The Melting Pot (La Jolla)

Cheese fondue? Chocolate fondue? Sounds interesting but it's never struck me as something I 'must do'... Cue the entrance of The Melting Pot gift certificate. It was finally time to see what the fuss was about.

The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

The Melting Pot is a national chain with a location in the UTC area, sharing a hotel plaza with a few other fine-dining establishments (Flemings, Trulucks, Cafe Japengo). You can valet directly in front of the restaurant or self park in the hotel parking lot down the hill. The restaurant will validate your parking stub for 3-hours. Self parking is somewhat of a mini-journey though, at least for your first time. Your choices are 1) finding your way to the parking entrance, then traversing the steep hill, or 2) take elevator to ground level, walk past a pool, into the hotel, up the grand staircase and out the hotel entrance to cross the plaza. I've done both. Do whichever you fancy!

The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

The restaurant is always packed so there's usually a wait if you don't have a reservation. Outdoor seating seemed to be quicker for this visit, but it still took 30+ minutes.

Each table has one stovetop, or two for the larger tables, so generally the group must select the same cheese, broth, and chocolate bases. You can increment the serving size (set cost per serving) but it's not required. We decided to go for the 4-course meal to get the whole experience. You get to select each course as well as the cooking style from the menu.

top shelf fiesta cheese fondue at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

The first course of cheese is made tableside. I really enjoyed watching as it progressed. Waiter would state what he was doing - I'm adding in the sauce now. Add a sprinkling of cheese here. Top with some herbs and spices.

We enjoyed our choice of the Fiesta cheese mix. Fearing the burn, I only let him add one jalapeno to the pot! Lucky for me it wasn't spicy. We dipped the apples, carrots, and chips into the pan. My only complaint was the cheese wasn't hot despite being melted down.

strawberry caprese salad at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

The next course was our chosen side salad, the Strawberry Caprese, brought out a few minutes later. This beauty was enticingly plated, with large round mozza slices and beautiful thick slices of strawberry, drizzled with a sweet balsamic glaze dressing. Marvelous course on fresh greens! Loved it.

mojo cooking style at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

For the entrees, they removed the pot of cheese and brought out a special metal holder contraption (keeps some of the heat during transfer) and placed the pot without the double boiler insert. Our chosen cooking style was called Mojo. We sampled this broth as it was heating up... cajon spice was detected and it was mildly flavored.

entrees at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

The entree platters came out a few minutes later when the broth was boiling and ready. Waiter dropped in some broccoli, potato, and mushrooms into the steamy pot.

dipping sauces at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

Here's the dips that came with our meal. Starting from top row left, we have the teriyaki, curry (mild yogurt based), ginger plum, and the bottom row left, the green goddess (chives, etc), gorgonzala, and a shrimp cocktail sauce. Be forewarned that there is a LOT of horseradish (or similar) in that shrimp cocktail! I made the mistake of dipping a shrimp in there and losing said shrimp a few seconds later!

pacific rim set at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

Our entree was the Pacific Rim sampler, with approximately 4 meats per item except for the shrimp, which had 3. The duck cooks for approximately 2 minutes and turned out to be super soft after cooking. For the steak, 45 seconds would give you medium rare. The shrimps cook for about 1.5 minutes as do the dumplings with the yummy pork filling. These were all pretty decent but definitely a small portion!

memphis style bbq pork medallion at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

Dennis added an additional platter, the Memphis-Style BBQ Pork Medallions, to beef up our meal. The waiter told us to cook each for approximately 2 minutes. All these cooking times reminded me of Gyu-Kaku guidance for grilling meats. I was afraid all that seasoning would be lost but turns out that some of it stuck on after cooking so we had lightly flavored pork, with the influence of the broth.

flaming turtle chocolate fondue at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

We were brought out a dessert menu and chose the flaming turtle chocolate fondue. To start, the waiter added some alcohol to the chocolate and lit it on fire! The flames didn't last too long but the waiter was stirring the pot while it was still burning.

