Lake Erie Monster

I have a weigh-in in two days and was doing really well until Bug reminded me that Melt was bringing back the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon melt today.

I have no willpower.

With so many phenomenal choices, which one should I get?  I was in the mood for vegetables or fish, so three sandwiches stood out:

1) Lake Erie Monster -- beer battered walleye, American cheese, and jalapeno tartar sauce

2) Big Popper -- herb cream cheese, fresh jalapeno peppers, and cheddar cheese. The sandwich is dipped in beer batter then deep fried and comes with mixed berry preserves.

3) Roasted Vegetable -- zucchini, eggplant, yellow squash, carrots, sun-dried tomato pesto, and muenster cheese

Day 220/365

Compared to the Big Popper, Lake Erie Monster ($14.00) seemed pretty tame. I decided to order the Roasted Vegetable on my next visit. The fresh jalapeno crunch and flavor, as well as a not so vinegary mayonnaise, made the jalapeno tartar sauce lick-the-cup-clean good. I asked for another cup of sauce ($0.75).

A generous portion of battered then fried walleye was tasty and firm, not fishy or cooked to mush. Of course, the fries were great with the tartar sauce -- the reason I ran out of tartar sauce a quarter of the way through the sandwich.

Of course, Bug ordered the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon melt. Rather ironically, his sandwich had much more vegetables (lettuce and tomatoes) than mine (none).

For dessert, we ordered the amaretto chocolate cherry cordial bread pudding with amaretto chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. The chocolate bread pudding was simply decadent -- thick, rich, and chocolate overload. My favorite was the amaretto chocolate sauce, a beautiful marriage of rich cherry flavor and sultry chocolate oomph that was lick-the-paws-clean delicious. Yes, there is a theme here.

Day 220/365

Despite being called "Melt" and seeing grilled cheese, grilled cheese, grilled cheese, at a glance on their menu, Melt has an astounding array of food stuffed into their sandwiches, that is always cooked properly, whether it is pierog, falafel, fish, hummus, bacon, sweet sour chicken, dressing, ...Melt is definitely not a gimmicky idea with mediocre food.

Oh, I didn't eat my entire sandwich AND the bread pudding in one sitting. Half of the sandwich and 2/3 of the fries were tucked away into a container to relish again tomorrow. The dessert was so rich, I ate ~1/5 of it and Bug ate the remainder.

Bug is going to have sweet bacon dreams tonight and I'm already daydreaming about our next trip. We really are a country of gluttons!

- Cassaendra

Melt Bar and Grilled
14718 Detroit Ave
Lakewood, OH 44107
Tel: (216) 226-3699