Blend are renowned for their Grilled Cheese sandwiches which really are some of the best to be found in the city. I first met Blend at their original location in Sneinton Market back in 2018 where I became enamored with their food (read more here)
Blend moved into the kitchen at the Nottingham Contemporary in February making it their third outlet in the city. The others being at Sneinton Market which opened in 2017 and at Blend East West on Toll House Hill just by the roundabout and where the Toll House pub used to be
Not to be confused with Toasties which is a totally different sandwich, they make grilled cheese sandwiches which are cooked in a pan or on a hot plate. It sounds confusing as in the states a grill is the hot plate and what we call a grill is called a broiler. To be clear there are no ‘breville’ sandwich makers in the kitchen 🙂
When I read that they had moved to the Contemporary I had to come over to see what was on the menu and see if their grilled cheese was as good or maybe even better.
GRILLED CHEESE MENU
The Blend Grilled Cheese menu is as, it always was a total pun fest, in naming of the sandwiches. I was happy to see that some of the classics I remembered from the Sneinton market spot were still here, particularly the Kevin Baconator and the Brieyonce.
The Cuban Gooding Jnr had dropped off the list for obvious reasons but has been replaced with another great sounding pork combo called the ‘Blenda Vista Social Club‘ filled with ‘Mojo marinated pork, dill pickles, fried ham, spinach, cheddar, mozzerealla, and English mustard’
I was going to be checking out the Kevin Baconator filled with “Pepper and honey glazed bacon, espresso bbq sauce’ for old times sake and also sharing a Book of Boba Fetta packed with ‘Chicken, Fresh Tomato, Pesto Mayo and Feta Cheese‘ for something new to tantalise the old taste buds
THE KEVIN BACONATOR
The Kevin Baconator filled with cheese, and pepper honey glazed bacon, certainly seemed the part when it arrived at the table. I was loving the look of the sour dough bread where it was toasted with a serious char. The crusty bits of ‘cheese skirt’ poking out of the edges were really good and provided a nice deep and rich taste of cheesiness to the mix.
There was a very generous ‘smear’ of sauce on the plate all around the sandwich which I assumed was the ‘expresso bbq sauce’ I didn’t remember that from the last time I had one of these but I really appreciated having a lot more sauce to dip my sandwich into between bites.
BACONATOR CLOSE-UP
A closer inspection shows the cheese oozing out of the sandwich and a decent layer of bacon. In my mind I remember the bacon being much crispier last time I had one of these Kevin Baconator‘s in my hand but that was a few years ago so maybe the memory or imagination of the sandwich has changed in time
The sandwich was not quite the same yet happily I felt that it had evolved over the years and was now a better prepared effort. The sauce enhanced the whole experience and it just seemed to be better cooked, the grill top at Sneinton market always looked a bit small so perhaps a larger kitchen at the Contemporary helps with the quality of the end product.
THE BOOK OF BOBBA FETTA
The Book of Boba Fetta filled with ‘Chicken, Fresh Tomato, Pesto Mayo and Feta Cheese‘ was a new combination for me to try.
I liked the sound of the pesto with the chicken and cheese and had kind of expected that it would be mixed together inside the sandwich like a classic chicken pesto.
Instead the Pesto Mayo was drizzled across the top of the sandwich which was fine but after having that great big smear of BBQ sauce for dipping my Baconator in I was used to the big dip!
BOOK OF BOBBA FETTA CLOSE-UP
Once again this is a really good grilled cheese sandwich, the amount of feta, and chicken was just right with neither getting in the way. I liked the subtle taste of the pesto mayo and I enjoyed the creaminess with the crispy or perhaps crunchy grilled sourdough.
The only thing stopping the sandwich rating excellent from good was the slice of tomato. It could have been better chopped up into smaller pieces as it just sloughed out in one bite and I wanted it to be all over and stay part of the sandwich party.
Don’t get me wrong It was still all really good and if you match the Grilled Cheese up with most other places it will win hands down every single time
There is a lot more to Blend at the Contemporary than just Grilled Cheese. On the counter they have a lot of excellent looking baked goods such as cakes and this tasty looking sausage rolls. Vegan sausage rolls were available but they were behind the glass casing in case things got heated with the meat ones.
The menu also includes the now common rice bowl masquerading as a poke bowl that you see almost everywhere now. I might mock but I do know someone who had one and they really liked it. I asked if there was any nduja in sight but my sarcasm was lost in the moment so I just moved along the bus 🙂
Just like all the other Blends they do apparently serve excellent coffee from Stewarts of West Bridgford located in Sneinton. I only drink tea so I guess I am missing out but I heard a lot being ordered and served so it must be good
Blend at the Contemporary is located unsurprisingly in the Nottingham Contemporary Gallery down on the ground floor. I would advise going down the stairs or the lift as opposed to the other direction, but it you want to get your steps in take your chances from the bottom.
The Contemporary and Blend are located at Weekday Cross, Nottingham, NG1 2GB
Check them out on their Instagram Profile