We asked a waitress what all the side items were and she mentioned there were two of each except for the two marshmellows and mini dessert bites. She joked to not fight over those ones and we picked up our skewers to mock fight. A few minutes later, she came back and had brought out an extra of the 'single' dessert places, basically winking at us to 'get along'!

chocolate fondue sides at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

Out of all of these, the BLONDIE was our favorite dessert! A little bit of nut added a nice bite to this mini snack and a chocolate lining only made it better! The brownie bite was not too bad either though it's a super chocolate feast compared to the others. Dennis and I didn't really care for the two coated marshmellows (darkest item and toast-colored one above it). They seemed too sweet and we're used to ooey gooey smore-type marshmellows. Of course the pineapple and strawberries paired perfect with chocolate. The spongy yellow cake also seemed decent once dipped.

flaming turtle chocolate fondue at The Melting Pot of San Diego - La Jolla

A note of caution is that the chocolate is REALLY HOT, nothing like the cheese from the first course. I began dipping, then cooling off before consuming each piece for this course!

After this experience, I can see why patrons typically sit around for two hours at a time. There's a lot of waiting time... the appearance of the waiter, figuring out the menu (at least for newbies), for each course's pot to heat up, munching at your own pace, etc. The experience itself is quite fun throughout, the way they instruct you through the process and just experiencing the fondue itself. The portions aren't that big so cost-wise, it can add up quick. Still, I think fondue is something you should try at least once in your lifetime. Take advantage of their promos, such as the upcoming $30 menu for san diego restaurant week.

The Melting Pot of San Diego (La Jolla)
8980 University Center Ln
San Diego CA 92122
(858) 638-1700

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Comments

J.S. @ Sun Diego Eats's picture
Submitted by J.S. @ Sun Dieg... (not verified) on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 7:49pm

My roommate used to be a hostess at this Melting Pot. Once I went to eat with her there and we got half off but tons of extra sides too. I think it took at least 3 hours but we were so full I thought I was going to die. Haha.

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 12:44pm

nice! we were still a little hungry but didn't want to spend more for the small entrees.

Soo H.'s picture
Submitted by Soo H. (not verified) on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 9:02am

That was a wise waitress. She wouldn't get a tip if security had to escort you out for fighting over that one last treat. Thanks for the parking tip! I usually go in the day when you can self park right under the restaurant.

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 12:47pm

those skewers can be dangerous! i don't know about this parking under the restaurant. isn't that where the valet takes your cars? i'll have to ask about it next time. i think my next visit will be flemings for their happy hour. i've got giftcards there and ordering steak would spend it too quickly!

Soo H.'s picture
Submitted by Soo H. (not verified) on Wed, 09/02/2015 - 8:44am

My guess is they close the parking right under the restaurant and use it for valet at dinner...

Faye's picture
Submitted by Faye (not verified) on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 10:49am

I used to like this place when I was younger as it was a fun dining experience with friends. I agree that the prices were expensive though (we went before there were any groupon/etc deals for this place). I thought they were struggling at this location so it's good to hear that customers still seem to enjoy the fondue.

I wonder why the cheese fondue isn't as hot. I laughed when I saw the dumplings offered on the entree plate as I've never seen dumplings offered at a fondue restaurant before! The Memphis-Style BBQ Pork Medallions - was that ONE order because that's a huge portion.

Have you seen any current groupons or livingsocial for this location? This post brings back fond memories of eating here so long ago.

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 3:46pm

the memphis-style bbq pork medallions is a single order but costs $24!

haven't seen any groupons or similar. always check their restaurant specials (downtown, la jolla). the best i see is $30 for 4 course or their happy hour menu. the downtown location is owned by cohn restaurant group so you can use their giftcard ($80 for $100 from costco around t-day/xmas) to bring down more.

Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table's picture
Submitted by Laura @ Sprint ... (not verified) on Wed, 09/02/2015 - 9:09am

That sounds so good! I haven't been to a Melting Pot in years - maybe since I was in Florida for college?! Time to revisit!

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Wed, 09/02/2015 - 8:57pm

it sounds like a fun girl's night out especially if you do the chocolate course! go go go!

leanne's picture
Submitted by leanne (not verified) on Fri, 09/11/2015 - 12:47pm

I think their happy hour is the best deal for cheese or chocolate. With the cheese fondue, they'll bring you as much bread, apples, and veggies as you want! For $5!!! And you can order different fondue recipes if you want.

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Sun, 09/13/2015 - 9:12pm

ooh that sounds like a good happy hour to meet up with friends!

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