Salt Tasting Room: Gooey Grilled Cheese with a Side of Beets
Salt Tasting Room, 45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
I confess that I never go to the Salt Tasting Room at night because I’m petrified of the dingy alleyway leading to the restaurant. I’ll brave the alleyway for lunch though! The front entrance is literally tucked away across from dumpsters. You wouldn’t be able to find it unless you were truly looking for it. Marked by a single flag with an upside-down salt shaker, hung up high near the roof of the black building and flapping in the wind, this “underground” eatery serves up a pretty stellar grilled cheese.
Salt Tasting Room, 45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
I didn’t know there was going to be sandwiches available since the Salt Tasting room is famous for wine and cheese tasting plates. Their new lunch menu consists of sandwich and soup combos so I opted for the grilled cheese and a beet salad.
Salt Tasting Room, 45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
The sandwich was delicious: perfectly toasted with handsome grill marks and ooey, gooey melted cheese in the middle that stretched out in long stringy strands with every bite.
Grilled cheese, Salt Tasting Room, 45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
Grilled cheese, Salt Tasting Room, 45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
I’m not the biggest veggie fan but was pleased to find the beet salad sweet and tasty. The salad was lightly dressed and the natural sweetness in the beets was brought out by cool mint and herbs.
Beet salad, Salt Tasting Room, 45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
It was also charming that our bill came inside a little cheese round container. How fitting!
Salt Tasting Room, 45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
I would gladly return to the Salt Tasting Room for lunch or dinner (depending on whether or not I can find a bodyguard!).