A sandwich at Oceanview Diner, a restaurant in Berkeley, California.
out of 100 · very good
Very good, with one move worth +13.
Reads as a fully realized grilled cheese, two of six roles on the board.
Holding the summit: a third role on the board (an acid, a sauce, an aroma or a crunch)
Each bar is one pillar of the score, 0 to 100. The tick marks what a sandwich at the summit needs; an amber bar is the one holding this sandwich back.
white bread (inferred from the name), toasted: cheddar; jack; butter.
In italics: what the name implies and the menu does not list.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 1.7 | 79th |
| acid | 0.3 | 35th |
| fat | 3.4 | 90th |
| sweet | 0.0 | n/a |
| umami | 1.7 | 61st |
| heat | 0.0 | n/a |
| bitter | 0.0 | n/a |
67 Balance, out of 100
The seven flavor axes of the whole sandwich, each summed across its layers. The shaded ring is the catalog's middle 80%; the small number under each axis is where this sandwich falls in the catalog. A shape that sits inside the ring is in the range most sandwiches live in; a spike past it is where this one stands apart.
What each layer brings
| Layer | Role | Flavor and texture | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| white bread (inferred from the name) | bread | soft | the frame |
| cheddarscored as Cheddar Cheese | protein | fat 4 salt 3 umami 3 soft gooey melty | +4 |
| jackscored as Monterey Jack | protein | fat 3 salt 2 umami 2 soft creamy melty | +1 |
| butter | fat | fat 5 creamy silky | +19 |
Points: what the Sandwich Score would lose if that one layer were left out, everything else the same. A negative number means the sandwich scores higher without it. Flavor runs 0 to 5 on each axis.
Pairings
- White Bread + Butter: buttered white toast, the foundation
- Cheddar Cheese + Monterey Jack: sharp and mild, the taco-shop blend
How to raise it
- Judged as a grilled cheese: richness, thinness and seasoning are not held against it.
- Between you and 90: a third role on the board (an acid, a sauce, an aroma or a crunch) (0.33 short).
All the sandwiches at Oceanview Diner · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder