The best quick lunches in Sydney CBD

It’s a good time to be a carb lover: legendary A.P Bakery has another sweet new spot smack back in the city on Barrack Street, and yes, we’re on our way to get lunch (and a treat). The all-day menu includes yum things like Tokyo-style egg and cheese sambos; salt and vinegar hash browns; porchetta rolls; and roast chook sambos with pistachio pesto and green zhug (a spicy Middle Eastern sauce). Pizzas, tip-top fresh bread, croissants and other sugary snacks are available too. Is A.P Bakery taking over Sydney one delicious sandwich at a time? Probably. Are we here for it? Absolutely.

When you’re craving a kick of spice or a comforting heat to warm you up, head to Haymarket’s Malaysian street food staple, Mamak. Aside from flaky roti, they offer a tight selection of weekday lunch specials. Stick to the classics with a traditional chicken, spicy lamb, tangy fish or lentil curry, or spice it up with a fiery tiger prawn or calamari stir-fry. Each dish comes with fluffy rice and we’d strongly suggest adding a buttery piece of roti on the side. 

At Malibu, which you’ll find down a Surry Hills alley, there’s just one man, Marc Aebi, taking orders, chopping fillings and waving you off with a smile and a ginormous, foil-wrapped sandwich. Pick from an array of tins holding crunchy butter lettuce, sweet beetroot, pickles, and crisp cucumbers. A green, herby mayo forms the base of your ‘wich. Beware: structural integrity could be compromised if you play too fast and loose with additions. Are you sure you need that extra avo? Even if you decide you do, your sandwich will probably still ring in under $12.

Eat fresh dumplings and donate two meals to vulnerable Afghans at this heartwarming social impact eatery. Peddling traditional Afghan food in takeaway and dine-in form, punters can expect juicy handmade dumplings; cheeky Kabuli burgers; and lamb chapli or spiced pumpkin wraps. You can also snag yourself a build-your-own lunchbox, stuffed with spiced steamed rice (mash palaw), along with your choice of protein and sauce. Essentially: this is a takeaway lunch that you can feel bloody good about.

You can find cult bakery Lode Pies and Pastries at Sydney Place down by Circular Quay. Loved for its intricate, detailed and highly 'grammable treats, and buttery, flaky pastry encasing umami-rich fillings (in fact, the succulent chicken and leek pie is one of our favourites), Lode Pies is one of the best pastry shops in Sydney, if not Australia. At lunch, come for serotonin-spiking pies – think Blackmore Wagyu beef with caramelised mushrooms, as well as killer sausage rolls. And for after, enjoy a picture-perfect Cinnamon Guy scroll; a delicious pain au chocolat; and golden and flaky croissants.

Donburi is not so much the star as it is most of the cast at this retro Japanese don and milkbar. The menu boasts more than 20 rice bowls, ranging from classic karaage chicken and grilled salmon, to wagyu cheeseburger and vegetable curry. It’s worth the extra fiver to turn your don into a set with miso soup, a simple salad and potent little pickles. Top tip: If you’re in a rush, order ahead online for pick-up at their Regent Place, Galeries, Darling Square or Sydney Place shops.

If there’s one thing us Sydneysiders love, it’s a ripper sandwich. And sunny hole-in-the-wall café June’s Shoppe will brighten up your lunch hour with their epic all-day sandwich menu. Made with fresh, super fluffy and thick-cut Texas-style bread, June’s sambos are packed to the rafters with fresh salads, delicious fillings and house-made sauces. Head down to the Wynyard Precinct and have a bite for yourself.

You'll find Merivale's buzzy falafel palace blasting tunes and delicious smells out onto the George Street thoroughfare, luring many a corporate inside for a herby, freshly-fried falafel wrapped in a woodfired pita. The eggplant pita is another grab-and-go favourite, along with the sujuk pita featuring spicy Turkish sausage. Prepare to queue, with fans congregating around 15 minutes before opening, at 11.30am.

This isn't a grab-and-go option, but if you're in the CBD and craving a quick, hearty, and affordable meal, keep reading. The slick and sexy bar, The Charles, offers $25 lunchtime specials during the week, featuring a cracking burger with chips and your choice of beer or house wine, as well as bowls of pasta. These specials are available from Monday to Saturday, noon to 6pm. So when those hunger pains strike, you know where to head.

Rockdale's famed sandwich shop has a second venue in Circular Quay’s buzzing dining precinct, Sydney Place. The menu features all of the OG hits, including the epic deli-meats roll and fried-to-order chicken schnitty number, along with some fresh additions, including a zingy fish sandwich and halloumi focaccia. Come to Kosta’s on your lunch break, order one of their mighty sangas, and we think you’ll leave pretty happy indeed.

Come lunchtime, the focus at this little laneway eatery shifts from croissants and coffee to salads, subs and pizza-style sourdough ‘slices’. These are heated to order, which does well to enhance the crackle and crunch of the 72-hour fermented crust, and come with daily changing toppings like eggplant and pesto, or potato and ham. Mama’s meatball subs are another crowd-favourite, especially when they’re loaded with lamb meatballs or eggplant bolognese. Make sure to swing by before mama hands them all away.

Whatever you do, don’t be put off by the line at City Edge. We know it’s long and you've got places to go, things to do, and people to see on your lunch break. But it goes quickly, and trust us, it’s absolutely worth it. Found on Holt Street in leafy Surry Hills, City Edge is a café and sandwich joint slinging mighty fresh sandwiches, burgers, tortilla wraps, salads and juices at  great price points. Everything is served takeaway and with a smile from co-owner Tommy, who will probably remember your name after your second visit. And there will be a second visit. Trust us.

