Patty Melt at Dip and Flip, Battersea

LOCATION: Dip and Flip, 87 Battersea Rise, SW11 1HW [map]

PRICE: £5.25

BREAD: Brown and slightly grainy.

FILLING: Ground beef and cheese.

PROS: When I wrote my sandwich book, I had to cut 72 sandwiches, and the patty melt was one of them. This is a shame because it’s a fantastic sandwich, but you know what? I’m relieved. Relieved because I know that I would not have made a version as good as this. This is one seriously juicy number. The amount of beef is just right, meaning you get a finished product which is so easily scarfable it leaves you wanting more rather than feeling like you need a disco nap. What really seals the deal however is the cheese; the recipe was painstakingly developed for the burgers at The Ship, and it’s just perfect, more like a thick cheese sauce; a glue of guilty pleasure that melds the whole sandwich together. Then of course, there’s the gravy for dipping; it’s made with beef and crucially, is not too thick or over reduced so as to challenge the richness of the sandwiches.

The bread threw me a curveball, being brown and slightly grainy. Uh huh. Think about the number of sandwiches where that choice of bread really works. Not many, is it? Kudos. Oh and special mention must go to the pickles, served on the side, but sliced lengthways so as to actually fit in the sandwich. How many burgers or sandwiches have you eaten where the pickle comes in an awkward fat length? WHY? Why do you want me to take a bite of my pickle and and then a bite of my sandwich? Am I not allowed to put it inside? Bog off.

CONS: I had to share half of it with my mate. Mistake.

SCORE: 9/10