Seven To Try: Sydney’s Best New Sandwich Shops For a Winning Lunch

Sandwiches have hit their stride in Sydney, with ripper spots dedicated to the handheld meal cropping up all over town. Lucky us. Sliced bread (does a bagel count?) is stuffed with the good stuff – be it chook, veggies or house-smoked pastrami – before condiments make it shine. A simple and excellent way to eat.

Not all sanga shops are made to be the best, but we’ve done the hard yards and can attest to the calibre of the seven here. Get into it.

Ol’ Mates, Earlwood

This lively little sandwich joint (just over the Marrickville border in Earlwood) is owned by a set of brothers – and the menu is good, plain and simple. The poached chicken sanga is fresh with cos, avocado and pickled red onion, and the chicken schnitty option is a whopper. As for the veggie-laden number, it’s a biggie too: carrot, avo, pickles and lettuce, jazzed up with a family-recipe tirokafteri. Adding a hash brown and a swipe of fermented chillies from The Fermentalists is the only way to go.
2 Homer Street, Earlwood

Self Raised Snack Shoppe, Bexley North

This takeaway window is the hot younger sibling to blockbuster Carlton bakery Self Raised. But there are a bunch of Snack Shoppe-only items, like a god-tier hoagie. It’s an updated recipe, where a thick double stack of meat (veal ham and mortadella) is enlivened by shredded lettuce, toms and spicy pepperoncini. The fish roll is also a double-stack champ: two golden fillets of crumbed hake go Macca’s-style with cheese, pickles, onion and the house tartare.
Shop 4/20 Sarsfield Circuit, Bexley North

Tita, Marrickville

Listen, Tita has more on offer than sandwiches but there’s a brekkie muffin worth your attention. Pandesal – a slightly sweet Filipino bread – is made in the morning, then sliced open and filled with longanisa, banana ketchup and a hash brown. Queues form daily for Tita’s menu, and there’s a vegan longanisa muffin (made with Impossible pork) to keep everyone fed.
Shop 4/359 Illawarra Road, Marrickville

MLK Deli, Surry Hills

Myra Karakelle swapped the corporate life for the hospo one, opening bright blue cafe MLK (or Myra’s Little Kitchen). Karakelle has Afghani and Uzbek heritage, and her husband’s Turkish, so the sandwich flavours lean into Central and West Asia. There’s a chicken sanga where Uzbek-style chicken thigh fillets and a spicy Algerian sauce join in a rye ciabatta, and the Risky Brisket, where brisket pastrami is sliced fresh and layered with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and a house sauce. For something less meaty, opt for the house-smoked tofu.
168 Campbell Street, Surry Hills

Pauly’s Deli, Wetherill Park

Pauly Davelis’s hospo “apprenticeship” was a childhood spent in his parents’ takeaway shop. Now he’s putting his own spin on it. Opt for a hefty sub stuffed with an eight-hour, house-made brisket, mushies and slaw, or the OG, where a scotch fillet sits between two white slices with lettuce, tomato, beetroot and caramelised onions. A serve of potato gems is a golden side.
Kiosk 5/1187 The Horsley Drive, Wetherill Park

Recess, Surry Hills

Within two days in March, a three-block patch of Surry Hills copped two new spots for a standout sandwich. One was MLK, and the other was Recess. This smaller, canteen-style joint pumps out well-priced sangas. Just over 10 bucks will get you a great BLT or chicken and avo, while it’s only $9.90 for the curried egg. It’s simple – and a simply excellent choice when the lunch bell rings.
Shop 1/389 Bourke Street, Surry Hills

Avner’s, Surry Hills

Is a sliced and filled bagel a sandwich? We’re sure there are valid points for and against, but we’re counting it. This new corner joint spruiks hand-made bagels loaded with lox, cream cheese and capers, or eggplant, pickles and egg. The pastrami’s smoked in-house, too. Order, then watch as bakers knead and roll. Grab a chocolate babka for later.