The name Grill My Cheese already says it all – it is a food stall specialising in grilled cheese sandwiches. Grilled cheese sandwiches are more of an American thing but the love of grilled cheese is universal worldwide. Don’t you agree that grilled cheese sandwich is one of the simplest but best indulgences? Simply imagining the gooey and stretchy melted cheese in the sandwich makes my mouth start watering.
Grill My Cheese pops up around London but is mostly based at Leather Lane Market from 12-2pm on Tuesdays to Fridays. It aims to incorporate a British touch to this American goodness.
On the day I visited, there were three different flavours of grilled cheese sandwich available on the menu – the G.M.C, Baby Got Mac, and Na’cho Cheese featuring Mexicana. Before we dip into the food, I must say I really loved the graphic design of their menu. If you check out the menu on their website, they have named all their core grilled cheese sandwiches with creative titles in relation to their combinations. Other than that, not only do they clearly state out the ingredients for each combination, they also sketch it out. I think it all adds a lot of character to the brand.
Given that I’m a massive pasta lover, I went for the Baby Got Mac – which means a classic grilled cheese plus a ‘mac n cheese’ filling in between. There’s an option of adding pulled pork as well as the option of choosing from barbecue sauce or bechamel sauce. My order does not consist pulled pork and is filled with barbecue sauce.
A freshly grilled sandwich was soon ready. First of all, the organic sourdough bread was grilled to a beautiful golden colour and had this crunchy texture. It held its crunch very well as it did not once go soggy even till the very last bite. The cheese has just this nutty flavour and is not too heavy. It’s completely irresistible as it oozes and stretches from every bite you take. There is three types of cheeses being used in their signature cheese blend and the combination created just the right amount of richness to it.
The ‘mac n cheese’ spread with barbecue sauce sandwiched in between was a delight either. At first I thought it would taste really heavy as both grilled cheese and ‘mac n cheese’ are rather rich foods, but to my surprise, while it was quite fulfilling to the stomach, all the flavours are quite balanced without being overly heavy. To be fair, the pasta wasn’t particular special but it’s the combination with the crunchy bread,nutty and savoury flavour from the cheese, plus the filling texture of the pasta that makes it all work magically. The barbecue sauce adds a layer of moisture and a hint of sweetness to the sandwich.
Grilled cheese sandwich is a fairly simple food and therefore ingredients are the key to elevating it from basic to a gourmet level. Regardless of what combinations you are getting, Grill My Cheese certainly has a great foundation set for their sandwiches. They have good quality bread, they have came up with an amazing cheese blend, and a great grilling technique to make a great sandwich.
What I really enjoyed most is how the sandwich wasn’t overly heavy and has the right balance of flavours. You can definitely see and be able to taste a mix of both an American and British touch in the sandwich – which makes it rather unique. To me it’s like they’ve put a British taste into an American concept, and with a twist plus a bit of tweaking here and there, they have made the magic work.
