Our mum always said that if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.

They’ve followed this with gusto at Hector’s Deli, Melbourne’s most overachieving sandwich shop.

Owners Jason Barratt and Dom Wilton have worked at Stokehouse and Attica, and are now using their fine-dining smarts for the humble sanga.

Named after a beloved pet dog, their light-filled digs – a former milk bar in the backstreets of Richmond – is full of retro charm befitting the classic fare.

The rotating menu is a tight edit of just six sandwiches daily, each packed with serious heft. The HCT punches way above any ham, cheese and tomato toastie most of us could conjure. It’s a high pile of mortadella, mozzarella, provolone and tomato chutney between crunchy toasted sourdough. It’s oozy, decadent and scrumptious.

The trout bagel is another great bite, a 5 & Dime poppyseed bagel generously heaped with cold-smoked Petuna trout, red onion and beetroot cream cheese with pops of luxe Yarra Valley caviar.

The pastrami is equally excellent, with folds of Meatsmith Wagyu between toasted rye with sauerkraut, mustard and pickle for cut-through.

Come back another day for chicken schnitzel or the eggplant toastie. Coffee is from Axil, milk from St David Dairy and bread and pastries from Rustica.

Currently open Wednesday to Sunday, plans are to go seven days and also introduce a series of deli dinners as well as gluten-free bread.

(And watch this space for a new restaurant that Barratt and Wilton are due to open in Fitzroy next year.)

At this stage, Hector’s Deli might only serve sandwiches, but they come with serious cachet. Classic combinations made with top ingredients – everything you look for in lunch.