The Hotel Room Grilled Cheese Sandwich

The common issue when traveling around for anime or comic book conventions is eating while inside the hotel room. Common tricks include ordering room service, stocking up on snack foods, or the clich© anime fan trick of using the coffee maker to heat water for instant noodles. But room service is expensive, snacks can only go so far, and I gave up instant noodles after graduating from university.

On a whim during Fanime (the Bay Area's largest anime convention), I decided to see if my standard sized Marriott hotel room could provide me a way to prepare a little hot lunch. My hotel mates (all veterans of the con scene) had the foresight to bring a cooler stocked with sodas, pasta salad, fruit, and some pre-made sandwiches wrapped in foil. With half an hour to kill before having to attend the convention's events, I grabbed one of the pre-made sandwiches. It's the typical ham and cheese sandwich. It'll fill me up, but leaves me rather unsatisfied since it is a cold sandwich.

I took out the iron and the ironing board from the closet. Unfolding the ironing board and letting the iron warm up to the highest setting, I tossed the sandwich, which was still wrapped in foil, on top of the ironing board. Once the iron felt hot, I placed it on top of the sandwich. While the hotel iron heated that side of the sandwich, I reread my convention program guide and wondered why it lacked a guide to the live programs or a schedule of what was going on where. It took about ten minutes before I figured the first side was done as I flipped the hot aluminum packet onto its other side and repeated the heating process.

Unwrapping the still hot aluminum, I was impressed at how toasty the bread became. Peeling into the sandwich, the meat was nicely heated comparable to what is ordered from a chain sandwich shop. But most of all, the cheese is an ooey, gooey mess inside the sandwich with just a bit oozing out. I enjoyed the hot sandwich with some hotel tea and an apple for a delightful lunch. The best part is the relaxation with waiting for a comfort food lunch.

Next time, I'll prep sandwiches with sliced tomato and mustard. My ideal hotel iron grilled sandwich would be the Reuben with corned beef, sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese. I am curious what else the hotel iron can heat up for a meal and will experiment further at the next convention.