Cafe Vincennes Deux; Hot Pressed Sandwiches Are Still In and They're Delicious!

I remember having a grilled sandwich maker at home when I was a kid. There was a time when they were really popular and it was fun to pop in your ingredients of choice and come out with a cheesy warm toasty sandwich. But then it became too troublesome to clean and just started taking up space in the kitchen. It wasn't very popular anymore, which is why I was surprised when I came to Japan that grilled sandwiches, or hot sandwiches were so easy to find in cafes all around town. I've always liked pressed sandwiches, for it's toasty flavour, crusty edges, and the way they form a pocket so that the fillings don't fall out.

Recently I tried a hot pressed sandwich in a cafe in Sakae, the heart of Nagoya. Cafe Vincennes Deux has appeared countless times on lists of cafes to check out in the city. It's a bit hidden, but once you enter, you'll immediately feel relaxed with the warm, dim lighting, and the wooden counter, tables and chairs. I was shown to my seat in the back where there were individual booths separated by translucent walls. I found it had a slight kissaten, or old Japanese-style cafe feel.

The cafe is a bit hidden, in the basement floor of this building

Entrance

Booth seating, warm atmosphere

On the lunch menu were items such as doria (a stew baked on top of rice), honey toast, quiche, and of course the hot sandwich, the "mosshu モッシュ", which I assume gets its name from the croque monsieur. All lunches come with a coffee or tea, a light salad and corn soup.

The bitter choice

Corn potage and appetizer salad

There were two choices of coffee and I chose the heavier, bitter blend. It was slightly more bitter than my usual cup, but that only helped me sip and savour the strong coffee flavour more. The soup and salad was nothing too notable (the soup was creamy and sweet like all the corn potages that many Western-style eateries in Japan seem to serve). 

Toasty grilled sandwich

Two types of fillings, egg salad, and ham and cheese

Then came the sandwich...or two. Both had a buttery and toasty outer layer, one was filled with an egg salad, and the other with ham and cheese. I found the egg salad a little to salty; no need for the cute little jar of salt served on the plate. However, the choice of cheese on the ham sandwich worked well to mellow out the sodium in the cold cut. Often times when you order a sandwich in Japan, it comes with the crusts sliced off the bread, which makes me sad because that is my favourite part! Here, not only do they keep the crusts on, the grilling plate gives it that extra crunch, part of the appeal of a hot press. Not too oily to pick up with the fingers, this sandwich was a toasty delight (the whole set 900 yen).

Area: Two blocks north of Sakae station 栄駅, Nagoya city 名古屋

Restaurant: Cafe Vincennes Deux カフェヴィンサンヌ・ドゥ

Website: http://www.cafe-deux.com/

Hours: 11am-11pm, lunch 11:30am-2pm (the website says 3pm, but it actually ends earlier)