Flask speakeasy has a sandwichery out front and it's ridiculous

Posted 2021-04-12 ThatsShanghai

By Betty Richardson

Flask, that speakeasy and craft cocktail bar best known for its secret entrance hidden inside a coke machine, now has a sandwich shop out front called The Press.

The menu is small – just one page of sandwiches, plus a few dessert sandwiches(!) and drinks.

First up, if you're anything like us you'll find it extremely hard to choose one sandwich from this bunch, and we honestly wouldn't blame you if you ate two (they're not that big). But seriously, how are you supposed to choose between the 'Flask melt' (RMB55, with three melted cheeses, bourbon-honey bacon on white toast) and the 'K-Town' (RMB55, housemade kimchi, BBQ pork belly, aged cheddar and caramelized onion)?

It's very difficult.

Finally we decided on the 'Wake Up Call' (RMB65), which as has also been noted by Rachel Gouk of ShanghaiWOW, is reminiscent of a McDonald's Egg McMuffin for all the right reasons (are there any wrong reasons?!).

Packed with smoky chorizo sausage, a still-runny fried egg, spicy tomato chutney, Sriracha sauce and more aged cheddar than can possibly be good for your arteries, it was seriously good and unpretentious.

By itself that would be a tough act to follow, but what came next was luckily on the same level: the 'Nacho Cheese' (RMB65), AKA 'All the Fun of Nachos in a Sandwich.'

Featuring yet more aged cheddar, soft-boiled egg, jalapeños, mayonnaise and Sriracha on toast, it came with relief that guac is most certainly not extra – slices of ripe avocado in every bite with this bad boy. Plus, it's vegetarian (as far as we can tell).

In fact, The Press has four other notable vegetarian numbers: the 'Einstein's Gravity' (RMB50, caramelized onion, green apple, aged cheddar on white toast), the 'Greek Princess' (RMB50, sautéed garlic spinach, roasted pine nut, aged cheddar and feta on sourdough), the 'Italian Job' (RMB65, truffle, gouda cheese and honey comb on sourdough) and the 'Magic Mushroom' (RMB65, grilled Puerto Rico mushroom, fried egg, aged cheddar and caramelized onion).

Last and actually kind of least (well, the previous two are tough acts to follow), we tried the 'French Butter' (RMB80), which employs seared foie gras with caramelized mango on top of buttered and gently toasted sourdough.

The caramelized mango definitely goes well with the foie gras, and kudos for the nice sourdough toast, but it would be tough to prioritize this over the former two.

For desserts, The Press has it covered with three dessert sandwiches: the 'Hey Honey' (RMB50, peanut butter and honey comb), 'Monkey Business' (RMB50, banana and peanut butter) and 'S'mores' (RMB45).

The 'S'mores' comes with melted marshmallow, Nutella and hazelnut chunks, on pressed white toast. Goes without saying it's a winner.

According Flask proprietor Jackson Cheng, a sandwich bar concept for The Press has been in place since Flask opened last year, but it took them a while to get up and running. "We wanted to do grilled cheese with a twist, so we went out and tried about 30 different variations," he explains. "Myself, business partner Kevin Yu and our Chef Michael experimented with a bunch of different tastes, but managed to narrow it down to about 14 sandwiches."

Luckily for Flask's late night customers, The Press will cater to bar customers and stay open til around 1am nightly, and around 2am on busy nights (last orders at 1.30am).

Furthermore, they'll let you go ahead and order a Flask cocktail to drink with your sandwich if you're eating at The Press out front.

Our bill for these four sandwiches came in at RMB255, which left us pretty stuffed. If you're planning on imbibing, Flask cocktails are around RMB90 each. Juices, soda and mineral water are available at The Press from RMB20.

Price: RMB45-80 per sandwich
Who's going: Flask customers, sandwich connoisseurs
Good for: late night eats, sandwiches, grilled cheese

// The Press, 432 Shaanxi Nan Lu, by Fuxing Zhong Lu.

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