When Age.3 opened in Sydney, there were hour-long queues snaking around the block full of people eager to try the signature fried sandwiches. That’s because before it even opened Age.3 was famous.

It started in Ginza, a glitzy suburb in Tokyo, where the sandwiches – milk bread fried until golden, split open and stuffed with anything from strawberries and cream to curry – had become the main character in countless social media posts. Age.3 then expanded to another site in Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and now it has an Australian home in Sydney’s Ultimo.

Choose from 32 flavours – red bean, butter and cream; creme brulee; potato salad and egg; tuna mayonnaise; cinnamon apple pie – pair it with a cold drink, maybe a matcha or a yuzu mojito mocktail and contemplate whether the wait was worth it.