Kosta's Rockdale, Calabria Panineria, Frank's Deli, Lombardo and Sandoitchi Sydney Sandwich Crawl

I went on a Sandwich crawl with my friends Howard and Ferdinando to show y'all some of the best sandwiches in Sydney right now. All the sandwich places in this list were all curated by Howard. They are all Howard approved.

Link to the video below!

Shops: Lombardo https://goo.gl/maps/DRXnh2gSUdh2d72EA Frank's Deli https://goo.gl/maps/eZQ2AAGy5A8cZEVn8 Sandoitchi https://goo.gl/maps/zXxUFRZjhPaLApUb7 Kosta's Takeaway https://g.page/kostastakeaway?share Calabria Panineria https://goo.gl/maps/D7rkp9T7VsnbQFUz9

Howard's instagram a/c: https://www.instagram.com/howac/?hl=en Ferdinando's instgram a/c: https://www.instagram.com/foodienando...

Toastie Smith Chatswood, Sydney

I miss Seoul and all its glorious food. This includes the famous Egg Drop Korea, which is an all-day breakky themed toasted sandwich shop. Luckily, Sydney is not missing out!

Recently, the new Toastie Smith has opened in the heart of Chatswood. At Toastie Smith, you can get fluffu egg based toasted sandwiches with a variety of fillings from prawns to spam & ham! Watch my latest vlog as we explore one thing: Is Toastie Smith Sydney’s answer to Egg Drop?! Watch the video below:

Toastie Smith , Chatswood: https://goo.gl/maps/7u2MNXYjuZCVtLjA6 Toastie Smith instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toastiesmith/?hl=en

Sando Bar, Surry Hills

Winter is just around the corner and Sydney is just pumping out new restaurants opening left, right, front and center. In the past month, there’s one that I have patiently waited on. Let’s welcome Sando Bar to the Sydney cafe scene folks!

I’ve been a fan of Head chef and co-owner Naoya Shimada’s (aka @Nasir_San) cooking since his stint at Hills Bros. He’s teamed up with the crew behind Tokyo Bird and Osaka Trading Co to bring this Japanese sando inspired cafe in Surry Hills to life! But wait, it’s more than just a sandwich cafe, he also does ramen!!! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Sando Bar will eventually also serve as an extension of Tokyo Bird at night. Chocolatesuze and I checked them out on their opening day.

The coffee beans are sourced from Little Marionette. So expect some sweet chocolate notes in your coffee. The chocolate flavour profiled coffee was more prominent in my piccolo latte ($3.70). The textured milk temperature was just right.

His pork katsu sando ($14) is insanely good! A perfectly cooked juicy fried crumbed pork loin with apple cabbage slaw, mustard mayo & tonkatsu sauce. The pork was also marinated in shio koji for extra flavour and juiciness. Takes me back to Japan yo and it comes with a side of renkon (lotus root chips).

The breakfast sando ($7) consists of bacon, sweet fluffy tamagoyaki, mayo, rocket and bbq sauce with a side of fruits. 

My homie Nas came up with a ramen that’s suitable for a cafe menu. The shoyu ramen ($17) consists of a torigara shoyu broth that has subtle umami, light chicken flavour with yuzu and peppery notes. The noodles are cooked medium. Toppings include sous vide chicken in butter garlic yuzu, menma, mizuna dressed in yuzu, nori, negi and half hanjuku tamago. The runny yolk on that tamago was on point. Would have loved some extra fat on the broth. Nas doesn't claim that it's the legit kind but I think it is pretty solid for a cafe style ramen. It kind of reminds me of Afuri ramen.

A place of awesome sandos, coffee and ramen all in one place is my kind of joint. Come and visit them as soon as possible fam!! Trust me, they won’t disappoint.

Sando Bar
226 Commonwealth Street
Sydney NSW
Email: info@sandobar.com.au
http://www.sandobar.com.au/ 
Hours: Monday - Saturday 7am to 4pm

Single Origin Roasters CBD, Sydney

In an ever changing world, consistency can be a good thing too. It maintains an established reputation and if it's already great, it stays great! Just like Single Origin Roasters and their Reservoir blend. Hence, why they've become of one of my favourite cafe/roasters of all time. The announcement of their CBD space opening on York Street was one of the best news I've heard recently. 

Single O CBD is a takeaway specialty coffee and sandwich shop. It has small bar-like areas if you choose to have your coffee and food there. The joint is made up of an awesome team headed by Michael Phelan. I love how they have the Reservoir blend up on the wall like it's an artwork/trophy. Well, it's a winning blend to start with anyway. Espresso, milk coffee and batch brews are available. The food mainly consists of sandwiches, toasties and some pastries. 

