Blow-your head off Issan food might be the night time offering, but during the day, this busy café and Thai grocer, is a delicious mash up of traditional Thai food meets Australian café culture. We love to love this lunch time favourite in Sydney’s Thai Town for its crab and prawn cake brown rice bowl with smoked chilli relish, mayo, soft herb and pickled cabbage salad or the som dtum gai todt, a “sandwich” that is better than pad thai sandwiched by a brioche bun. 1/425 Pitt St, Haymarket, booncafe.com

A guilty pleasure on a Monday, a life saver on a Friday – no fuss favourite Lucky Pickle delivers on fresh, chewy baguettes stuffed with seriously excellent fillings like pork belly, duck liver and pickles or the delicious. team favourite – crispy chicken katsu, cabbage and tonkotsu sauce. Shop 3 509-511 Crown Street. Entry Via High Holborn Street, Surry Hills, luckypickle.com.au

With a dedicated following on the Melbourne food scene, Dainty Sichuan has finally opened a much-anticipated express Sydney outpost in World Square. Go for the spicy Chongqing noodle soup – chewy wheat noodles in chicken stock with lashings of Sichuan chilli oil and cold poached chicken. 644 George St, World Square, Sydney

Poké bowls are becoming increasingly ubiquitous on Sydney lunchtime menus, but in the city, the delicious. team flock to Fishbowl for their So-Cal bowls – wholesome, nourishing lunch bowls packed with fresh salmon sashimi, shredded carrot, edamame and pink radish with a spicy shoyu dressing. You can also build your own bowl, and mix and match with a great selection of vegies, dressings and crunchy toppings like wasabi peas and toasted coconut. Numerous locations, Sydney, fishbowlbondi.com.au

Tucked away down Foster Street in Surry Hills, this great value salad and sandwich shop has a cult following at lunchtime. Pick up a takeaway tub bursting with the famous potato salad, free-range poached chicken, green beans and sweet potato. Sandwiches are huge, and with all the fillings, need to be split between two! 62 Foster St, Surry Hills

If pizza sold by the slice and porchetta stuffed paninis with espresso are your thing, this Italian gem in Sydneys Angel Place is your new lunchtime go-to. 2–12/1 Angel Pl, Sydney, bacco.com.au

For those days when only a burger will do, we thank the burger gods for Marys CBD. Recently crowned by delicious. as the BEST BURGER IN AUSTRALIA, this burger is truly a cracker. The Mary’s burger relies on a soft, slightly sweet bun, beef (pasture-fed chuck, brisket, rump), lettuce, tomato, onion, American cheese, and Mary’s secret sauce. Smoked bacon optional. 154 Castlereagh St, Sydney, getfat.com.au

Phomo has two convenient city locations, in the CBD and by the water at Barangaroo. Go for the rare and cooked beef pho with 12 hour fragrant beef broth laden with rice noodles, rare beef and slow-cooked brisket, and loads of basil, mint and coriander. Shop 9, 33 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo and fround floor, 378 Pitt Street, Sydney, phomo.com.au

Let’s face it, no one wants to spend $15 on a sandwich at lunch– exxy even by Sydney standards. Enter Destination Roll – for $5.50 you can pick up a BBQ pork banh mi with all the extras, and the best bit, there’s crackling! 8 Etherden Walk, Mascot

A dedicated crowd have made this hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop a local favourite. Super soft wholemeal bread is the perfect vessel for thick slices of eggplant katsu, with layers of tomato relish, kewpie mayo, coriander and salad or the very decent slow roasted beef with caramelised onion, cheese, pickles and Dijon. 9 Rutland St, Surry Hills, rutlandstsandwiches.com