Someone has opened up a restaurant on Yuyuan Lu that specializes in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches—just buttered bread toasted on a griddle, cheese and other occasional ingredients in between. Nothing more, nothing less. The place has been in business for just over a week, so at the moment there is a very limited menu—just five variations on the sandwich. We tried four of them and probably would have gone for all five if they hadn't run out of one of them. Here is a look at where they're going with this idea.

It starts with the fundamentals.



There is always going to be that person with zero tolerance for foofy fig-watercress-and-melted-gruyere-on-toasted-French-country-bread nonsense. For them there is the classic. It's your basic, original toasted-Wonder-bread-and-yellow-cheese configuration. You probably shouldn't open a grilled cheese restaurant without one of these. I do, however, see potential for rabid debate on even this simple specimen. It all comes down to the cheese. These guys are using real cheddar. I'm pro cheddar, but there are those among us who insist on Kraft American singles. For what it's worth, it's a fine sandwich, regardless, and they're only asking 20 kuai, which isn't too bad, considering Shanghai's inflated prices.

Co. Cheese builds on the classic with this little number...



The Ham and Swiss with Homemade Pickles. They up the bread game with something a little less industrial and square, too. It's got a flavor profile similar to the Cuban, a sandwich I haven't seen in Shanghai in years. You'll pay 35rmb for this one.

Here is where Co Cheese starts to think outside of the box...



This is the Hunan Spicy Pork with Peppers and Mozzarella—by far my favorite of the bunch and only 35rmb. It's an appeal to the local market, and the owner tells me that he has plans for even more sandwiches along the same lines, like a kung pao chicken or hongshao rou. I'm curious to see how he pulls those off.

But here is where Co. Cheese gets a little bit ahead of itself.



Grilled Duck Breast with Red Onion Marmalade, Arugula, and Brie. It's a great idea, and most of its constituent elements work nicely together. My only objection is that it's structurally unsound. The key culprit: leafy greens. When you put leafy greens in a toasted sandwich they either wilt under the heat of the cheese, which is unappetizing, or, this case, they compromise the adhesive properties of the cheese, and your sandwich and your sandwich falls apart. This one goes for 50rmb.

From here, Co. Cheese management tells us they have some pretty big plans for their menu: over 20 sandwiches. That's more variations on the grilled cheese than I would have ever bothered to think about. To get an idea of the direction they're heading in check out this spread of food porn on Buzz Feed. It's a major inspiration for the upcoming menu, they tell us.

A few other burning questions you may have...

Does a restaurant that only serves grilled cheese sandwiches even stand a chance?

Tough call. It's got a few forces working against it. For one thing, it's on a stretch of Yuyuan Lu that doesn't allow it much visibility. It feels hidden in plain site. That said, it's close to loads of office buildings, and on our visit, there were plenty of lunch breakers at the bar, overwhelming the lean kitchen staff. Which brings me to another point. There were no more than two dudes back there, grilling sandwiches on a very small griddle. If they don't scale up that end of the business, a lot of people are going to be waiting entirely too long for a grilled cheese sandwich. We waited almost too long. But, like I said, they've just opened. Hopefully, this is just a kink they'll work out.

Do they serve tomato soup?

Of course. According to the menu its real Campbell's, too, which is fine. Homemade would've been a nice gesture, but I doubt they have the kitchen space for it. That's forgivable, I suppose.

For a listing of Co. Cheese Melt Bar click here.