Sangcuary Stanmore Review Sydney's New Asian Sandwich Shop

Sydney is having a love affair with sandwiches with new sandwich stores opening frequently. One of these is Sangcuary by the team at Pantry Story in Stanmore. The proposition here is all about Asian style sandwiches with Asian ingredients and flavours that reflect the owners and their Indonesian background.

Neither Sophia nor I are what you would call morning people. We don't have kids so the idea of getting up early is anathema to us but a sandwich will get us up early on a weekend. We arrive at Sangcuary just after 11 am. As we approach we notice there's a big queue outside but this is actually for their sister business Pantry Story next door. Sangcuary is the new sandwich shop made using breads from Pantry Story and both are owned by Mutiara Sucipto and Hari Wibowo.

Most of the people waiting in the queue are actually waiting for their sandwiches to take away so we place an order and take a seat at the large communal table.

All of the sandwiches are made fresh to order so it does take some time and we're waiting around 20 minutes for our sandwiches but that's okay. Along with our sandwiches we have purchased a bag of chicken potato chips. These are to snack on as well as put on our sandwiches.

I'm sipping on a cup of sarsaparilla and lost in a nostalgic dream. This drink reminds me of my childhood when we used to visit our relatives in Singapore and my uncles would get my attention using sarsaparilla (what's new, right?).

Our sandwiches arrive and we've ordered three of the most popular. The first is the oxtail sandwich made with incredibly soft oxtail, thinly sliced roast beef, caramelised onion, garlic mayo, provolone cheese, fried shallot on Pantry Story's focaccia with a cup of oxtail soup.

The whole sandwich is soft and downy and given a boost when dipped in the oxtail broth. The only addition I would suggest adding is the chips to add crunch and brightness to it but really, that's just a suggestion. This is my favourite sandwich of the day.

Next up is Hari's mom's signature bacon, omelette, onion & scallion salad, cucumber, garlic mayo on a scallion pancake. While the pork is delicious, this sandwich is cold from the scallion pancake to the omelette to the pork. I'm not sure if it's meant to be served hot, but I think it would be better if it was.

I love the idea for this Gado Gado sandwich although I don't know how anybody can lift it up and pick it up and eat it as a sandwich! After regarding it for a few minutes, we look at it more like a salad bowl in a scallion pancake. This is an excellent gado gado made with tofu, tempeh, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber with fried shallots, cashew sauce and soft boiled egg. It is sweet, crunchy and fresh and served on top of a layer of krupuk or garlic crackers.

We did manage to sneak in one sweet gelato sandwich. There are actually two gelato sandwiches on the menu but when they described them, the malted croissant sandwich was the clear choice for both of us. Pantry Story's malted croissant gelato (yes, gelato made with croissants) is sandwiched inside a buttery sable cookie. If you love pastry as I do, you will absolutely adore this innovative gelato sandwich. It has inspired me to try and do a version of my own just so that I can eat it again!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever get inspired to make things after trying them at a restaurant or cafe?

This meal was independently paid for.