Brielle Grilled Cheese With Bacon, $9.25

By Glen Macnow

Melt Kraft
Reading Terminal Market

When I was a kid and it was winter, my mom used to make me grilled cheese with bacon, along with a side of tomato soup. Ahh, that was comfort food. So on a cold March day, I stopped in at Melt Kraft – a Reading Terminal stand specializing in grilled cheese – thinking it would warm me up and evoke great memories of my childhood.

Not so much. The Brielle – one of about a half-dozen grilled cheese offerings here – features brie cheese with bacon, carmelized onions, cranberry chutney and pine nuts. They even cooked the sandwich in bacon fat, the more to harden my arteries. Sounds incredible, right?

Not so much. The concept beat the product for two reasons: 1) The bacon came out chewy, not crisp – which is a non-starter for this contest, and, 2) that bacon-fat soaked bread came out burned and black. I may steal this idea for my own kitchen, but it's not going far in this contest.

Score: 54/100