Waffle On

Shop 9, Degraves Street
Melbourne, 3000

Waffle On Interior

 

The wall is made of money. Literally. Well ok maybe not made of money, but there are so many French notes tacked to it that you may as well pretend that it is.

Despite the fact that this place is called Waffle On, despite the fact that the waffle cart is the first thing you see as you walk past the tiny hole-in-a-wall store, and despite the smell of the waffles wafting through the air, this place does a mean baguette (though their waffles are also really quite brilliant with maple syrup, or even just by itself). You have a choice of 6 baguettes, all $8.50 each, which are listed on the blackboard inside the shop. I’ve already tried le roast beef (lettuce, tomato, pickles, mustard, mayo – possibly the best sandwich that I have ever had, and that's INCLUDING the pork belly sandwich from EARL) and le fermier (chicken, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato – not half bad either), so today we went with le parisien (ham, French pickles, mustard, butter, gruyere).

Ingredients, guarded by Orangina troopers

 

The ingredients are all piled up nice and fresh looking in a glass cabinet, and you can see them make the sandwiches in front of you. If there’s one thing I can say about the people here, it’s that they’re generous. There’s none of the  ‘one slice of ham is all you need to make a sandwich’ business here – in the baguette went 4 huge slices of ham, at least 3 handfuls of the gruyere off the huge pile, and a nice generous serve of pickles from pickle mountain. We had to get our sandwich cut in half too because they practically use a whole baguette!

le parisien ($8.50)

 

What did I tell you? Generous, aren’t they? I know what you’re thinking – with that much filling, there is no way that this can taste bad! And you know what? You’re right! Whilst not as mind-blowingly good as the roast beef baguette, it is still one mean sandwich. The ham and the cheese make this hearty and filling, whilst the well-needed pickles cut through the richness, so you feel like you can just keep eating and eating and eating. But that’s not the best part. The best part about the baguettes at Waffle On is, without a doubt, the baguette itself. There is an audible crunch as you bite into it, scatting crumbs and giving way to a doughy, chewy interior. It is so good, and so crunchy, that you could swear it’s deep fried. And if the baguette is THAT good at 4 in the afternoon, just imagine how good it is earlier in the day!

There is no dine-in option at Waffle On, unless if you consider 2 rickety stools and one slanted, 10cm wide ledge to be dine-in. Instead, take your sandwich, grab a waffle, and head off to Southbank to have a picnic and enjoy the sun :)

Rating; 15/20 – lunch and dessert for under $15

Where we ate :)