Food: Six New Sandwich Shops

Sandwiches are the official comfort food of lockdown. With bread soured from artisan bakeries and fillings made in-house by fine dining and international chefs, quality and variety have skyrocketed.

Sangas are portable, filling and affordable – and they’re here to stay. Here are six new sandwich shops to put on your must-try list.

Bala Sanga

Rear Laneway, 296 Carlisle Street, Balaclava

The only thing cooler than a sandwich shop is a sandwich shop down a laneway behind a roller door. You’ll find it in the garage of Pretty Little restaurant, with a white tiled bench and a few stools. Order fresh sandwiches with curried egg, salad on rye, or poached chicken and pickled celery, or try a toasted triple cheese, a meatball sub or a barbecued beef-cheek number with red kraut and smoked raclette.

Warkop

12 Risley Street, Richmond

Ever had Indonesian gado-gado in a sandwich? Now you can, thanks to Warkop, which takes the ingredients of the owners’ heritage and serves them between bread. Along with the traditional peanut salad dish, they’re also serving beef pastrami with pickled cucumber, cheese and rendang sauce on light rye, pork belly with aromats such as lemongrass and kaffir lime on multigrain, and more.

Ca Com

336 Bridge Road, Richmond

Anchovy restaurant opened a new banh mi bar next door after their Vietnamese rolls became hugely popular during last year’s lockdowns. Expect cheffy techniques such as making jungle-spiced pork sausages from scratch, stuffing garfish with prawn mousse and turning Barongarook pork into gio thu (brawn made from sliced pig’s head, house rice wine and wood ear mushrooms). FYI, ca com means anchovy in Vietnamese.

Jolly Good

373 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Former Gimlet chef Raphael Exton Pery started the Jolly Good sandwich pop-up last year and is now located at the Near and Far craft beer bar in Fitzroy. He uses Cobb Lane bread for his four sangas: free-range chook with citrus herb mayo; rare roast beef with swiss cheese; farmhouse cheddar with salad; and a cheese, pickle and mustard toastie. Add a fresh pretzel and mustard for $8 or a doughnut for $6 on weekends.

Stan’s Deli
248b Glenferrie Road, Malvern

This New York-inspired, green-and-white deli opened earlier in the year when a handful of hospitality lovers were dissatisfied with the number of affordable and delicious dining options within their five-kilometre radius. Their specials are worth keeping an eye out for (check @stansdeli on Instagram). In the past there have been Mexican-inspired birria toasties with consomme for dipping, homemade chicken schnitzel focaccia with fermented honey garlic mayo, and house flatbread with chicken chettinad, coconut and slaw.

Seoul Toast Bong
Shop 6, Healeys Lane, Melbourne

These street food sandwiches are already big in Korea, and Seoul Toast Bong has more than 200 stores in the Motherland. This is their first Aussie store. Located on Healeys Lane opposite another sando favourite, Nico’s Sandwich Deli, the menu features white toast stuffed with square omelettes, ham, cheese, hash browns and bulgogi beef. It’s the secret sauces that arrive pre-made from Korea that make it special.