Growing up in Nashville ages ago, I never imagined that Nashville Hot Chicken would become the quintessential food to define this city. From a landscape where the only restaurant one needed to know was Prince’s, Nashville now has a number of options spanning all corners of the city with almost all being featured in some form at least once on Food Network. I won’t go into the debate on which has the best chicken or which has the hottest, but I would recommend trying as many places as you can and deciding which one is for you.
While it was the hot chicken that brought us to Pepperfire Hot Chicken, my biggest surprise was another signature item on their menu – the Peppercheese.
The Peppercheese is a grilled cheese sandwich made with pepper jack cheese, breaded and then deep fried. While this is definitely not for those on a diet, it will appeal to the inner foodie in even the most die-hard of health nuts.
After ordering and picking up our Peppercheese, the first thing we noted was that the bread slices were thicker, along the lines of Texas toast, but we felt like this was probably necessary to maintain texture and integrity of the sandwich while frying. However, while the bread appeared to be a substantial part of the dish, Pepperfire maintained the perfect ratio of cheese to bread so that every bite yielded melted, gooey, hot cheese that’s surrounded by a fluffy, pillow of bread with the right amount of crunch along the exterior.
It’s also important to note that the frying on the Peppercheese is spot on. There were no surprise oil gushes or puddles when biting into it or when wrapping your hands around it.
For those thinking, “why would I order a sandwich, when I came here for the hot chicken”, never fear. The sandwich works perfectly to complement any of the hot chicken dinners on the menu, or you can order the Tender Royale, which is a Peppercheese and 3 chicken tenders.
Pepperfire Hot Chicken is located at 1000 Gallatin Avenue in Nashville, TN.
For more pictures from Pepperfire, check out our instagram.
