Restaurant: The Melting Pot
Location: 3685 E Thousand Oaks Blvd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362. (805) 370-8802
Date: April 16, 2023
Cuisine: Fondue
Rating: Interesting
A small group of Hedonists trekked out to Thousand Oaks for this weird 80s or 90s fondue.
I decided last minute to join this unusual (or perhaps throwback) place. Normally Sunday night is for Chinese, but it was hijaacked tonight for this. Fondue in Thousand Oaks!
The build out is very… well Thousand Oaks. It’s actually been here a while because they’d never put in the wood paneling these days.
One side of the menu is “full meals”.
And the other is a la carte, which is what we went for.
The table is a bit like an inductive version of a KBBQ table.
The inductive burners have these pots.
This is the ingredients for the “Fiesta” pot (more on that in a second). They put it together tableside.
They actually poured some beer in first, then the previously pictured ingredients and then melted it into the fondue texture.
Fiesta
(332 cal per serving)
Aged Cheddar, Emmenthaler, Lager Beer, Housemade Salsa, Jalapeño. This was the tastier of our two bases, pretty much like a chili con queso.
Quattro Formaggio
(374 cal per serving)
Butterkäse, Fontina, Fresh Mozzarella, Parmesan, White Wine, Roasted Garlic, Basil & Sun-Dried Tomato Pestos. This came out a bit thinner than the Fiesta and while tasty, and creamy, just didn’t have quite as much kick.
Served with artisan breads and seasonal fruit and veggies (357 cal per serving). Not sure how “artisan” this is. I didn’t eat any bread. The rest was apple, broccoli, celery, and carrots. Broccoli was proabably the most sucessfully, most because the texture grabbed the cheese.
Some extra veggies (and apple).
Caprese
(126 cal)
Mixed Greens, Fresh Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Basil, Balsamic Glaze.
Caesar
(133 cal)
Romaine, Parmesan, Croutons (left off), Caesar Dressing, Parmesan-Dusted Pine Nuts. I decent but not exactly punchy/authentic caesar. The pinenuts were actually sweet, which was odd.
Mojo
Caribbean-Inspired, Garlic, Cilantro, Citrus. This savory pot was basically a pleasant broth.
Coq Au Vin. SIGNATURE ITEM
Burgundy Wine (haha), Mushrooms, Scallions, Garlic. Actually a perfectly nice broth for cooking meat.
Lobster Tail, drawn butter. We got 3 of these and it turned out to be the best item of the night. Super fresh, might even have still been wiggling. I cooked them in the Mojo and lightly cooked they were awesome with the drawn butter. Some perfect lobster actually.
Various meats for the pot. You cook these with skewers more or less like hot pot.
Herb-Crusted Chicken Breast , Memphis-Style Dry Rub Pork, Premium, Duck Breast.
Filet Mignon , Memphis-Style Dry Rub Pork, Premium, Duck Breast.
Naked Chicken Breast , Filet, Memphis-Style Dry Rub Pork
Some extra veggies (mushrooms, broccoli, and potatoes) and the sauces. These turned out to be great. A sour cream and chives, hot cocktail sauce, blue cheese sauce, sweet chili, awesome yellow curry mustard, and teriyaki. Overall, this turned out to be a surprisingly tasty and fun evening. It’s not actually “upscale” really, or at least has that feel of a Thousand Oaks place, but the service was excellent (thanks Carlos!) and the food actually quite yummy. Fun to do every year or two.