King Of The Roast

Few things are more comforting that a roast dinner, and few meals are more practical than a sandwich. Little wonder then that King Of The Roast does a cracking trade by combining the two in one bulging package.

Over the last two decades owner (and resident King of the Roast) Tony Izer has been serving some of Melbourne’s best sandwiches on an unassuming back street in Oakleigh South. Going through three-quarters of a tonne of meat every week (!) Tony reckons the secret is using top quality produce (Victorian lamb and pork, King Island Beef) and giving the meat the cooking time it needs to release it’s natural flavours and juices.

When we visit there’s a steady stream of truckies, grannies, office and factory workers lining up for their roast in a roll, and everyone seems to be a regular. Sadly the lamb has already sold out (apparently you have to get in early to nab some) but the bain marie filled with huge sides of pork, beef, roast veggies and the odd parma allays any fears we’ll go hungry.

I choose the beef sandwich with all the trimmings ($8.00) and Tony sets to work filling my freshly-baked roll with a truck load of beef (so tender he doesn’t need a carving knife), stuffing it to the gills with potatoes, carrots and onions before dousing it with home-made gravy. For good measure Tony chucks in a complimentary piece of crackling the size of a small book. It’s the kind of meal you dream about making when you’re a kid.

Biting into my behemoth is like a trip down memory lane. The meat is juicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender, the veggies have all mushed together and topped with the gravy it really tastes like I’m eating a roast dinner in a roll. Sort of like astronaut food, but better. Plus I’m pretty sure they never had crackling.

I finish my sandwich with no small sense of triumph and immediately want a nap. I don’t know if could do this every day, but maybe every Sunday.

King Of The Roast
111 Clarinda Road, Oakleigh South
9551 8610
Closed Sundays