The new Forest Hills location of Uncle Cheetah’s Soup Shop should definitely go on your list of restaurants to try
More stories from Alex Smith
A fresh grilled cheese and a hot bowl of soup embodies my idea of fall—cozy, warm, and yummy food. So, naturally, when a new grilled cheese and soup shop opened up ten minutes away from my house, I had to try it out.
Uncle Cheetah’s Soup Shop is a branch of the Electric Cheetah company. My family loves to eat at Electric Cheetah, especially since one opened by our house last year.
When you walk into the shop, there are chalkboards hung up with the menus for the day consisting of soups, salads, and sandwiches. You can see right into the very large kitchen, which I think is pretty neat. There are some tables to sit down at, and the walls are decorated with portraits of people painted in bright colors.
My dad and I ordered our food and sat down to wait. It only took around ten minutes to make, and it was surprisingly cheap. We spent around thirty-two dollars for a meal that could easily feed four people—two sandwiches and three sixteen-ounce soups. I could not wait to get home and try all of the food.
Garage Sale Sandwich
Did I mention how much I love grilled cheese? I add so much cheese to mine, which is why I picked this sandwich. It has four types of cheese—swiss, yellow cheddar, mozzarella, and a rosemary goat cheese spread.
It was very rich. The amount of cheese was almost overbearing, but I also don’t think it would’ve been the same with less. It also felt a little rubbery when I was chewing it. However, that could’ve been due to the fact that there were about twenty minutes between when the sandwich was made and when I actually ate it, so the cheese cooled causing it to solidify a bit more.
I think that the type of bread used to make grilled cheese is very important. Some types of bread are just better. That being said, I think that the bread used in this sandwich was an incredible choice. It went very well with the cheeses. It was toasty and warm, meaning I had the desired crunch.
This sandwich will definitely be on my list of must-eats at Uncle Cheetah’s.
Turn up the Jam Sandwich
Honestly, I was prepared to completely hate this sandwich. It is cheddar, grilled chicken, and sweet and spicy strawberry chipotle jam. Let me tell you everything I thought was wrong with this sandwich. The first thing is that I hate chicken. I only like it in the form of nuggets or when it comes with my Chinese food. Also, I couldn’t grasp why someone would want to put strawberry jam on a grilled cheese that already has chicken.
However, I was very surprised when I took my first bite. It tasted like a pulled-pork sandwich. If I hadn’t known that the jam was strawberry chipotle, I would’ve said it was barbecue sauce. The chicken had lots of flavor, and I actually enjoyed it. And even though I don’t understand the taste of the jam, it greatly complemented the rest of the sandwich.
The bread on this one was a little soggy when I ate it, but there was jam on it, so that could be conducive to the sogginess. Overall, this sandwich was quite delicious, and it is also going on the must-eat list.
Roasted Red Pepper Asiago Bisque
Asiago bagels are my favorite kind of bagel despite the fact that I didn’t know what asiago was before writing this; I now know that it is a cheese. So, how could I go wrong with asiago in a soup? Add in the fact that peppers are my favorite vegetable, and this soup had to reach some very high expectations to meet.
I immediately could taste the pepper and the cheese in the first sip I had. I could taste them separately and together at the same time, which is weird, I know. I could also taste a lot of herbs that must have gone into the making of this delicacy. All of the flavors blended together beautifully, and I was very enthused.
The soup is a little chunky, but not like it had chunks of anything in it; it just had little bumps where there were bits of cheese or pepper. I personally enjoyed the rough texture of the soup, and it for sure met the expectations I had.
Pepper Steak Soup
I said above that peppers are my favorite vegetable, and I stand by that as I tell you about this soup, despite the disappointment I hold in peppers after tasting it.
When I read pepper steak, I thought, ‘Great! Peppers and steak, I love both of those,’ and now I’m questioning that thought. The broth was the best part, but it had little to no flavor. The only thing I tasted was a little bit of heat initially, but it died down in seconds.
I expected to have both peppers and steak in my soup—and there were—but definitely not an equal portion. When my parents poured their bowls and only peppers and onions came out, we thought the steak had sunk to the bottom. But when I poured the last dredges of the soup into my bowl and there were only three measly chunks of steak, we were proven wrong. It was a three-to-one ratio of papers to steak, and I was not happy with that.
Despite my disappointment, I ate the soup that contained mostly peppers and onions. Neither of those vegetables had much flavor, and I was left with a bland soup. If bland soup is your jam, then go for it, but otherwise, you might want to steer clear of this soup.
Ratatouille Soup
When I say that peppers are my favorite vegetable, the list of vegetables I like is pretty short. It includes peppers—obviously—cucumber, carrots, and occasionally celery. So when I realized that this soup is all vegetables, I did not appreciate it. I like to have meat in my soup; it adds a little sparkle to the boring vegetables. But no. I had vegetarian soup, and I love vegetarian food most of the time, but not in this soup when I ate a bunch of veggies I don’t like.
It was tomato based with zucchini, yellow squash, roasted red peppers, mirepoix, and garbanzo beans. I only like the peppers. I ate the soup anyway, and it wasn’t terrible, but I did not appreciate the number of veggies that I dislike. However, it was a learning experience since I now know that I like garbanzo beans, and garbanzo is fun to say.
I would not order this soup again, but it is an amazing vegetarian option. As opposed to vegetables as I am, I can get over that and appreciate the fact that this soup was tasty; it just isn’t something I would choose to eat.
There are many amazing options at Uncle Cheetah’s Soup Shop, and I definitely recommend trying it out.
Alex is a senior entering her fourth and final year on staff for The Central Trend. She has been waiting for the opportunity to become Editor-in-Chief,...