The café and Aperitivo bar offshoot from the team behind Australia's best bar, Maybe Sammy, does a weekday pick-me-up like no other, with a dedicated coffee cocktail menu – and extremely novel offering of half-sized cocktail 'minis' – you know, for those times you want a cheeky midday Espresso Martini but don't want to slur your way through your three O'clock. You may come for the prosciutto-loaded Italian riff on the classic 'club', but once through that door, the prospect of washing down your panini with a lunchtime Garibaldini – a fluffy orange juice spiked with Italian Campari – suddenly doesn't seem so uncouth. Nor does skipping out of work at 4pm to catch the $7 mini cocktail happy hour.

Meet Oti, Merivale's pizza-by-the-slice and sandwich shop found on George Street. The fast and loose joint is helmed by Totti’s executive chef Mike Eggert, so expect a daily changing menu featuring fresh, quality, and tasty food (and a line at peak lunch time). Here, the pizzas are Roman-style, and the sangas are made with hand-stretched schiacciata (like focaccia, but thinner) with toppings ranging from prosciutto and salami, to smoked chicken and fresh veg.

When a reliable queue of business workers are prepared to line up at lunchtime, you know this is a laksa worth investigating. Weekday lunches are always chaotic so it’s all about timing your visit right. There are 11 laksa variations on the menu, but most punters stick with the standard chicken laksa or king prawn. You can also mix it up with Malay Chinese’s warming Hainan chicken rice, hokkien chow mein (fried egg noodles) and char kway teow (fried rice noodles).

Dutch Smuggler doesn’t deal in illicit goods, but its inspired range of coffee and toasties could pass off as valuable cargo. In fact, the menu at this CBD café is so likeable that Customs would probably understand if you tried to take a lunchtime order across borders – or, at the very least, back to your office. Dutch Smuggler’s signature ‘Mi Goreng’ is a genius collision of two great late-night snacks: instant noodles and cheese toasties. The best part: it’s less than $10 a pop.

It’s time to ask yourself the big questions. Will you be having slices of tender lamb shoulder, slow cooked in the woodfired oven and served with olive tapenade, pan juices and parsnip? Or are the sumac-rubbed roast chook segments calling your name? If this doesn't sound like the usual grab-and-go for your midday break, you'd be right. It's Kitchen by Mike; foodcourt but fancy. 

The Holt Street bakery with the world's most Instagrammed finger bun also offers a rotating specials menu of focaccia slabs and sandwiches that'll knock your socks off. If recent stand-outs – like the pressed pork schnitzel with Swiss cheese and pickles – are anything to go by, it's well worth checking in with their Instagram account on the regular. If it's a colleague's birthday, the cake range is nothing to snuff at – the popular Basque cheesecake of sister venue Bodega fame is made using silky Meredith goat's cheese, and the carrot cake is liberally iced, as it should be. 

Are you downtown and after a quickish lunch? Then head to Matteo Downtown, which is now offering a main meal paired with a house wine, beer or soft drink for $30. The express lunch is on every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the bar area, and no reservations are required. Food wise, choose from five Matteo’s classics including the burrata pizza or vodka rigatoni.

Zushi may not be top of mind for a quick workweek lunch, but its bentos and bowls definitely should be. Go all in and splurge on a special lunchtime bento box packed with wakame salad, rice and your choice of sashimi, chicken katsu, chicken karaage or veggie crunch roll. Zushi’s fresh bimbimbam bowls will also fill you up, topped with either wagyu beef or sashimi. Grab one to go or enjoy your bowl (only available Monday to Thursday) in the open-air dining on the Barangaroo foreshore.

So named for their arsenal of tiny pre-batched bottled cocktails, this nightclubby 170-seater Clarence Street newbie is a bright and spacious sandwich bar by day, slinging Single O coffees, produce-loaded brekkies and a made-to-order sanga menu. Each sandwich is numbered, one through 12, featuring everything from 12-hour lamb to a gravlax and cream cheese. Chef and co-owner Andrew Duncan has ditched the ubiquitous sourdough for an ultra-soft, white Vienna, made fresh by a small family bakery. Go for the 'No.1' ($17), a smoked ham sandwich, loaded with Provolone cheese, dijonnaise and a salad combo straight from your primary school tuckshop. In line with the theme, the cocktails are served straight from tiny bottles – and you can even purchase multi-packs to take away, for those after-work office drinks.

There’s a lot of noise surrounding the battle between carnivores and vegans, especially online, but imagine if there was a place where we could eat side-by-side, in digestive harmony; in one plastic basket a classic Mary’s burger with fries, and next to it, an identical burger, only this free from any animal products? This dietary utopia is a reality at Mary’s CQ, where you can grab a burger and a beer and be back in time for your 2pm meeting.

What exactly makes this quick lunch so good? First things first, dumplings. Silky, gossamer-thin skins hold a tiny mouthful of soup, so when you pick them up with chopsticks they wobble provocatively. Of course, they're the showstoppers, but don't look past the green beans with minced pork and dried shrimp or a winter warmer of braised beef soup with Chinese spinach.

It's true, the katsu sando is having a moment – and we're not mad about it. This cosy Darlinghurst café does some of the best, using a thick-cut white bread and staggering topping options that go way beyond the usual crumbed pork. Think buttermilk fried chicken with sriracha mayo, crumbed prawn with sweet corn and yuzu mayo, and spicy eggplant with Sichuan sauce. You can also get your katsu in bowl form, with a dazzling array of dressings and veggie accompaniments (apple kimchi anyone?), and just try to resist their Instagram-famous strawberry sando, featuring artfully dissected strawberries suspended in a yuzu whipped cream.