orlando and I can now see why they have so many...

My family and I came here for Dinner on a Wednesday around 6pm, no reservations, and were greeted pleasantly by a polite and professional manager and a nearly empty restaurant. They ask if you're celebrating anything. We weren't; and good thing too...the choice to come here would have ruined it.

Table staff was initially very polite, even charming and witty, as well as very professional.

Our issues started with the timing. I understand that this is a fondue, multi course restaurant...but how can you even expect to make money if every ordering step has 15 minutes inbetween, including the first one? It took far far too long to get a single drink and some clarifications so we could order. It was apparent that the restaurant was grossly understaffed, but you couldn't tell initially because of the layout...our expectations in this are were met over an additional grueling two hours of mostly just waiting for someone to come by. A quick glance at the reviews shows this is a long-standing problem here.

We ordered three drinks, two for me and one for my wife.

The first one I ordered was garbage...nearly alcholol free and flavorless, the "Love Martini' needed some. My wife opted for another martini, a more classic peach drink, and it was fine. My second attempt was ordering the 90 Minute IPA from Dogfish head. They brought a 60 minute and asked if that was fine, which I accepted; but if you know that beer: it wasn't fine. If I ask for a burger and you bring me two pieces of bacon with a markup, I'm going to be unhappy...the 60 minute isn't even on the menu...their just charging 9 dollars for a beer you can 6 of at 7-11 for the same price.

The cheese: Next time you see a Kraft American single, pick it up. Its doesn't call itself cheese...it's "processed cheese food", and that's a legal requirement in the US. Why? Because the process doesn't start with milk...it starts with oil and powered flavor and coloring. Heat the oil, add powered flavor and color: boom, 'processed cheese food'.

That's the exact same thing they do in front of you here at the Melting Pot, when you get a cheese bowl. Then they throw a handful of shredded cheese in it as if this magically transforms it into something awesome...but instead it just got chunky. It tasted like what it was - artificially flavored and colored chunky oil.

We also added the charcuterie board, but didn't get it until the 'cheese' had been on the table for 20 minutes.

The rest of the meal went along in the same fashion. The people here are trying their best, but the owners should be arrested for criminally bad food and abuse of hospitality staff through overwork and under support.

This is 2024 - bad restaurants are made by bad owners...the staff was lovely, but they can't fix this disaster.

DO...

My boyfriend and I made a reservation on a weekday(3/28/2024) at this restaurant, eager to experience the fondue. It took us 3 hours to receive all the food, and for the most part, we were quite hungry.

I asked the server why the food was coming out so slowly, especially since the restaurant didn't seem very busy. The server explained that all the dishes were made to order; each raw, uncooked dish was meticulously prepared by the chef to showcase the 'quality' of the restaurant. Hence, the longer wait.

We ordered the 'Big Night Out Fondue' for two people, which included the cheese melting pot (essentially dipping raw vegetables into the cheese), the raw meat pot (cooking raw meat in the pot), and the chocolate pot (dipping dessert items into chocolate).

Firstly, considering we made a reservation, the kitchen should have prepared the necessary quantity of food based on the reservations and their experience. Waiting 3 hours for all the food is clearly not appropriate.

Secondly, the server was aware of our extended wait and attempted to sell us on the 'quality' and 'meticulously prepared' food. Frankly, it felt like an unnecessary intellectual sales pitch to justify the delay. Most of the dishes appeared to require minimal preparation, as they were raw and seemingly pre-made. I fail to see why it took three hours to receive them all.

Thirdly, the food itself was lacking in quality and freshness. It didn't taste exceptional; certainly not better than a typical Chinese hot pot. We ended up paying $200 for two people, which felt like a steep price for what we received. It seems this restaurant wants to create an illusion of being high-end and worth the cost, but they've missed the mark on two crucial fronts: FOOD QUALITY and HONESTY with their customers.

In conclusion, I cannot recommend this restaurant. They fall short on basic food quality, and their belief that high prices equate to quality is simply not true. They seem more focused on appearance rather than substance.

To the owner:

Please refrain from suggesting I contact your management team for feedback. While I understand it's a professional response, it comes off as insincere. We have shared our feedback with the manager, 'Codi'. I suggest you reach out to her to discuss and improve...