What The Dickins: A Tale Of Edinburgh City

Meltmongers – The Best Cheese Toastie in Edinburgh

We all love a grilled cheese sandwich here at the Dickins office. It’s the ultimate comfort food – so simple yet so genius. You might’ve noticed that there seems to be a toastie craze in the UK with shops popping up here and there, and you can only imagine how happy we were when Edinburgh got its own melt shop a few months back!

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The shop is called Meltmongers and is the reason behind a steady flow of gooey cheese-filled pics on Instagram that make you want to ditch your healthy lunch plans and head over to Bruntsfield. You might also recognise the place from Telegraph’s recent article “The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches in Britain“.

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We felt that this needed to be investigated more, so spent five minutes with the owner Martin, asking him cheesy questions whilst drooling over the toasties…

For our readers who are yet to hear about Meltmongers – how would you sum it up in one sentence?

A cheese lover’s utopia – high quality melt sandwiches in a stylish, seat yourself dining environment.

Tell us where the idea of opening a grilled cheese sandwich shop came from?

I lived in the States for 3 years where grilled cheese is pretty popular so I thought it would be something that would go down well here!

How did you come up with the name?

Not much of a story I’m afraid – I wanted to incorporate the word Melt and so the word mongers was one of the first to come to mind.

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What’s it like being a new shopkeeper?

It’s tiring, stressful at times, but very rewarding!

Bruntsfield is a great location – what attracted you to that area?

Having grown up locally it was an area that had the right demographic. Location is key for any business so being patient was vital.  It’s easy to sometimes take somewhere for the sake of it but I bided my time until the right spot opened up.

Your toasties are delicious – which one is the most popular with your customers?

At the moment it’s the Mac’n’cheese which is a melt of the month. It’s been so popular it will remain a permanent fixture! Prior to that it would be the Big Cheese: Mature cheddar, American and Gruyere with our homemade sweet tomato and chilli chutney.

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What’s your preferred takeaway (you can’t say Meltmongers!)?

Pizza. More carbs with melted cheese…

And more importantly, what’s your all time favourite cheese??

Probably the ubiquitous mature cheddar, but extra-mature!

Can you order a Meltmongers takeaway?

Meltmongers is predominantly a takeaway but at the moment it’s pick up only. We could be trialling a new breakfast delivery menu soon though…

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What does Edinburgh mean to you?

It’s a fantastic city to grow up in, despite feeling like a village at times. That said, I try not to take its beauty and historical and cultural attractions for granted.

What’s you favourite place in Edinburgh?

I grew up next to Craig House in Morningside – a historic estate dating back to the 16th century. I spent a lot of my childhood playing in the grounds and it’s a wonderful green space with fantastic views of the Edinburgh skyline. It’s both sad and depressing to see a contentious housing development has been given the go ahead by Edinburgh Council.

As an Edinburger born and bred, you must know this city pretty well. If you had to recommend three places to grab breakfast, dinner and then evening drinks, which would you choose and why?

Wildwood in Marchmont (formerly Toast) has always been a favourite breakfast haunt, as it’s on our doorstep, for their full Scottish breakfast. The Outsider on George IV  Bridge is consistently good for dinner and The Canny Man’s pub in Morningside – an Edinburgh institution that’s been run by the same family for generations.

For any tourists coming to Edinburgh this year – what’s the one place you would urge them to visit (aside from Meltmongers)?

The Crawford Collection is a bit of an unknown wonder at The Royal Observatory Edinburgh. It is one of the most extensive and valuable astronomical libraries in the world and also includes Sir Isaac Newton’s death mask.  

Get in touch

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Planning a trip to Edinburgh? Take a look at our self catering apartments, all centrally located. Why stay in a hotel when you can get a whole apartment for yourself and feel like a local?

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