A complete guide to Cork’s best sandwiches
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The public has spoken.
Sandwiches are a cuisine that Cork people feel strongly about. In fact, the topic stirred up some lively debate among Yay Cork readers.
When we asked you to hand over the exact location and description of your favourite Cork sandwiches, we were inundated with suggestions.
Things got very heated, very fast.
While there wasn’t one suggested sandwich we wouldn’t have devoured in five minutes, there are some perennial favourites that cannot be beaten.
Cork’s best sandwich – as voted for by you
The pick of the bunch? The Long Valley corned beef salad.
There isn’t an avocado to be seen in the winning Winthrop Street pub, which has been welcoming gasping punters since 1842.
So what is it about the famous Long Valley sandwich that keeps hungry customers coming back? Turns out, it’s all down to a simple formula: excellent ingredients and zero fuss.
The sandwiches are, of course, the legacy of bar owner Rita Moynihan, who died in 2014 at the age of 83, having run the business with her husband Humphrey since the Sixties, when they took it over from his parents.
A newspaper article once described them as “the biggest sandwiches 100 miles any side of the River Lee”. For the very reasonable price of €4.50, you can sink your teeth into a doorstep slab made with pillow-soft crusty bread cut to withstand the weight of the filling inside.
The poet Theo Dorgan is a fan too, famously noting that it would take ‘a strong man in the full of his health with the help of three small children’ to munch through one.
Here it is, number one on our list of Cork’s best sandwiches…
1. The Long Valley corned beef salad sandwich
Winthrop Street
John Creedon orders his with “a pot of tea (2 teabags) served in stainless steel teapot with a dodgy lid.” Whatever way you order it, the Long Valley corned beef salad sandwich has made its way into local lore. Steel yourself for a spiritual experience. And order the chowder too – it’s great.
2. The Sandwich Stall Reuben
English Market
Nab a seat at the counter of the Sandwich Stall in the English Market for this one. Their Reuben, an American grilled sandwich composed of corned beef or spiced beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on rye bread deserves your full attention. Do yourself a favour and go alone.
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Sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches!!! #englishmarketcork #corkcity #yaycork
3. Bracken’s toasted special
Paul Street
You might think it’s impossible to get a toasted special wrong, but one visit to Bracken’s will show you how to get it so, so right. Doorstep bread, layered with ham, cheese, onion and tomato, and toasted to crispy perfection. With a dollop of coleslaw on the side, this is living.
4. The Sonny’s Deli banh Mi
Albert Road
Picture a crispy baguette stuffed with sweet roast pork, Vietnamese pickles, chilli and coriander. Now picture yourself stuffing it into your mouth while smiling dementedly and doing a little wiggly dance in your seat. This very experience awaits you at one of the city’s hidden gems. It’s a taste of Ho Chi Minh City in Cork.
Photo of aforementioned #BanhMi ! pic.twitter.com/OOQcNjwHj5
— Sonny’s Deli (@Sonnys_Deli) May 3, 2016
5. The O’Keeffe’s Shop steak sandwich
St Luke’s Cross
O’Keeffe’s has long been famed for supplying St Luke’s locals with artisan goodies from their shop. but if you don’t fancy doing any work yourself, they’ll hand you a takeaway lunch too. The steak sandwich (an autumn/winter menu item that’s about to make a comeback in September) involves minute steak, mushrooms, onions and pepper sauce with a sprinkling of cheese. It’ll keep you going ’til bedtime.
6. Monty’s grilled cheese sandwich
Midleton
Feeling blue? Life got you down in the dumps? Pull a sickie from work and drive yourself to Midleton, where Monty’s will serve you a three-cheese toastie, oozing with melted Toonsbridge Scamorza, Ballinrostig Organic Nettle Cheese and Tim O’s Cheddar. Guaranteed to turn your frown upside down.
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7. The Twenty Cafe spiced beef sandwich
20 Anglesea Street
We were wondering when the spiced beef would make an appearance. It didn’t take long. Over on Anglesea Street, the Twenty Cafe sandwich bar serves Cork’s most beloved meat with gherkins and brie to balance the distinctive flavour.
8. The Gubbeen salami baquette at St Francis Provisions
Kinsale
They’ve barely been open a season and St Francis Provisions in Kinsale is already making major waves in the sandwich loving community. Their hefty Gubbeen pistachio salami baquette involves grilled nectarines (nectarines if you don’t mind… grilled) and fresh rocket on an Arbutus roll. It’s meaty and juicy and salty and you’ll be dreaming about it nightly from the first bite.
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9. The Cork Boi at O’Flynn’s
Winthrop Street
Facing Cork’s number one sandwich destination, The Long Valley, on Winthrop Street, O’Flynn’s the waft of sizzling sausages is almost enough to lure you into their clutches. The Cork Boi is Cork street food at its best; your choice of sausage served in a freshly baked roll with relish, caramelised onion, ketchup and mayo.
10. The Umi Falafel sandwich
Academy Street
Is it a sandwich? Is it a falafel? Is a falafel technically a sandwich? Who cares. This combo of crunchy golden-brown falafel, hummus, tomato, cucumber, pickles, fried aubergine, flat parsley chilli and tahini sauce on Palestinian bread was a firm favourite with voters.
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