Hey, all!
I'm in search of an awesome tuna melt, and I'm hoping somebody can help. I've had a few that are pretty good, and a bunch that decidedly aren't, but none that are awesome. For that matter, I'm more generally in search of a good diner, but for the purposes of this discussion, let's talk tuna.
This probably requires a little clarification, since that which makes an awesome tuna melt is highly subjective. For those who may have been blessed with the good fortune to try one, IMHO the perfect tuna melt is to be found in Burbank, California at Bob's '49. But working with the knowledge that the Bob's tuna melt is a little piece of heaven that I can't expect to find anywhere else, I'm hoping to find one in Chicago that, while falling short of a religious experience, is still decidedly awesome. Of course, the Bob's '49 style of tuna melt is my personal preference. Many a melt are out there, but these four guidelines shoud narrow the field and give you a sense of the beast I'd like to discuss:
1) While there are surely many tasty creative variants, we're talking about a traditional tuna melt here... bread, basic tuna salad, cheddar or American cheese, and maybe some tomato and onions.
2) The name of the dish is tuna
melt. If the cheese isn't totally melted and the tuna salad isn't hot, then it's just tuna on toast.
3) While there's some allowance for bread type and thickness, it must be sliced bread. Anything served on a roll can't be properly griddled, and as such is sub-awesome. English muffins are RIGHT OUT.
4) The entire sandwich should be griddled to a deep golden brown. Anything less isn't enough to heat the sandwich through and develop the requisite exterior crispiness, and therefore is significantly less awesome. Additionally, said griddling should ideally pick up enough incidental griddle grease to impart that special diner flavor.
Any suggestions? This may be a fool's errand, but it's one that's close to my heart. I turn to you, kind fellowes, for help.
My stomach thanks you in advance.