Cheese on Toast — EAT IT AUCKLAND

There isn’t much to look at when you walk by Cheese on Toast on the corner of Mt Eden Road and Duke Street, but like their premises, their concept is deceptively simple. Cheese on Toast serves up cheese toasties, and other toast-based iterations in what used to be Nan’s roast and takeaways, so there isn’t much space for a sit down. But with the weather starting to warm up you’ll be able to make use of their wooden benches and stools and enjoy the parade of local dogs and their owners making their way to the dog park on weekend mornings.

Before coming to the matter of cheese on toast, special mention must be paid to their coffee, made with eightthirty coffee. It is excellent, really truly excellent coffee. So good I often want a second one straight away, and I never want a second one straight away.

Cheese on Toast’s menu is written on an old school chalk board, and is simple to navigate. There’s cheese sandwiched between toast (toastie), and on toast as their namesake suggests. They also have homemade sodas and a daily salad you can slap onto the side of your toastie. And baking if that’s your thing.

It’s hard to pick a toastie. They all begin with a base of house-made sourdough bread and a blend of three cheeses. But do I want to try their cheeseburger special, or their bacon jam one, or the one with rump steak, spring onion and coriander? ‘Go for the spaghetti one,’ suggested the guy manning the front ‘It’s my favourite’. With a slight hesitation, I ordered the spaghetti marinara toastie, and prayed it would be nothing like the Kiwi-classic Watties canned spaghetti toastie. I’ve never fathomed the appeal of a canned spaghetti toastie; to begin with, the spaghetti has been boiled beyond recognition so that the texture resembles soft gloop. Don’t get me started on the sauce. However I’m pleased to report that Cheese on Toast ‘s version has found a special place in my heart. I literally dream about the next time I can eat this toastie. The toasted sourdough is crispy, wafting with the aroma of butter on a hot grill. The blend of cheeses is both sharp and gooey, creating a pleasing cheese pull on bite. The spaghetti marinara filling is light and tangy; the pasta itself is al dente (hurrah!) with stray strands that meet the grill becoming gorgeously hard and crunchy, providing yet another textural contrast and reminiscent of the Italian spaghetti fritters I’ve also come to love . It came with a side of pickled cucumber and fennel which provided a nice acerbic foil to the butter and cheese. On my second visit, I ordered the same thing (because how could I not!?) but stole a bite of Mitch’s bacon jam toastie, sweet with caramelised onion and with salty pops of bacon bits. He was pretty happy with his, and me with mine.

Someday I’ll get up the balls (or should I say ovaries) to order something that isn’t the spaghetti marinara toastie (the mushroom on toast with whipped feta, candied pepitas and and pickled onion sounds like a bit of me) but in the meantime…

Cheese on Toast
931B Mt Eden Road
Three Kings
Auckland

Ph. +64 21 258 9695
@cheeseontoastnz