Terra Craft Sandwiches: Unassuming on the outside, doing it right inside | Review

Lyn Dowling
·4 min read

When people who belong to 321 Flavor: Where Brevard Eats, Florida Today’s Facebook group, some of whom are respected chefs, agree that a restaurant is terrific, go there. This we learned once again recently at Terra Craft Sandwiches.

It’s an unassuming, immaculate little place in a plaza off Hibiscus Boulevard, near Babcock Street, in Melbourne.

The interior has been completely redesigned, with artistic food photographs and greenery in the dining room and intelligent use of ordering and soft drink machine space. Soft drinks include pinkish-purplish “Butterfly Mojito,” which I will try on the next visit, and there will be a next visit.

Reviewer Lyn Dowling on the banh mi at Terra Craft Sandwiches: "A thing of beauty it was: mojo-roasted pork, ponzu-style vegetables with jalapenos and red onion for crispness and a little heat, plus a decent amount of cilantro, topped with chicharron crisps."
Reviewer Lyn Dowling on the banh mi at Terra Craft Sandwiches: "A thing of beauty it was: mojo-roasted pork, ponzu-style vegetables with jalapenos and red onion for crispness and a little heat, plus a decent amount of cilantro, topped with chicharron crisps."

The menu shows salads, sides, soups, desserts and about 15 sandwiches plus daily specials.

The sandwiches, which come on rolls, parathas, and regular sliced bread, are clever and well-thought: French Onion Grilled Cheese ($10.95) has white cheddar, gruyere, provolone and caramelized onions on sourdough toast with bone broth au jus; the turkey club ($12.95) has slices of in-house roasted turkey. In-house roasted turkey for sandwiches: What a concept, and the concept is called “doing it right.”

We ordered the Terra Chop Salad ($10.65) with shrimp and a mojo pork banh mi ($11.65), with an ice cream sandwich ($4.95) for dessert and each was first-rate.

The big, colorful salad was served in a round bowl with the shrimp mounded in the middle, and it went over just fine with a woman who generally shies away from fried anything as if it were a sign of the devil.

Otherwise, there were mixed greens, red onion, house-candied walnuts, cucumber, radish spiced chickpeas, roasted grapes and crumbled cheese, and she talked about it all the way home. This is a woman who prizes great salads the way others prize fine wines, and she called it one of the best she’s ever had.

I, on the other hand, am a sandwich nut who would have one for every meal if it had the right bread and excellent meat. Therefore, the banh mi was the choice, and a thing of beauty it was: mojo-roasted pork, ponzu-style vegetables with jalapenos and red onion for crispness and a little heat, plus a decent amount of cilantro, topped with chicharron crisps.

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The only thing I thought could have been improved was true, Vietnamese-style French bread rather than the slightly soft roll on which it was served, but that is minor. This is a superb sandwich, with beautifully roasted, chunky pork and nicely dressed vegetables.

We also ordered a side of fries ($3.95), which were served crisp and steaming hot, though they were those coated purveyor things to which some diners are devoted; others, not so much. I run to the not-so-much side, but they stayed hot and crisp through a leisurely meal.

The ice cream sandwich was not the thing you get for the kids as a summertime treat, but a soft, slightly gooey, thin-sliced, house-made brownie on either side of a square of dense, creamy salted caramel ice cream. My goodness. Rather, Terra’s.

The ice cream sandwich at Terra Craft Sandwiches "was not the thing you get for the kids as a summertime treat, but a soft, slightly gooey, thin-sliced, house-made brownie on either side of a square of dense, creamy salted caramel ice cream," says reviewer Lyn Dowling.
The ice cream sandwich at Terra Craft Sandwiches "was not the thing you get for the kids as a summertime treat, but a soft, slightly gooey, thin-sliced, house-made brownie on either side of a square of dense, creamy salted caramel ice cream," says reviewer Lyn Dowling.

Beverages at Terra are available from a fountain or in cans, and a wide variety of cans there are, from specialty coffees to energy drinks and kids’ containers. The sweet tea was appropriately strong and refreshing.

That’s it. When judged against the breed standard for fast-casual restaurants, Terra more than meets the requirements. Look for us there.

Lyn Dowling is a freelance food and lifestyles writer based in Melbourne. 

Terra Craft Sandwiches

Four stars

Address: 231 W. Hibiscus Blvd., Melbourne

Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays

Call: 321-237-2311

Other: Sauces include chipotle, cilantro and chimichurri aioli, and avocado crema; bottled beer.

Online: www.terracraftsandwiches.com

About our reviews

Restaurants are rated on a five-star system by FLORIDA TODAY’s reviewer. The reviews are the opinion of the reviewer and take into account quality of the restaurant’s food, ambiance and service. Ratings reflect the quality of what a diner can reasonably expect to find. To receive a rating of less than three stars, a restaurant must be tried twice and prove unimpressive on each visit. Each reviewer visit is unannounced and paid for by FLORIDA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Thinking fast-casual dining? Think Terra Craft Sandwiches | Review