Melting Pot, Towson, MD

Melting Pot
418-420 York Road
Towson, MD 21204
(410) 821-6358

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Thursday: 5 pm – 10 pm
Friday: 5 pm – 11 pm
Saturday: 4 pm – 11 pm
Sunday: 4 pm – 10 pm

A few nights ago, we had a very, very special evening.  My friend, Clayton, and I drove over to Towson and we had a delightful evening with our friends, Bill, Roni, and Ryan.  (Ryan is five, and he was very patient with us.)

The Melting Pot is a franchised chain specializing in fondue.  It opened its first restaurant in 1975 in Florida, and there are now about 145 locations.

We’d been here before, and it was a relatively fast decision that we should have the Alpine Big Night out.  This is a set meal and you get a cheese fondue to start with.  The next course is a salad.  Then you get a huge main course consisting of Filet Mignon, Sauerbraten NY Strip, Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bratwurst, Hefeweizen Marinated Shrimp, Roasted Garlic Crusted Chicken, Sun Dried Tomato Ravioli and Fresh Vegetables!

All the ingredients were well prepared, attractively presented, and of good quality.

There are four options for your pot.  You can cook your meal in oil (Bourguignonne), which we chose, Coq au Vin, Mojo Style, and Court Bouillon.

As if this was not enough to eat, they bring a chocolate fondue at the end!

The food is beautifully presented and the staff are really friendly.  Great basic ingredients, and you can have a lot of fun cooking it yourself.

The Melting Pot in Towson has a long and interesting wine list with reasonably priced and interesting wines.  For example, you can get a 2004 Clerc Milon ($70), a 2006 Stags Leap Cabernet ($70), Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon ($105), or a Dom Perignon Champagne for $200.  These prices are not very much more than retail and certainly a lot less than the usual pricing which doubles or trips the retail price for wine.  Unfortunately, I did not feel like wine on this occasion, and drank sparkling water instead.

I recommend this place particularly as a fun place to be with old friends.  Good food but very informal and friendly.

If you don’t have wine (as we didn’t on this occasion), expect to pay roughly $50 a head before you have added a tip for the very friendly servers!

There are several other Melting Pots in Maryland, including branches in Columbia, Annapolis, and Gaithersburg.