There’s also tongue-tingling Sichuan pepper and a “game-changing” ingredient that delivers a deeply golden shell.
Even if you regularly traverse the inner north via Nicholson Street, you could blink and miss Sleepy’s, a cafe by day and wine bar by night that cleverly champions chef-owner Steve Chan’s Chinese-Australian heritage. If you’ve been sleeping on Sleepy’s, the recent launch of a wondrously wintry toastie – filled with what the team calls Chinese bolognese – is here to wake you up. It definitely caught the attention of Sandwich Watch, a column dedicated to the essential Melbourne sangers, rolls, subs and jaffles you need to know about.
Where did the idea come from?
The first time Sleepy’s chef Jacob Muoio served Chinese bolognese was in a large raviolo in a little bowl of broth. “Everyone loved it, so we had to think how else we could do it,” Chan says. “Chinese bolognese has ebbed and flowed [in its availability around Melbourne],” he adds, shouting out past versions, including a pizza at Leonardo’s and a noodle dish at now-closed sibling Ramblr. “We decided to turn it into a toastie.”
What makes the bolognese different?
“The recipe is pretty similar to a regular bolognese, but we add a few extra herbs and spices,” says Chan, who starts with equal parts beef and pork mince – “the golden ratio”.
The biggest kick comes from doubanjiang, which jacks up the umami dial while injecting saltiness and spiciness. “It’s a fermented bean paste often used to make soup bases or stews that’s essentially the Chinese version of [the Korean] gochujang,” Chan explains.
More depth of flavour comes courtesy of three different types of pepper (black, white and the tongue-tingling Sichuan), garlic (and garlic shoots), and a touch of MSG.
“It’s very much home-cooking,” says Chan, who lets the bolognese bubble away low and slow until much of the tomato-based sauce has reduced. Lessening the amount of liquid ensures the sauce doesn’t seep through the bread, turning it sad and soggy.
What else goes into the toastie?
While the Chinese bolognese is what it’s all about, the toastie is bound together by a blend of tasty cheese and mozzarella. There’s just enough to create a satisfying cheese pull, but not so much as to have cheesy lava billowing out the sides with every bite.
If you favour hectic toasties, where the insides are just as much on the outside – that overfilled overhang – Sleepy’s might not be for you. What makes this so enjoyable to eat is the restraint with which it’s filled: not too much, not too little, but just enough bolognese and cheese to satiate, without rogue blobs raining down on your plate.
Holding it all together? Two slices of local bakery Noisette’s sourdough white tin loaf.
And what about the actual toasting?
A “game-changing” smothering of mayo gives the toastie a deeply golden shell when it’s smooshed in the sandwich press, its aroma filling the cafe. And as small pools of cheese escape, they become craggy crisps attached to the crust. Be careful not to burn your mouth, excitedly biting through them into the toastie, which arrives piping hot.
How can vegos get in on the action?
There isn’t a meat-free bolognese as such, but there are two vegetarian toastie alternatives: one with mi goreng noodles, the other with kimchi.
How do I get one?
The Chinese bolognese toastie ($16) is available at Sleepy’s Cafe & Wine Bar, 787 Nicholson Street, Carlton North, daily, on the daytime menu only.
This is the latest instalment of Sandwich Watch, a column dedicated to the Melbourne sandwiches you need to know about.
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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