8 Ounces of Heaven

Welcome back Sandwichphiles!

I have been taking a number of sandwich excursions over the past few months, and even with this feat, I am still up to my neck in recommendations. Regardless, please keep the suggestions flowing in!

Out of those suggestions, one of the most highly recommended places has been 8oz Burger Bar in Los Angeles.

With a name like that, how can you turn it down?

For my first visit to 8oz Burger Bar, I had the delicious Short Rib Grilled Cheese, and this time at least real ribs were used to make this sandwich (refer to last week's blog on the McRib). Even though the burger selection seems phenomenal, how could I turn down the promise of short ribs on a sandwich?

The ribs are marinated and then slow roasted until they practically fall of the bone. They are then roughly chopped and piled high upon this sandwich. Tender, fully flavored, and delicious, you'd wish there were more on this sandwich, even though it seems like there is enough rib meat on here to feed a full summer bbq.

Onion marmalade and Bel Paese cheese are mixed nicely together with the ribs. The onion marmalade provides a slight sweet flavor to complement the spice marinated ribs.

The cheese on this sandwich was one I had never tried before. Bel Paese is a semi-soft Italian cheese that has a light buttery flavor. It melts very well and is sometimes used as a substitute for mozzerella. So if you've tried mozzerella you'll have a good ideas as to how this Bel Paese fits with this sandwich. No other cheese really would have worked as well with this sandwich. It had the an excellent light flavor that didn't take away from the delicious short ribs.

After eating, one question popped into my mind: Was this in fact a grilled cheese?

I've discussed this numerous times before with people about whether or not adding ingredients to a grilled cheese will still technically make it a grilled cheese.

So I offer this to you: If the cheese is the main ingredient to the sandwich, then yes it is a grilled cheese (e.g. adding a slice of avocado to the grilled cheese sandwich). In the case of this sandwich though, the short ribs would be the dominant ingredient and hence should be considered a "melt" even though the cheese is plentiful.

Regardless, it is an excellent sandwich and you should either give 8oz Burger Bar a try, or find a similar sandwich in your area to compare.

Lastly, before I head out onto the hunt for next week's sandwich, a note for all of you East Coast Readers! I will be visiting Philadelphia and Washington DC for the holidays and will be looking for numerous places to sample sandwiches there. Please leave a comment with your suggestions so that I have a plethora of options while visiting.

Until next week readers, happy sandwiching!

**** Stars
Short Rib Grilled Cheese
8oz. Burger Bar
7661 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046