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When Slashfood first announced the new value meal lineup at Denny's several weeks ago, we had already started planning a field trip to taste test the most extraordinary addition to their menu -- the Fried Cheese Melt, what Denny's refers to as "a grilled cheese with a twist." Here's what it is: Take the classic grilled cheese with sourdough bread and American cheese, then stuff it with four fried mozzarella sticks and serve it with a side of marinara sauce. The $4 value meal is rounded out with a choice of soup or salad and served with a side of French fries.
This sandwich is just the latest addition to the extreme sandwich craze, which has been hitting all kinds of fast-food and restaurant chain outlets. First there was the Double Down from KFC, then the Grilled Cheese Burger Melt from Friendly's, then the foot-long cheeseburger from Carl's Jr. and now this. Due to the extreme nature of this sandwich, we invited Erik Trinidad, Slashfood contributor and creator of Fancy Fast Food, as well as Jake Goodrich, from Asylum.com, along to weigh in and we caught it all on tape.
CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO WATCH THE VIDEO
Since we drove 30 miles from Manhattan to Avenel, N.J. to try this, we were slightly panicked when we noticed the new value meal options were not on their menu. We asked the waitress about it, and she assured us, "Yes, we're serving them -- we just don't have the new menus yet." She didn't seem to know much about them, however. Not only did we not get fries with our orders, we had to ask for the side of marinara. After all, if we're going to eat this thing, we wanted to make sure we factored in all the elements.
Fried Cheese Melt
Grade: A
Nutritional Information: See below*
Quality of American cheese (1-5): 2
Quality of mozzarella sticks (1-5): 5
Crispy-ness of bread (1-5): 5
Here's my two cents: I thought the mozzarella sticks were amazing. I was concerned that the breading around the sticks would either get lost or soggy because of the other cheese surrounding it, but it held up well. While the American cheese tasted fine, we decided on the "2" rating above because there just wasn't enough -- there was maybe one full slice on each side and they did resemble Kraft singles. However, the sourdough bread was fresh, crispy and had just the right amount of butter on it to make this grilled cheese sandwich one of the best I've ever had.
Erik said, "If you're a lover of salt, you'll love this sandwich. I also believe that if Denny's made a pizza, it would taste just like this, which isn't a bad thing. The breading on the mozzarella sticks was also well seasoned."
Jake added, "This sandwich did not lack in sodium or grease and that really came through in the flavor, yet when combined with the marinara sauce, it helped balance out all that salt."
We all agreed that the marinara sauce was delicious. It had just the right seasoning with an incredible amount of basil in it. When asked whether the sandwich was better on its own or dipped into the sauce, we all agreed that we'd be happy to have it either way. In fact, the optimal solution would be to eat one half plain and the other half dipped in the sauce. While it was salty, compared to the Double Down, I didn't feel the need to drink several gallons of water afterward.
Read all of Slashfood's fast-food reviews.
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Dennys New Fried Cheese Melt
*Nutritional Information:
Fried Cheese Melt - 790 calories, 38 grams fat, 2670 mg sodium
Fried Cheese Melt with Marinara Sauce - 830 calories, 40 grams fat, 2920 mg sodium
Fried Cheese Melt with Fries - 1220 calories, 61 grams fat, 2770 mg sodium
Fried Cheese Melt with Fries and Marinara Sauce - 1260 calories, 63 grams fat, 3010 mg sodium
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8-25-2010 @1:57PM Rhonda Fairman said... I'm going to file this under "Things That Make me Sad"
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8-25-2010 @10:18PM Fujimooji said... Me too!
8-26-2010 @1:40AM Messa said... Oh, come on. If you ate this maybe once or twice a year, I doubt it would kill you. I hear a lot of b!tching about the restaurants, but McDonald's once had a veggie burger that was suppose to be pretty good. Guess what? They dropped it because people kept eating Big Mac's. People SAY they do or want one thing, but they do another. No one in the history of the world ever woke up in the middle of the night saying "I could really tear up some Brussels sprouts right about now." We eat that "crap" because it tastes good. Just don't eat it all the time and you'll be fine.
8-26-2010 @3:47AM DrZaius said... I'm gonna file this under "Things that make me hungry!"
