Fatboy Sandos — Japanese Sandwiches at AZ International in Mesa

[Skillet Doux]

Hooooooraaaaaay!

Anybody who's spent any time in a Japanese combini (convenience store) knows that there's a whole culinary subculture built around delicious sandwiches built on slices of shokupan (milk bread) with various fillings. Of course, they aren't limited to combini, but this style of Japanese sandwich seems to be ascendant on the West Coast, so I've been WAITING for it to pop up here, and it looks like it finally has.

Fatboy Sandos looks to be an expansion of a Tucson sandwich shop, and they've taken roost in one of those stalls in AZ International Marketplace that's seen about 17 different tenants over the past few years. (Most recently Loco Style Grindz, I believe).

Nightbloom and I popped in for a look right after they opened, but they were totally slammed, so we took a rain check. I popped back in last week and I am super duper pleased.

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They're still a little scattered back there. Definitely getting their sea legs. Be patient, and expect a bit of a wait.

It's a small menu (which is good). There are a handful of sandos, then a few rice bowls and bento boxes built on the sando fillings. There are also a few sides (fries, potato salad, etc.) and a few onigiri that are *not* the same as the other categories. (Spicy tuna, vegan miso and chile crisp, pork, spam musubi.)

I started out with the core offerings... a trio of sandos. Got everything except the eggplant:

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Starting in the middle is the egg sando, which was my least favorite of the three, but that said, it's quite good. It looks like they're using shokupan from one of the Asian market bakeries in the 'hood, which I think makes sense. You aren't going to do any better than that. I spied a few bags on the back counter, but I couldn't see well enough to make out which bakery it is. Anyway, the egg is straight-up Japanese egg salad. Pretty much chopped eggs, Kewpie and a little seasoning. I think they could use a touch of sugar, but that's also my combini preferences showing through. I do love the giant quartered eggs in the middle, and they have some nice golden yolks going on... not overcooked. If you're unfamiliar with the format, this is a very good example. There are better to be found (especially in my own kitchen, which is why this one's my least favorite ), but this is absolutely a good representative for the genre.

On the right is the pork katsu sando, and this is where it starts getting interesting for me. Super simple — pork katsu along with finely shredded cabbage and a bit of katsu sauce (kinda Worcestershire-esque). And maybe a touch of mayo. I didn't look that carefully because I was busy demolishing it. This is very nicely done. It's a thick, juicy, tender slab of pork, and they get a nice crunchy panko crust on it. Ours was still warm, but this'd be just as good if not better cold. Bring an extra home and stick it in the fridge.

I will, however, reserve my swooning for the sando on the left:

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I have been WAITING for this exact sandwich for 13 years. Ebi katsu sando is one of my absolute favorite things to get in Japan, it is a pain in the ass to make at home, and I have been (im)patiently waiting for somebody to hurry up and serve one on the regular. Basically, you just chop/grind shrimp into a chunky paste, season it, coat it with panko and fry it to make a shrimpburger. In this case, it looks like there's a layer of nori in between the shrimp and the panko. This one is very subtle with the seasoning, but I'm not complaining. I am absolutely tickled by this. Great shrimp patty. Plump and juicy (look at it!) with a perfect texture. The offer a spicy mayo, which you can see peeking out the side of the tray, and it's good, but I'm kind of a purist with these. Just the shredded cabbage and default Kewpie does the job for me.

Anyway, there are some more items to try, but I am very, very happy to have these guys around.

Fatboy Sandos
instagram.com/fatboysandos
1920 W. Broadway Road
(Inside AZ International Marketplace)
Mesa, AZ 85202

[GianniB]

Cool! Having experienced these in the spring I'm going to search them out this week. The convenience stores are special, for sure.

[davej]

Has the crazy long line and slow service improved?

[Skillet Doux]

Has the crazy long line and slow service improved?

I can only speak to my experience. At 12:15 last Wednesday, there was no line and 4-5 customers waiting for their orders. Sandwiches took about 12 minutes to come out, based on the photo timestamps

[Nightbloom]

These sandwiches travel pretty well, too. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a driveby sandwiching (h/t Skillet Doux & mini Doux) and got to try the pork katsu and egg salad sandos last week. Killer! The pork and cabbage stayed crispy and though it was no longer hot, I did not care one bit. Maybe could have used a touch of mayo, for me, but it was a nice surprise. Loved the egg salad too, especially the mouthful of yolk you get once or twice a half when you hit large pieces of boiled egg. Again, could go a little heavier on the mayo, for me. I think it's me. <3 <3 mayo

[Wilbur]

My wife and I stopped by to try out this recommendation today. Both of us enjoyed it very much, although our respective favorites were different.

Leanne's absolute favorite were the furikake fries. They were sweet and salty and umami and hot and cold all at the same time, hot off the grill and served with a lemon garlic mayo sauce. I doubt I could eat a whole serving by myself, they were that rich.

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We both preferred the Ebi sandos to the don katsu. The katsu was fine, but the shrimp was amazingly good. Again, the servings are really filling, given the milk bread's thick, rich composition.

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Finally, the fruit and cream sando for dessert was my favorite, although the better half suggested that it, "tastes like the orange has been dipped in Tang".

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The ambience is...in an Asian grocery.

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This is a terrific addition to the list of places down south that are interesting and enjoyable options when you visit Mesa. If you order one thing, it needs to be the Ebi shrimp.

https://fatboysandos.net/current-menu-and-catering

Interestingly, while we were eating, a group came in and started filming. Based on their shirts, it was these guys, so you might watch their channel for an upcoming review. https://www.youtube.com/@SaturdayFATurday/videos

[Skillet Doux]

Well, this is interesting:



I'm actually a little skeptical about bringing in (presumably) frozen bread from overseas when you have at least two great bakeries making fresh shokupan right there in the neighborhood. But I'll be curious to see how it is.

[immersivemachine]

I just tried them for the first time 3 days ago, so I'm not sure if this was pre-japanese milk bread or not, but I was super disappointed in the bread, actually. It felt not at all squishy and soft like I was hoping for. Fingers crossed it was the old bread and this is new, because I was quite underwhelmed. I also went at the very end of the day so maybe that played a role, but squishy bread is kinda the most important thing to me, when it comes to this style of sando, so hoping the change is for the better.

[Wilbur]

Here is the video that the Saturday Faturday guys came and shot while we were trying Fatboys for the first time.

https://youtu.be/1pBjsENELfw

The cutest thing was the rest of the family, ALSO in the shirts, taking up a couple of tables with what I assume were grandparents, siblings, spouses, and tiny children and eating and making comments, etc. beside us. A nice family affair in parallel with the video shoot.

[Wilbur]

We stopped again this evening on the way home from a game, and we discovered that they have a Happy Hour. They were also running a DJ deck for the delectation of their guests, in competition with the grocery store's Christmas music. Ambience ahoy!

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Also, we tried the musubi, which was delicious, a phrase that not many people can say about a dish that contains a slab of Spam. Excellent rice, robust nori, perfectly fried Spam, and the egg with furikake seasoning makes for a very filling delight.

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Finally, we can report that the sandos' bread was fine on this visit.