In celebration of one year of dating, Chrystie and I went to The Melting Pot in San Mateo for a fondue meal. We had been once before, and like our previous visit, the food, service and atmosphere were great.

Chrystie started off with a “Meltini” drink – X-Rated, Triple Sec and sweet & sour – which had her melting in her seat.

They have a seasonal special going on, “Pacific Islands Big Night Out”, a four-course dinner for two. The first course was cheese fondue consisting of Sake, white wine, Gruyere cheese and a horseradish and chive Havarti cheese served with bread and vegetables to dip. I wasn’t particularly fond of the dip, the alcohol flavor overpowered the flavor of the cheese.

This was followed by lettuce wraps with veggies and almonds with a very delicious orange-ginger dressing.

The main course was a broth dip of herbs, mushrooms, garlic, spices and burgundy wine served with lobster tail, teriyaki sirloin steak, pork tenderloin, ahi tuna, garlic chicken breast, kiwi-lime shrimp, vegetable dumplings, potatoes, mushrooms and broccoli.

The lobster, steak and tuna were especially savory while the dumplings fell apart in the broth and we ended up fishing them out with the “search and rescue” spoon.

For dessert, we had the Disaronno Meltdown – a white chocolate and Disaronno liqueur dip flambeed in front of us served with marshmallows, rice krispy treats, cheesecake, brownies, banana and strawberry slices, and angel food cake.

The meal was wonderful, and being fondue-style makes it fun and leaves you stuffed by eating more slowly than you normally would – we were there about two and a half hours. Unfortunately, the price tag of the meal ($150) is a little pricey for me and The Melting Pot will remain only for rather special occasions.