Melting Pot — Restaurant in Schaumburg Township

I really enjoyed my Sunday afternoon here just leisurely taking my time and relishing my sampling of cheese fondue, a delicious charcuterie board and extremely delicious chocolate peanut butter crunch fondue for dessert. I've never been to The Melting Pot before so I definitely wasn't disappointed. I like the fact that your server will prepare your cheese fondue for you directly in front of you so the experience is likened to a professional cooking show where you learn how fondue is prepared. It's cozy to sit down in a booth in front of a steaming pot with bubbling fondue and taking your time dipping your breads and vegetables directly into your own personal fondue pot. My server Jake had a genuine enthusiasm and knowledge about preparing all the ingredients and he was happy to allow me to film him preparing everything so beautifully on video so I could share it on Instagram. After the garlic cheese fondue I wanted to try the charcuterie board which came with three varieties of thinly sliced meats, brown mustard, jam, toast points, olives, tiny red peppers and tiny cute pickles . It's a delicate accompaniment with any cheese fondue you order so I highly recommend. Now after I finished my charcuterie Jake advised me he had given me a double portion of cheese fondue because he personally felt the single portion that I requested wouldn't be a large enough portion for me as an entree. In all fairness the cheese fondue was delicious but it was large and I was even offered additional cubes of vegetables and or bread before I polished it off. My original intention was to have two separate tastes of TINY portions of different fondue and to stay within a specific calorie intake and budget. Due to the fact that my portion was doubled I decided against ordering another cheese fondue and tried the charcuterie instead. My dessert was positively delicious and came with crunchy peanut butter which tasted like a peanut butter cup. The chocolate fondue was generously portioned and comes with cut up fruits, pound cake, rice crispy treats, tiny waffles and chocolate chip cakes. I had so much chocolate sauce leftover that I needed extra cakes and fruit which I polished off with great joy. I wish to add that everyone here was incredibly friendly and worked great as a team. The manager Scott even came directly to the diner's tables to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves. I explained to Scott that I had definitely requested a SINGLE portion of fondue not a double portion that I ended up receiving and he immediately offered to take the double portion off my bill without hesitation; but I decided I'd rather use the two free fondue coupons to make up for this mistake towards a future dining experience. I really loved being here today and you are never hurried here; instead you are offered additional fruits, breads or vegetables to finish your fondue in style. If you intend to dine here solo like me and you know specifically how large or tiny a portion of fondue you desire make sure you communicate clearly with your server so your bill matches your initial request. I'll definitely return in the near future and I loved the cozy and...

Our groupon came with salad. Craig ordered his and asked for no iceberg and they were happy to do that. I ordered the one with all mixed greens and it came with just spinach. That's just fine by me - it was baby spinach and it was so tender and delicious. At the end I even dipped my finger in the leftover dressing because it was so good.

The groupon included 3 choices of one section of entrees. I had shrimp, salmon fillet and Tuna. Craig had Tuna, Pork and Fillet Mignon. I got to taste his pork and he had some of my shrimp and salmon. Lots of food here!! We also got the Mojo cooking sauce. This was another hiccup - for some reason this was a special order and we weren't informed. But, it was REALLY good and it was only 5 bucks extra so we just kind of laughed it off. You know - when your food is amazing and you are totally relaxed because of the atmosphere, little things are okay. Veggies are included - broccoli, mushroom, potatoes.

So, the dipping sauces were delicious. I loved the yogurt and curry the best. The herbed butter was really great with the potatoes and the pork and fillet mignon. They also had a plum sauce, a teriyaki, horseradish cocktail sauce and something else that was good but I don't know what it was. We didn't get any cheese to dip in.

We used our phone to time the cooking. I think they should provide a way to time your cooking because the meat is 2 minutes and the seafood is 1.5 minutes and the veggies are 6 minutes. In this day, everyone has a smart phone - wait, not my mom or my sister!! So, they need a timer. Maybe if we had asked.... But we were fine.

SO much food!!! I was SOOOO full when I finished my food! And it was really really healthy!! No starches except a few potatoes. We both really enjoyed it.

I have a suggestion that they use induction cooktop so that the cooktop doesn't get so hot. Then the booth won't get so hot either. Just me being an interior designer who knows that stuff. And it is recent technology. So maybe in a year or two....

We ordered dessert which was not on the menu. We got crunchy peanut butter mixed in chocolate. My favorite was the marshmallow rolled in oreo and dipped in the chocolate. YUM! They also had brownie, blond brownie, banana (yummy!), pineapple, strawberry, pound cake and rice krispy treats. All very good and we had leftover chocolate so plenty. Oh yea - we didn't think about it but the dessert was 10 bucks per person. OUCH.

On our way out, the owner asked us if we were happy. Yes. Delicious!! And then we left to go watch the Cubs lose the 3rd Playoff game against the Giants. I got to bed at 2:48 am. Thankfully, my stomach had enough time to digest the food before I went to bed.

Go. Relax. Enjoy. This place was really good! The food was fabulous. Courtney was really great and fast. The bartender and owner were very attentive. Definitely worth your time and calories!

Oh and they just redid the bar area. It looks really nice. They are putting in a TV. Yuck. But I'm probably the only person who cares about that. Interior...

I had booked a table for 3 on NYE. They had a experience menu (5 course prix fixe), and I had ordered the champagne package as an extra. The trouble started right after we were seated. Our server came and greeted us with how tired she was, and could we make our choices quick. We tried being cheerful with her, but it seemed to make her more grumpy. Never mind, we waited for our sodas to appear, since we assumed that the restaurant would know about the champagne package in our reservation. The sodas came out after 30 minutes. Once we asked our server about the champagne, she appeared confused, and went to inquire what it was. Then she comes out with the champagne and places it right beside the stove. I asked her to take it away for now and bring it out close to 12 AM. Big mistake. It has been almost an hour by now, and then the food comes out — all 3 courses at the same time. The restaurant has 3 tables occupied, and this happens. The cherry on the top was the cheese fondue. They brought out enough dippers for two (I could compare the amount with another table next to us, which also had 3 guests). The amount of fondue cheese was so little that we were literally scraping the bottom of the pot. I finally got hold of the manager and showed her what was happening. She seemed surprised and offered to redo that course, with a fresh pot of cheese. I also asked for a change of servers. By this time it was 12, and my champagne was nowhere in sight. I had to ask the manager again. Surprise, our previous server had handed over our champagne to the next table. Anyways, our new server got another champagne bottle out to our table, and carded all of us. The main entrees came out in the right amount, but I could see that the server was getting impatient — she even informed us that we were keeping her from going home. I suppose the manager had left for the day. Then the worst thing happens. When clearing the table after the entrees, the first server comes to our table and breaks a wine glass all over my daughter, and asks her to pick up the broken glass. At this point, we just wanted to get out of there, but our server informed us that they would not pack the dessert to go The dessert, again, was the quantity for 2, not 3. At this point, I had just accepted that this wasn't going to be my day. Surprise, our server told me just that — this isn't going to be your day, is it? Her exact words. I wonder: why do a NYE Experience Special and accept reservations late into the night when your servers are unwilling to do it? And second, I did notice the difference in behavior at my table and the others, which had people of the...