8-26-2010 @7:51AM Bob said... McDonald's Big Breakfast has about the same levels of fat, calories and sodium. It looks almost semi-healthy, as it's only scrambled eggs, a sausage patty, bacon, hash browns, a pancake and a biscuit, but it's one of the most un-healthy items on their menu.
8-25-2010 @8:03PM Raquel said... Yeah. I'm so trying this. It doesn't hurt to have something like this once in a blue moon.
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8-25-2010 @8:08PM Emily said... This is one of the worst examples of unhealthy food marketing I've ever seen. Is Denny's unaware that we have an obesity epidemic in this country? Probably not, but unfortunately many people will gobble this up. They seem almost proud of how destructive food like this is.
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8-25-2010 @8:53PM Christina said... I agree. This is totally disgusting and unhealthy...totally shameful to have marketed something like this.
8-25-2010 @8:59PM Dorie said... I'm pretty sure Denny's is aware of the "obesity epidemic" in this country. An Epidemic is something that takes time finding a cure, making people sick, needing a vaccine,.running rapid, Obesity isn't that..it's just taking control of what you & your family eat. NO ONE is making anyone eat what they eat!! I think it's time people just take control of themselves & thier families eating habits, instead of blaming it on resteraunts, fast food, what's on the menu? C'mon people, just because it's on the menu, doesn't mean you have to order it.
8-25-2010 @9:19PM Bob said... AMEN -- I was tempted to try this UNTIL I read the salt content.-- Hovering around 3000 grams with all the trimmings, just a tad less with NO trimmings. FORGET IT !!!!!!!
8-25-2010 @10:01PM Dave said... The restaurants want us addicted to food
8-26-2010 @12:04AM Oren Mavro said... @Emily well, lets just say any obesity problems America is facing is not affecting how and what people eat, just how they talk about it all. Don't you think?
@Dorie...well said.
@bulma...THANK YOU. I'm tired of this obsession with losing weight and people being overweight. Some of us actually have crazy metabolisms and weight gain issues. Eating stuff like this from time to time is almost a MUST.
If I ate two of these, give me a block to run around, and it'd be over. My jeans would be looser than before I sat down at the booth, too ;]
8-29-2010 @3:24PM Raiders7572yahoo.com said... ...so your saying Denny's shouldn't promote this tasty creation because a lot of people just don't have any self control? I find that to be rather absurd. I don't disagree that there is a obesity issue in our country, but that doesn't mean we should turn into a nanny state over it. I think it's pretty well known that hardly anything at Denny's is going to be good for you, and that it would best to limit your visits there.
8-25-2010 @8:12PM Jan said... Let me first say, I never eat at Denneys. If I did, I would not eat this. It looks awful to me. Way too much bad stuff, it makes my stomach churn just reading about it!
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8-25-2010 @8:19PM Tom said... I would so get a side of scrambled eggs AND bacon added to this sandwich! And, with the fries? Give me a side of turkey gravy for dipping the fries! I am sooooo not kidding! I might have one tonight!
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8-25-2010 @8:32PM Jean said... Our Denny's closed, or I would have enjoyed testing it. However, the salt content would make my blood pressure go off the chart.
Surely those yummy ingredients would be delicious without all that salt. Just one more reason I have to cook at home, and can't even consider Olive Garden etc. People are getting more health aware. Why not pay attention and increase business by cooking healthier?
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8-25-2010 @8:20PM kevin said... The sandwich alone might not be to unhealthy for an occasional splurge, but including fries puts the meal over the top of the artery clogging department.
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8-25-2010 @8:49PM htc6600 said... I've never thought of a grilled cheese sandwich as a huge treat but that's where this belongs. I have to go out and do something really good so I can check this sucker out!
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8-25-2010 @8:45PM Brian said... That is almost a full days worth of calories...................can we spell obesity,
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8-25-2010 @8:49PM NurseRiverBoat said... This is a JOKE, right?
Who in their right mind would eat this?
A person would gain 6 pounds overnight after eating the whole serving of the sandwich, the fries and the marianara sauce. GOSH!
That sandwich is a death trap!!!
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