A little while ago, we mentioned Brisbane needed a sandwich shop, and it seems someone was listening. Royce Crown ran bread and meat food trucks in Toronto in the late 1990s/early 2000s, before skipping town to flip crepes in France. The helicopter pilot has been based in Brisbane for five years now and was once again feeling the pull of kitchen, so he thought it was about time he brought the hefty messy sandwiches of North America to local mouths. The result is Bread & Meat Co., a cafe and sandwich shop posited in the sleepy TCB Building off Brunswick Street Mall. Royce also trained and worked at Katz’s Delicatessen in New York for some time, learning the traditional recipes and perfecting his pastrami piling skills. While Bread & Meat Co.’s sandwiches might not be blessed by Jewish rabbis, you can trust that you’re wrapping your chompers around a real-deal sandwich.

An interior of custom wooden counters and tables and white butchers tiles frames your gourmet sandwich experience, with the menu out to prove that simplicity is best and good things come in threes. Bread & Meat Co. piles high three types of sandwiches, with three salads and three sides also on offer, while newly devised weekly specials are released each Monday. The staple sandwiches of the menu include the Beef Brisket Dip, which sees 36-hour slow-roasted brisket with hickory and smoky flavours, topped with melted Swiss cheese, horseradish aioli and a side of jus for extra saucey potential – traditionally known as a Montreal Beef Dip. There’s also a barbecue pulled pork sandwich that’s topped with fresh coleslaw and served on two toasted brioche slider buns, and a New York-style corned beef number with gherkin aioli, poached cabbage and spicy Dijon mustard on the side.

If you’ve worn your stretchy pants and can find some room remaining to try the sides, you’ll have parmesan-crusted sweet potato fries, Canadian poutine fries smothered in gravy and gooey curd cheese, or chilli cheese fries with Texas chilli, sour cream, green onions and a blend of cheeses to choose from. Bar the Dijon mustard and ketchup, everything on the menu is made from scratch, including the bread from Royce’s personal recipe archive. The meats are sourced from local butchers, and the shop is focusing on using local seasonal produce to keep the price point down. Bread & Meat Co. also offers free CDB and Fortitude Valley delivery at certain times and caters metre-long sandwiches for events. Of note is also the full milk menu, with the cafe side of things offering full cream, low fat, skim milk, soy, lite soy, A2 full cream and lite, Zymil and almond milk for no extra cost in your coffee, tea or hot chocolate. The sandwich shop is planning to expand quite quickly, with Royce currently looking at a space in Brisbane City and in Hawthorn in Melbourne.

For Bread & Meat Co.’s contact information and trading hours, check out our Stumble Guide.