Get Your Hands on Australia's Best Sandwiches
Across the country, fancy sandwiches are proving the best new thing since sliced bread.
Hector’s Deli, Melbourne
1/24It all started with a little Richmond milk bar, which quickly became chef Dom Wilton’s ground zero for great things between bread. Nowadays, he has three Hector’s Delis: in Richmond, South Melbourne and the brand new Fitzroy shop, which opened in November. Head for the egg salad.
Mortadeli, Melbourne
2/24The new kid on the sandwich block from owner Jack Cassar, this Torquay surf coast shop offers what could well be the area’s best conti roll, stuffed with mixed meats, cheese and Spanish pickles. There’s also pastrami on dark rye and plenty of takeaway cold cuts.
Cut Lunch Deli, Sydney
3/24There are schnitzel sangas and then there’s the mighty Schnitz from Cut Lunch Deli. The supersize painting of a sandwich on the wall is the first indication that this tiny café does things large. But it’s not until the sesame-panko-crumbed chicken, hanging out either side of the bun, is in front of you that you realise exactly what you’re in for. It’s paired with just a few ingredients – sweet zucchini pickle mayo, pickled red onion and shredduce (shredded lettuce) – and that’s all it needs. The crowd favourite has been on the menu since day one and there’s no sign of it going anywhere, with another iteration of it on the After Hours menu.
Image credit: just down the road
Just Down the Road, Adelaide
4/24Any shop offering two types of chicken sandwich – the classic shredded roast chicken with aioli and iceberg, and fried chicken with bread and butter pickles – is more than okay by us. There’s also an alfalfa, feta and asparagus number served on rye at this city sandwich specialist.
Image credit: St. J's
St. J’s Deli, Hobart
5/24Is the baguette this year’s bread of choice? Quite possibly, based on the evidence here. Exhibit A: stracciatella, mortadella, confit tomato and pesto. Not to be outdone by exhibit B: slow-cooked lamb shoulder, olive tapenade and whipped feta.
Image credit: heart attack and vine
Heartattack and Vine, Melbourne
6/24The name says it all at this all-day Carlton diner. Order a tortilla roll (Spanish omelette with caramelised onion and potato on ciabatta) in the morning, a porchetta roll (roast pork, salsa verde, sambal) in the afternoon and a meatball sanger at night.
King and Godfree, Melbourne
7/24K&G Deli is just one part of a 150-year-old gourmet empire in Carlton. Here, it’s all about croque signor (ham, cheese, bechamel) and the bacon and egg panini with salsa rosso, ordered and eaten at the espresso counter.
Image credit: Lauren Gray
Fabbrica, Sydney
8/24This CBD deli, bar and general store from the folks behind Italian bar Ragazzi offers a porchetta roll for the ages. And for vegetarians: roast asparagus, peas, mint and buffalo curd. Team yours with a Negroni and perch in the petite courtyard.
Image credit: gretas
Greta, Melbourne
9/24It’s a city wine bar, sure, but it’s a wine bar that doubles as a café that’s open from breakfast and serves simple Spanish bodega classics such as a warm buttered roll with a side of jamón. For lunch, get into the folded egg sandwich with melted provolone.
Image credit: soulmate
Soulmate, Sydney
10/24Order a side of chips with this Newtown cafe’s blood sausage number, with herbed mayo and sambal, or try the behemoth fried chicken sandwich with melted American cheese.
Bottega Bandito, Adelaide
11/24This sweet café and deli in Prospect serves a fried eggplant sanger with tomato kasundi, cabbage and herbs for the veggos alongside a sopressa and fior di latte choice for carnivores.
Image credit: Leigh Griffiths
Sandoitchi, Sydney
12/24Fluffy Japanese-style sandos at this Darlinghurst café include crumbed chicken katsu with lettuce, kimchi and tonkatsu mayo. Or for the ultimate indulgence, go for yuzu whipped cream and fruit on white bread.
Falafel Omisi, Perth
13/24Visit this Yokine eatery for falafel and chips, served in a pita pocket with pickles and salad, or a classic sabich – sautéed eggplant, hard-boiled egg, hummus, tahini and salad, all stuffed in pita. Or a vegetarian shawarma with seven types of mushroom. Yes, seven.
