Monsters

I got here to fix my acute Third World problem (hunger) with a First World solution (slow cooked, freshly (!) (not merely ‘fresh’ as it says on the packaging) baked and whatnot sandwich). Sounds like a solution! There are meat and non-​meat options each in a short ($ 8.50) and long form ($ 12). I guess it’s like Subway, sort of.
I thought I’d easily pork in and happily munch away, but got soon disappointed by the tiny size of the short baguette. I think I mumbled a W-T-F*ck (am I allowed to spell this out here?). It barely measures 15 cm across (that’s less than 6 inch I guess). And it’s just a plain refined white baguette with a bit of slaw and sauce and of course the meat. I don’t eat much, but this is crazy. Some countries have bigger bread rolls. No doubt, that little bit of sandwich was tasty, but also hardly ravishing. Ok, at best. Tasted what it’s supposed to taste, that’s all.
While lunching on that bread crumb called sandwich the following thoughts rushed through my mind: Compensations for arm injuries are up to $ 191,500. I’d take a guess that the upper end of the scale is reserved for arm amputations. Why am I grossly mentioning this? Well, it feels $ 8.50 for a tiny sandwich is what we’d folksy call «it costs me an arm» — and sometimes it’d include the addition «and a leg» too (leg injuries come in between $ 5,750 and $ 180,000, again I’d say the six-​digit mark is for amputations). Now, I know $ 8.50 is hardly close to $ 191,500, in fact if I’ve done my maths right it’s merely 0.0044%, but extrapolated on the amount of effort to grow an arm (and believe me arms are very functional and useful) vs. producing a meagre sandwich that almost disappears in the box presented, this sandwich is like going hungry at arm’s length. I’m one for value, but what’s happened to it these days?!?
The only thing I feel armed with now is rage, disappointment and of course the quest of the next value meal. Not only have I not solved my Third World problem (still hungry), but I now also have an increased First World problem (fighting overpriced and overvalued food). And all because of a sandwich… or as the French would say «tout ça pour un sandwich». I don’t know why I’m quoting French here. My arm hurts.

I went in last night while walking around with my partner trying to find a place to eat. After debating heavily we ended up deciding on Monsters. There was no wait and the staff was really helpful. The menu is pretty easy and the pictures are really descriptive.
I decided to go with the Lamb Monster. It was so good! The size of the sandwich was perfect. I asked for one of the employees to add hot sauce to mine for a kick, but it wasn’t really necessary. They checked up on us to make sure we were happy with what we ordered. I left loving this place and wishing that one day we will have on in America, but for now I will be going back before I leave the city this week.

Wow seriously delicious rolls. Had heard excellent reviews from their food truck so was keen to try, The photos on the FB page are mouthwatering. They have mastered the combo of delicious meat and tasty sauces on a roll. I cannot recommend this place enough and the positive fun staff is the icing on the cake.

Good! Fast, friendly service — had a nice chat to George, one of the co-​owners, a man clearly proud of his product. They also own the food truck and the Stoned Crow chain of pubs.
BF and I split the pork and beef rolls — both meats were very tender, moist and delish but still with a slight pull. Coleslaw added a nice crunch but I couldn’t really taste it otherwise. Note to Aussies — ‘Murcan coleslaw is slighly sweeter and has more vinegar, so it’s more balanced and not that mayo-​heavy. I feel like it has more flavour that way as well.
The beef ($ 11.50) was by far the fave with the smokey sweet BBQ sauce bringing all of the flavours together. The pork ($ 10) was good too — we requested a small tub of BBQ sauce on the side to slather on that on the pork as well. Well-​proportioned sandwich in terms of bread-​to-​meat-​to-​veggie-​to-​sauce ratios. Bread was soft and clearly fresh-​baked, then flash-​toasted and buttered to order. Yum. Def a two-​napkin, slightly messy jobbo, but hey, it’s slow cooked meat with sauces on a roll — a Monster roll, no less. It’s to be expected.
We also got «balls» — their veggo cheesy arancini balls — $ 9 for a 5 ball portion. They were good, but fries would have been a preferable side dish, cuz you know, meat on rolls. The basil aioli dipping sauce on the side was fab-​o.
Anyway all in all an enjoyable experience and good value for money. TL;DR — fast service, good value and scrummy rolls. Fan!

The Chicken Monster was the best takeaway sandwich I’ve ever had. Everything about eating here was great.

Now, I love me a sammich. Club, toastie, banh mi, crusty roll — if it’s a whole bunch of delicious slapped between some bread and loaded with condiments, I want a piece of it. Double all of that if the sambo features slow-​cooked meats and some form of chilli because, well, those are two of the greatest things on God’s green earth.
Monster Rolls have been kicking around Sydney as a food truck for a while now and they’ve just opened their first store on the corner of Crown and Oxford Streets. You can choose from slow-​cooked chicken, beef, lamb, pork or vege monster rolls, or go for a loaded salad bowl instead. They also do chicken wings and balls.
I went the pork monster for a lazy $ 10. It was big on flavour, with a generous helping of pork dripping with sumptuous juices (dry, dusty meat = sacrilege) and helped on it’s way with crunchy slaw and their home-​made Portuguese chilli sauce. The end result was a toasted French baguette you needed two hands to devour. There’s so much filling that eating it is a messy and joyous affair, it’s pretty much a banquet for your face so don’t skimp on the the serviettes. Two hours later and I’m still tasting that thing, awww yeah.

Great depth of flavor and really cool bar highlighting the use of fresh produce and juicy pulled meats. There are however a few issues which I couldn’t overlook easily
— food was greasy and messy. Reminded me of a late night kebab experience, not a high quality roll which is what I was expecting
— service was slow, not once served but there was one person taking orders and making rolls with a queue six deep
— $ 23 for two rolls didn’t represent great value
Really wanted to like this place and will probably return for another visit but they have work to do