Review: Gluten-free Options at The Melting Pot

As Kim reported here, The Melting Pot rolled out their gluten-free menu nationwide recently. There is a location close to where we live so I called to speak to the manager about the new menu. He seemed informed and said he’d allow me to bring in my own gluten-free bread since the Atlanta area locations (and most others) don’t offer gluten-free bread (or cakes, brownies, etc.). Due to the price being on high side for a full fondue dinner there, we decided to go for my birthday.

When we arrived at the restaurant on a week night, there were only a couple of tables already seated. I remember thinking that it was good that they were not overly busy. I’d forgotten that while the food is prepped in the kitchen, you do most of the work to prepare it at the table. Our server was friendly and fairly knowledgeable about the gluten-free menu. There was only one problem – like with many other chains – there are no prices on the gluten-free menus. This very much surprised the server which made me a bit anxious. Once we had a regular menu too, we decided what to order.

Your first course is your cheese selection. You choose the type you want and the server brings out the ingredients and puts them into your already hot fondue pot. We ordered the “Wisconsin Trio”. After a couple of minutes, the cheese sauce is ready for dipping. I had a bag of cubed Udi’s gluten-free bread in my purse so I got a bowl for it from the server. There were veggies and apple chunks provided for the cheese course so we really didn’t need the bread at all. However, Udi’s bread was delicious with the hot flavorful cheese!

For the next course, you get to choose a salad and there are several tasty options. My husband got the Caesar with no croutons and I got the California salad, complete with delicious blue cheese. As we ate our salads, I started to feel a little bit full. This is my problem when eating out and always has been. I insist on getting an appetizer (when possible), then have a salad and by the time the entree comes I can’t eat but two bites of it. My friends often make fun of me because I rarely leave a restaurant without a take out container.

The good news about the main course is that it arrives raw so you can’t just dive in and eat it. That meant I could take a break from eating for a bit – hopefully making room for the rest of the dinner. On the entree plate we had a lobster tail, shrimp, chicken, steak, pork and Ahi tuna. There are also veggies provided for this portion of the meal. You choose what cooking method you want, but gluten-free patrons (at least in our area) can’t have the tempura batter. We chose the the Mojo style which was perfectly seasoned and not too spicy at all.

The server instructs you about how long it takes to cook each part of your entree. There are many dipping sauces that come with the entree and you can experiment with them or follow the advice of the server about what sauce goes best with each food. We did a little of both and loved it all. There was a little cream cheese type spread that I think went best with the steak, but I also used it with some of the Udi’s bread. It was so good I could have just eaten that instead of dessert.

Speaking of dessert, it was an extra $15 (it was listed as a line item on our bill) and we really didn’t need it. We knew they would not be bringing us cake, brownies, Rice Krispy treats or some type of marshmallow that contained gluten. The plain type was gluten-free, but they had some type of coated one that wasn’t. Therefore, we can have fruit and plain marshmallows. Because a company had sent me some tiny coconut macaroons to review, I took a few of those to dinner as well. As it turned out, I didn’t need them either. The chocolate sauce was absolutely wonderful, but I was too full to enjoy much of it. I can’t imagine actually having the cakes and brownies that other diners have. For future visits, we’ll definitely skip the dessert course. It was the only part of the meal that we didn’t feel offered much value, due to the fact that most of the items you’re paying for, you’re not being served.

Overall, our experience was fun and tasty. The space was old and a bit dark for my liking, but the food was gluten-free and anything but boring. The bill came to $116 and that didn’t include the tip. It did include our meals, dessert and two $8 glasses of wine. There  is an early bird special for $29 per person if you’re interested in having your order into the kitchen by 5:30 pm. Dessert is still extra. If The Melting Pot locations here really want to rock our world, they should pick up some gluten-free flour and offer gluten-free tempura as a cooking method. Now, that would be really exciting!