Brisbane’s best vegetarian sanger? This glorious thing is a contender

Sunny Side Sandwiches has evolved over the years. The menu has expanded, and then been reduced. Certain sangers have come, and then gone again.

But according to co-owner Mack Bowers, there’s one that hasn’t changed – the eggplant sandwich.

Sunny Side Sandwiches

Don’t know Sunny Side Sandwiches? Are you sure? Because it can sometimes feel like it’s everywhere on socials.

That’s perhaps because of the fairly steady clip at which it has been launching and relaunching venues – Windsor in 2021, Paddington in 2023, a slick refurb of Windsor in April this year, and East Brisbane in June. But also, the sandwiches at these neatly branded stores are very, very good.

It took this column a while to wrap its head around just how good Sunny Side is. When we first tried its sandwiches in 2023 we liked, rather than loved them. Even the signature chicken schnitty sandwich needs to be ordered the right way, which is to slip some gooey American cheese between the two slices of schnitzel, which lifts it from very good to exceptional.

But the sandwiches have evolved. Most importantly, Bowers and co-owner Charline De Conto (the two are married) have made their own Hokkaido-style shokupan bread. You could argue it’s key to how good these sandwiches are.

The star of this triple-store setup is, no doubt, the Sunny Side classic chicken schnitty sandwich, but we don’t think it’s the most impressive. Not quite. Instead, that honour belongs to the shop’s eggplant sandwich.

The Sunny Side Sandwiches eggplant sandwich

“The eggplant sandwich has been there since day one,” Bowers says. “It’s one of my favourite sandwiches. It has all the best bits of the classic schnitty, but for vegetarians.

“It’s funny because I often say to people, ‘It’s something that you should definitely try once,’ because once we’ve prepared it, it really has as much going on as the chicken schnitty, but in this different format.”

Bowers is right. A serious amount of prep goes into this sandwich. The eggplant is sliced, bathed in salt water, and panko crumbed. And then, instead of going into the fryer, it goes into the freezer.

“Sometimes when you put them in a fryer at room temperature, it’s quite violent for a thin little piece of eggplant and it can break up. And when you freeze them, they actually keep their shape better,” he says.

Then, once out of the fryer, it’s built the same way as the chicken schnitty: two slices of eggplant with the optional American cheese slapped in the middle; chopped iceberg lettuce dressed in Japanese mayo, dill, parsley and chives; bread and butter pickles; shokupan bread; and then a “magic sprinkle” of the shop’s signature seasoning, which features salt, nutritional yeast, Korean chilli flakes and “a few other little secret herbs and spices.”

A contender for Brisbane’s best vegetarian sanger

Listen, it really is up there. And, like Bowers says, it’s worth trying even if you’re not vegetarian.

There’s so much to like about it: the crispness of the eggplant, the crunch of the iceberg, the acid of the pickles, the velvety texture of the mayo with its tangy stack of herbs. And then there’s the deep, deep umami of the “magic sprinkle”.

Still, for us, the shokupan is the real star here. It’s baked in-house, meaning it’s ultra-consistent, and able to be sliced thinly while maintaining its integrity.

The eggplant sandwich was perhaps never going to outshine the schnitty – few sandwiches around town could, to be fair – but you still need to try it. And if you’re with a mate, the power move is of course to order both and split them between you.

Where to get it

The eggplant sandwich is $18.80. You can get one from 1007 Stanley Street East, East Brisbane; 173A Latrobe Terrace, Paddington; and Shop 203/142 Newmarket Road, Windsor.