I tried a batch brew of Tanzania Mimba ($3.50). It had beautiful notes of red currant and light cola. It tasted almost like Kenyan coffee but more juicy. 

Caffe latte

Flat white

The vibrant sweetness and acidity of the Reservoir blend pierces through the milk of caffé lattes and flat whites ($3.50) nicely. Speaking about milk, Michael's milk texturing skills is off the hook and his latte art is at hectic competition level. The milk temperature was also perfect.

Mr Croque

The Mr Croque ($11 - from the breakfast menu available all day) is their play on the Croque Monsiuer. Hands down it is one of the best toasties I've had. It contains leg ham, béchamel, melted cheddar and pickled veggies in sourdough toast sandwich. The béchamel white was my favourite part with it being creamy, sweet and buttery. I could have this everyday and not get sick of it. 

Braised beef cheeks roll

Their braised beef cheeks roll ($15 - available from 11am for lunch) is nothing short of amazing! It is beef cheeks braised to perfection, pickles and slaw in a lightly toasted soft brioche bun. The beef cheek is flavoursome, buttery and tender that it just melts in your mouth. The pickles and creamy slaw was perfect for balacing out the whole dish. 

Basically, I'm a fan of what Single O is doing and especially with this new CBD addition. What Single O CBD lacks in shop size, it makes up and excels in both coffee, food and service. 

Single Origin Roasters CBD

89 York St

Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: 02 9279 2677

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday 7am - 4pm

Sat & Sun - closed

Tap Espresso, Sydney

I'm so stoked to see more specialty coffee places opening in Sydney CBD. There's more to coffee than just flat whites and cappuccinos. It's good to mix it up a bit with different single origin espressos and filters every now and then. According to American author, Bryant McGill: "Life wants you to touch, taste and see the grandeur of the world's unfathomable variety". It seems like Joe Musumeci tapped into that quote and opened Tap Espresso.

Chocolate filled cartocci

Nutella muffins $4

Yoghurt parfait

Joe (former head barista at Bond Cafe) is the owner and head barista of the new Tap Espresso. It is conveniently located inside the same building as Channel 7 and right above the Martin Place train station. Coffee is his passion, which means that the process from beans to cup is executed with precision. He even got Toufik (formerly from Circa Espresso) on board as barista and right hand man to ensure that customers get the best possible coffee everytime. Tap has a very chilled vibe, a contemporary cafe look with industrial fittings and a badass street art mural. Sliders, toasts, and yoghurt parfaits are available for breakfast. They also have sweets and pastries available. For lunch, there's a DIY salad bar and pita wraps.

Besides the house blend, which is custom roasted for them by Toby's Estate, they also have guest blends and single origin beans from other roasters. Blends and single origin beans from Mecca, Ona Coffee, Circa and Reuben hills have made appearances in the last few weeks.

Piccolo latte

The Tap espresso house blend in a piccolo latte ($3.50) came out sweet and nutty with notes of milk chocolate and hazelnut. The milk was textured nicely and had a perfect temperature.

Toufik on pour over

Filter pour over - Panama Finca Santa Teresa Gesha by Toby's Estate

For filter, I had a Panama Finca Santa Teresa Gesha ($6.5) from Toby's Estate. I loved the delicate sweet flavour and notes of jasmine of this coffee. I gotta give props to Toufik for his mad pour over skills. The flavours came through with nice vibrance.

Filter pour over - Ethiopia Lelisa Hara by Reuben Hills

I also had a Ethiopia Lelisa Hara roasted by Reuben Hills on Filter ($4.5). It was fruity with notes of cocoa.

Breakfast slider

Their breakfast slider ($8) was totally awesome. It's bigger than a slider and more like a roll. The creaminess from the avocado and piquant Swiss cheese was so nice on the palate. The crispy prosciutto was buttery and sweet with a hint of salty flavour at the end. The tomato relish gave it a nice sweet and sour balance. The sunny egg with runny yolk added extra richness to the slider. A soft sweet buns is used for the slider.

Lamb pita wrap

The lamb pita wrap ($11) was like a Greek burrito. It had glorious tender slow roast shish lamb, Aegean salad, caramelised onion and tzatziki. The tangy and garlic flavours of the tzatziki as most of us know compliments lamb perfectly. The sweetness from the caramelised onion, the texture (the rice component in particular) and citrus/sour flavours from the Aegean salad completes the pita wrap.

The variety that Tap Espresso has brought made work days more exciting in the area. The service is superb, food is delicious, and the coffee is spot on.

Tap Espresso

52 Martin Place

Sydney NSW 2000

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tapcafe

Trading hours:

Monday-Friday 7:00 am to 4:00pm