This $12 porchetta roll is the best-value sandwich in Melbourne right now

In 2016, when the first permanent Saluministi location opened in Docklands, Melbourne’s sandwich scene was nothing like the rich and many layered thing it has rocketed into over the past decade.

“There wasn’t really a lot of competition when we started,” says Peter Mastro, who founded the Italian sandwich shop alongside Frank Bressi. “Burgers were huge at that time, but there weren’t a lot of porchetta panini,” which is what they have become most renowned for.

For two days only – this Thursday and Friday – Saluministi is celebrating 10 years in Docklands by reinstating 2016 pricing for its porchetta sandwich. It’s one of Melbourne’s best, and this week you can get it for $12 instead of the usual $22.

“Melbourne loves a bargain, so we’ll have a whole lot of pork ready to go,” says Mastro. “And we won’t be skimping out: it’ll be the same 170 to 180 grams you normally get.”

Sandwich Watch retried Saluministi’s signature sanga before the 10-year festivities to check if it’s still as good as it once was. The offer happens to coincide with Good Food’s 100 Essential Cafes and Bakeries of Melbourne 2026, which launches on Friday.

Pork that’s forking good

For its three stores, Saluministi rolls and roasts as many as 200 kilos of porchetta a week, with a recipe that’s been perfected over more than a decade. Its take on the Italian pork roast mashes up the Roman and Abruzzese styles, Mastro says, with free-range loin and skin-on belly rolled and flavoured with fennel seeds, rosemary, thyme and “one secret ingredient”. It’s first blasted with heat for textbook crackling, then cooked low and slow for four hours to ensure juiciness and tenderness. The hot porchetta is shaved thickly to order on a dedicated slicer, so there’s ideal dispersion – a bit of everything in every bite – and no almighty porky slab to contend with.

Extras that nail the balance

“We were scared to change the Big Mac, so to speak,” says Mastro of mixing up the fillings in his bestselling sandwich. But there have been a few different iterations over the years. He’s done away with the artichoke paste and pecorino. Now the balance is even better, with a substantial slice of asiago, the cow’s milk cheese that’s a little milder and a little less salty than the pecorino. It works well given how liberally seasoned the meat is. Brightening it up is a simply dressed salad of rocket and finely shaved fennel.

Bread that doesn’t overpower

You’ve got two options: a fresh ciabatta roll from the bakery at Tullamarine’s Pasta Al Dente, or a wad of Saluministi’s own house-baked, long-fermented sourdough focaccia. “It’s not too heavy, not too light … and we make more throughout the day,” says Mastro.

How do I get one?

The porchetta panino is available at all three Saluministi locations: 892 Bourke Street, Docklands; Shop 3/697 Collins Street, Docklands; and 388 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. It’s $12 on Thursday and Friday, July 23 and 24; normally it’s $22.

This is the latest instalment of Sandwich Watch, a column dedicated to the Melbourne sandwiches you need to know about.