The original Baguette sandwich stand on Degraves street’s official name is actually “Waffle On” and has reportedly been around for more than a decade now.
Excellent Baguettes and waffles are made by a slightly obnoxious, and possibly eccentric french guy, Marc Launcher that manages to balls up everyone’s name and garble it into some kind of incomprehensible accented version when he calls your name to pick up your order.
He certainly lives in a lonely isolated tower of indecipherable speech- fortunately, his shop girl who works the tills seems to be able to translate for him when necessary.
https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/food-and-drink/directory/cafe/waffle
That said, the annoying french guy makes damn nice Baguettes! at $10 each, they seem like a ripoff at first, and I only bought one on the recommendation of my boss… butt.. one taste, and you realise that the french bloke has attained mastery of his trade. In fact, the calling of your name, by the sandwich master himself feels somewhat personalised and just part of good service.
Perfectly constructed, the obscenely long baguette is the right mix of softness, longness and crispiness, and is not too tough, big or dense. The right amount of pickles, ham, mustard, Gruyere cheese and other goodies all adds up to the perfect “La Parisien” baguette on Degraves street- a laneway famous for sandwiches, probably because of this man and his little shop.
Would I go here often? NO!
It’s expensive, I don’t need to, and can’t justify spending $10 on lunch regularly, but would I go again? most certainly YES! – the rolls he manufactures are superb!
This little shop may look very understated, and in a scummy looking location, at the mouth of a musty train subway staircase, but if you are hungry for an above average lunch, do not go past it, call in and see what all the fuss is about!
