Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than a humble sandwich. Easy to pick up and eat with your hands, it’s the perfect meal for when you’re on the go and makes for a great way to eat more bread. There’s no shortage of amazing sandwiches in Cape Town, but these are some of our favourites in the City Bowl.

The Belly Bao at Lucky Bao (De Waterkant)

The bao here should be part of your regular lunchtime plan. Can bao be considered a sandwich? If not, we’re willing to make an exception when they’re as good as Lucky Bao’s sticky pork belly bao with a soy, maple and Sriracha glaze. And, at R45 each, treat yourself to more than one.

The Belly Bao in all its glory. Photo by Kelly Cloete.

The fish sandwich at La Tête (Bree Street)

Seriously, do we need to go into any more detail about this fish sandwich? We’re sure we’ve waxed poetic about this one before, but it’s because Giles Edwards’ fish sandwich is nothing short of a thing of beauty. Fried fish, homemade tartar sauce and appropriate cress are all wedged between squishy bread for R125. We’ll take two, thanks. (Sometimes Giles spoils his adoring fans and makes the fish sandwich his plat du jour, which means you can get a glass of wine with your sarmie for R140. Score.)

The fish sandwich. Photo by Nikita Buxton.

The Lumberjack at Skinny Legs and All (Loop Street)

This is essentially a chicken mayo sandwich, but not like any one you’ve ever seen before. Skinny Legs serves their Lumberjack open-faced on a slice of fresh sourdough with a rich garlicky mayo, greens and a deliciously grilled chicken breast for R70. You can also opt to have this as a salad (as you can with any of their amazing sandwiches), but we’re not really sure why you’d do such a thing.

The Lumberjack. Photo supplied.

The panino verdure at Giulio’s Café (Loop Street)

Everything at Giulio’s is delicious, but his panino verdure (R60) with grilled zucchini, mozzarella, sundried tomatoes and pickled aubergine is a knockout. As we’ve come to expect from Giulio’s, this sandwich is an amalgamation of old family recipes, most notably the pickled aubergine. If this sandwich came via nonna, you know it’s going to be good. Pro tip? Ask for it to be toasted, for extra meltiness.

Panini sandwiches at Giulio’s Cafe. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

The truffled grilled cheese at Jason Bakery on Bree (Bree Street)

There are grilled cheese sandwiches and then there are Jason’s grilled cheese sandwiches. Admittedly, any of his killer sandwiches will more than satisfy you, but we’re particularly fond of this truffled grilled cheese for R85. We don’t know about you, but white truffle butter, melty Colby cheddar and spinach all toasted between two slices of Challah sounds alright to us. Special mentions include pretty much every other sandwich Jason makes.

Jason’s truffled grilled cheese. Photo supplied.