Milk Truck: A Better Grilled Cheese

The NYPL celebrates the history of NYC lunches with their exhibit Lunch Hour NYC. In front of the building, we're offering up some modern lunch history by bringing exciting lunch options to the Fifth Avenue Terrace. Isabelle has graciously agreed to eat her way through the Food Trucks on Fifth. Over the next month, she'll give you a full picture of the array of cuisines in store at the rotating truck schedule.

‘Comfort food just like at home’ – that’s what I heard people saying about Milk Truck, the fourth food truck that I had the pleasure to try at Food Trucks on Fifth. I don’t totally agree with that statement. I would rather say ‘comfort food just like at home but also a thousand times better’. Indeed Milk Truck is brilliant at what they do, namely grilled cheeses. If you want to enjoy a taste of it and reconnect with childhood memories, then visit Milk Truck on Tuesdays from 11 am to 3 pm in front of the New York Public Library.

Milk Truck uses simple ingredients, but combines them in a sophisticated way, so that they become great dishes. Whatever you will get, you will notice that the quality of the products is flawless and that someone must have spent a lot of time figuring out what exact bread to pair with which kind of cheese.

We first tried the classic lunch combo. It comes with a ‘simple’ grilled cheese and a tomato soup. Aged Wisconsin Gruyere and Balthazar Levain country Pullman are what constitute the ‘Milk Truck Classic’. In contrast to people, most cheeses get more desirable when they get older. Young Gruyere is very mild but the aged version has more character and flavor. The Levain bread is a perfect partner for this cheese - more flavorful than white bread and not as destructive as a German ‘Pumpernickel’ would be. Moreover, the toast slices are not too thick so that taking a bite out of the sandwich makes you really enjoy a big chunk of cheese. Combined with the tomato soup it is absolutely delicious. As I am new to the American grilled cheese culture, I had the pleasure to discover the dipping technique which I think is a brilliant way to make the cheese and the tomato soup come together.

We continued our exploration of the grilled cheese universe with the ‘Bacon Cheddar Blue’. It is made out of double smoked Bacon, NY style cheddar, blue cheese, caramelized onions and spicy pickles. All this served in between two incredibly crunchy slices of rosemary bread. This option is definitely for the gourmets among you.

We finished our little feast with a sweet Vanilla Bean milkshake. It contains not only Tahitian but also Madagascar Vanilla beans. I must confess I don’t know the exact difference in terms of flavor but if combining them makes the shake one of the best sugar rushes I ever had in my life, I am totally okay with that…

Dear readers, I am obsessed with cheese and if you are not yet, then visit Milk Truck and you will come share my feelings. The amazing thing is that the menu is huge and in case you are not in the mood for a sandwich, just order the Mac and Cheese, topped with Béchamel sauce and homemade breadcrumbs. Milk Truck also offers a choice of daily salad and soup specials and lots of other milkshakes that will directly catapult you into a delicious food coma.

Food Trucks on Fifth Schedule
Weekdays, 11am-3pm

Monday: Mexicue
   
Tuesday: Milk Truck

Wednesday: Nuchas

Thursday: Chinese Mirch

Friday: Souvlaki GR

By Isabelle Steichen