Flatiron Lunch: The Cannibal’s Grilled Cheese is No Ordinary Sando
Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.
During the late summer last year, the restaurant Resto expanded into a neighboring space and opened The Cannibal (29th btw Park+Lex), a beer shop and butcher that serves small plates at a rustic, masculine communal bar area and a small backyard patio which is open during warmer weather. When I stopped by it was full of men in suits watching ESPN’s coverage of the Australian Open. It’s basically a spot after our own hearts complete with fridges holding about 350 brews, eight taps, a back area butcher’s counter selling homemade charcuterie among other meats, and a menu that includes a Pigs Head Cuban. I decided to leave the Cuban for Clay to try, and went with another delicious sounding sandwich just at the ML ceiling, their Grilled Cheese. But this wasn’t an ordinary cheesy sandwich.
The grilled cheese comes with still warm and melting Vermont cheddar and Gruyère overflowing their boundaries. Beneath the cheese goodness are slabs of bacon and pork belly. Yes, fatty, crispy pork belly. The porcine flavor of both are a little overwhelmed by the amount of cheese, but there were several bites throughout where things got porky. Between the cheese being right up to the very edges of the perfectly grilled bread and the price point, you best bet that I enjoyed every last bit of this $10 sandwich. Eating it itself was a little fun for me since the cheese would string after several of my bites, just like in the commercials. If only they served tomato soup, I’m sure some of you would want to come here to have an adult version of that favored childhood meal. A neighbor of mine was a frequent lunch patron and said that the entire menu is phenomenal, so I dare say we’ll be back.
The + (What someone who likes this place would say)
- You can have a good beer with decent food during lunch, and it’s not a sports bar.
- Though it is pricey, everything’s made from high-quality ingredients, especially the meats.
- I love pork belly. I love bacon. I love pigs head. I love pig, in my belly.
The – (What someone who doesn’t like this place would say)
- These are some expensive sandwiches. $14 for hot dogs? Really?
- These are some expensive brews. Where’s the Budweiser?
- I don’t like eating with strangers at communal tables in such tight spaces.
The Cannibal, 113 East 29th Street, (212) 686-5480
Posted by Blondie at 9:45 am, January 27th, 2012 under Flatiron Lunch.
8 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
Where’s the Budweiser? At the risk of sounding snarky, do you go to a high end steakhouse and look to see how much the burger is, too? :-)
The Cannibal prides themselves on their beer selection – I’m a beer geek and I’ve seen things there that I’ve never seen anywhere else. They have 40s there, but I know the people who work there and I know their personalities – it’s more for a chuckle than it is because someone’s going to come in there looking for OE.
The beers are a little pricey, I’ll concede that much – but if I know it’s going to be good quality, and I know that the people there are well informed about the beer (the guy in charge of their beer selection has experience at two well known craft beer bars in Manhattan), then I don’t mind the extra few bucks – similar to how you’ll pay more at a nicer restaurant. In both situations, it’s worth the extra cash. :-)