Last year, Good Food launched Sandwich Watch, a column dedicated to the essential Sydney sangers, rolls, subs and jaffles you need to know about. It’s a monthly column, and we published the last one a fortnight ago, but every now and then a sandwich shop comes along that requires immediate attention. We interrupt the regular schedule to bring news of A.P Quay, which opened on Monday.

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Tucked into the base of the Quay Quarter Tower, it’s the second All Purpose Bakery location to open this year (and the seventh overall), after chef Mat Lindsay, baker Dougal Muffet and hotelier Russell Beard launched Darlinghurst’s A.P Bread and Wine in January. Croissants and assorted breads are made on site at the Circular Quay shop, but we’re most excited about the various meats roasted in store on gleaming imported French spits.

The big three drawcards from the spit are spatchock (young chook), porchetta and beef, but the full sandwich menu runs much longer. Hot sandwiches like these are rarely seen in Sydney, especially the CBD. The Good Food team visited A.P Quay to check out some highlights.

Midnight in Havana, $19

It’s hard to find a good Cubano in Sydney. Most places will fill the Floridian classic with too much (or too little) ham and pork, and there’s rarely enough pickles to cut through the Swiss cheese. At A.P Quay, however, ham and leftover porchetta are sliced mercifully thin, and layered with turmeric-yellow Zuni-style pickles featuring the correct amount of tang to keep the fillings in check. Served on a potato roll, this is one of the smaller sandwiches offered, which is to say you could eat a full one and carry on your day like a functioning member of society. (On closer investigation it actually shares more DNA with Cuba’s medianoche sandwich, but let’s not get too bogged down in specifics.) Callan Boys.

Spatchcock #2, $22

If the genius of rich brown butter gravy in this fancy chicken roll wasn’t enough to pique your interest, the rotisserie spatchcock from Game Farm is bolstered with a house-made “diavola” sauce. A.P’s fermented hot sauce is mixed with brown butter, kombu and vinegar, which gives a piquant kick to the rich chicken-liver stuffing made with A.P brioche. This juicy roll is topped with aioli, cheese and lettuce, so pack extra napkins. Isabel Cant

Veg #2, $20

A.P’s veg sandos are no sad salad sandwiches. Golden hunks of soft roast pumpkin are layered between slices of freshly baked focaccia with portobello mushroom, sweet carrot and vibrant salsa verde, while roasted green chilli and horseradish cream deliver just the right level of kick. It’s hefty, saucy and maybe a little bit healthy. Megan Johnston

Porchetta #2, $24

Porchetta sandwiches are often so hectic and rich they put you down, but the additions of a carrot salad and charred green chilli sauce stop this one from fully verging into crazy heavy territory. That said, you can share this one with a buddy and still feel sated, especially if you add an A.P pastry to your order. Bonus points for the shards of crackling you encounter every other bite, giving you a burst of needed crunch. Sarah Norris

Hot beef #1, $20

While it’s not the #1 pick, the beef is still damn fine. The meat, scotch fillet sourced from Marrickville’s Whole Beast Butchery, is brined with pastrami flavours and rubbed with porcini. It’s then sliced and piled on fluffy focaccia that’s been given a thick spread of horseradish cream and salsa verde. It’s got caramelised onions, but not too many to dominate. Sarah Norris

Where to get it

A.P Quay is at Quay Quarter, with entrance on Young Street, not far from Circular Quay station. It’s open Monday to Friday 7.30am to 3pm. There are a couple of outdoor chairs and tables, or find more inside Quay Quarter.

This is the latest instalment of Sandwich watch, a column dedicated to the Sydney sandwiches you need to know about.