Fresca, Canberra
14/24What really sets apart Queanbeyan’s Fresca – housed within the Nellie Hamilton Centre, a 25-minute drive south-east of Canberra’s CBD – from your average sandwich slinger is its Tuscan-style schiacciata, baked fresh daily. Puffed and crisped in a woodfired oven, each loaf halved and stuffed with everything from truffled pecorino to creamy pistachio and mortadella or even house-crumbed chicken schnitzel with semi-dried tomato pesto. All fillings are great with a chai matcha latte or creamy pistachio affogato.
Image credit: delis continental
Deli’s Continental, Perth
15/24A meatball sub covered in melted cheese, pesto and more tomato sauce than a Sicilian passata day. True to name, there’s also the show-stopping conti roll with deli meats, salad and cheeses. A West Coast classic.
Image credit: Nikki To
Good Ways, Sydney
16/24Such is the popularity of Redfern’s favourite sandwich bar, they’ve opened a second shop down the road in Alexandria. At both outlets you’ll find the deli sandwich (kangaroo mortadella, ham, salami, cheeses and pickles) and a classic salad number with grated beetroot and carrot.
Sunny Side, Brisbane
17/24The focus at this Windsor shop is on sandwiches you could stop a door with. Chicken schnitzel on Japanese-style white bread with pickles and mayo. Or egg salad, the boiled egg split down the middle with a perfect yolk.
Bertas, Sydney
18/24Locals rightfully flock to Marrickville’s Bertas for its sandwiches – spanning the classic pastrami, a pistachio-pesto-laced mortadella number and a turkey option teamed with blackberry compote and stracciatella – but the drinks are just as delicious. On offer: the ubiquitous strawberry matcha (with housemade compote), a tahini-spiked latte with cinnamon and molasses and a “smashable” iced tea, which is aptly described as “Turkish Delight in a cup”.
Penny’s Cheese Shop, Sydney
19/24Yes, it’s essentially a cheese store… But! There’s also a modest menu of very good sandwiches at this Potts Point site. A crunchy baguette, for instance, filled with gooey camembert and slices of salami. There are cicchetti, such as focaccia with buffalo mozzarella and mortadella. And, of course, a four-cheese toastie.
Arno Deli, Newcastle
20/24Housed in a sunshine-yellow building on King Street, Arno Deli is an Italian-inspired deli in the heart of Newcastle’s CBD that’s quickly become one of the city’s hottest lunch spots. You’ll be rightfully distracted by the cabinets overflowing with housemade cannoli and the fluid dance of staff preparing sandwiches at the “panino pass” but keep your eyes on the prize: the green boards that detail the sandwich menu. For a classic bite that nods to the motherland, opt for #12, which features smoked pepperoni and buffalo mozzarella matched with vodka and tomato sugo. The #15 is a dream for pork-lovers, laden with Campari-glazed ham and porchetta; while vegetarians won’t be disappointed with #29, which marries grilled broccolini with aïoli and Calabrian chilli. Pre-ordering is recommended.
Nug General Store, Brisbane
21/24It’s a general store, a deli, somewhere to grab a glass of wine and a sandwich in Fortitude Valley. Sarah Baldwin, chef from the tiny but mighty Joy restaurant, has created a menu of five sandwiches that changes regularly. Keep an eye out for the pepperberry salami with cream cheese and tomato or roast pork with potato and Swiss cheese.
DOM’s Deli, Canberra
22/24Taking up residence in the storied National Film and Sound Archive of Australia in August 2025, DOM’s Deli – helmed by the Church Neighbourhood Goods team – is the ideal spot to refuel after being immersed in the country’s rich audiovisual history. The menu is short and sweet: alongside sweet treats of tiramisù, doughnuts and ButterBoy cookies, there are just eight sandwiches – some fresh, some toasted – on offer. Give your tastebuds a jolt with the Hot Honey Salumi, where spicy sopressa is slathered in fermented garlic honey. Or go for the signature Dom’s Special: basil pesto, roasted red pepper and mortadella topped with black olives.
Glass Wholefoods, Maroochydore
23/24It may be titled “Breaky Burger” on the menu but don’t let the name of this dish deceive you. The option to swap out the bun for vegan sourdough firmly places it in the all-day sanga category, while the addition of crunchy fresh apple slaw, slightly melted Swiss cheese, a gooey fried egg and chemical-free bacon elevate it from standard morning staple to serious show-stealer. Better still, bread-lovers with a gluten intolerance can opt for gluten-free bread – as thick as shokupan and as fluffy as its wheat-based counterpart. Don’t be late: this coastal-cool wholefoods café serves up this tasty number until 1pm.
