These Sydney Toasties Are the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

There's no need to break out the home jaffle iron: Sydney's restaurants and cafés have seen the light and put cheese to bread in some very creative ways. Call them what you like, the fact remains: there's little better comfort food than a golden pocket of bread encasing molten cheese. These are the best toasties and jaffles in Sydney.

The Sandwich Shop

There’s no mystery as to what’s going on at this establishment – well, The Sandwich Shop does do salad but as we all know, you don’t make friends with salad. Join the lunchtime queue at this Reservoir Street hole-in-the-wall and make your sandwich selection. The menu of sandwiches is substantial, as are the offerings themselves. For toasted triumph, order the Reuben – corned beef, sauerkraut, house-made thousand island dressing and Swiss cheese on rye, toasted until firm friends.

The Sandwich Shop Reuben

44 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills; (02) 9211 8710

Cornersmith

Nothing goes better with a sharp cheddar than pickles. The combination, we’d go as far to say, is superior even to those old dancing partners of cheese and tomato. At Marrickville pickle-purveyor Cornersmith’s new(ish) Annandale café, the combo asserts its superiority with Milawa cheese and house-made fennel pickles between Bread & Butter Project sourdough with a little peppery watercress for good measure. Complicated? No. Hitting all the right flavour receptors? Oh, yes. The cheese, made by Milawa Cheese Company, almost wasn’t: referred to as the Mistake Cheese, it was supposed to be a blue but the resulting round ended up being a perfect, stringy melting cheese with a hint of that classic mushroom-y flavour of blue.

88 View Street, Annandale; (02) 8084 8466

Meraki Merchants

Jaffles and Milo: the stuff of a legendary after-school snack. In the hands of Meraki Merchants owner/chef Toufick Chami, though, these two retro staples become new again: the Milo is flavoured with rosewater and the jaffles are stuffed with sujuk (spicy Lebanese sausage), feta, cheddar, olives and homemade relish. The menu takes an assertive dip into the eastern Mediterranean: Chami uses the flavours of his childhood as inspiration. And that Rosy Milo? His mum’s recipe – Chami’s twist is a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

5/111 George Street, Parramatta; 0400 696 009

Dutch Smuggler

The proprietors of Dutch Smuggler, which operates out of a tiny shopfront in the CBD, don’t so much cook as toast. The diminutive space doesn’t allow for elaborate pan-wielding but they’ve managed to get very creative in the toastie space. Case in point: the Mi Goreng. The Indonesian packet noodles beloved of students are served here with a soft-fried egg, an oozy combination of mozzarella and cheddar, shallots and “magic” sauce between two slices of white bread that valiantly attempt to keep it all together. Other outrageous options include a regular Toastie of the Week such as the recent Fiend for the Bean: baked beans, chorizo, mozzarella, cheddar and sour cream; and the Kim-Cheezy, a Korean-inspired concoction of chicken, bacon, tomato, cheddar, mozzarella, sriracha mayo and kimchi.

200 George Street, Sydney

John Montagu

Otherwise known as the fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu was a profligate gambler to whom the honour of being the inventor of the sandwich is attributed. He was no humanitarian – his invention was pure self-interest; a meal held in the hands between two slices of bread meant he never had to leave the gaming tables at mealtimes. Fortunately, the good folks at his namesake café are more charitable, providing succour to the human race with toasted delights such as the cheese toastie, made fragrant with the addition of fresh sage leaves and the rustic white bread turns a perfect hue of gold under the warm embrace of the sandwich press. Add ham for sandwich perfection.

144 Cathedral Street, Woolloomooloo

Arcadia Liquors

Arcadia presaged the toastie trend, debuting a mini menu of toasted sandwiches back in 2012 to accompany their main offering: beverages. Because, as John Montagu understood, the sandwich is the perfect food for when you’re occupied with something else: beer in one hand, toastie in the other. There are gourmet versions but the ham, cheese and tomato is a classic for a reason.

7 Cope Street, Redfern; (02) 8068 4470