The best sandwiches in London
When I tell you I love a sandwich, it is a love affair as old as time – or as old as my first memory of my Nan making cheese and cucumber sandwiches, crusts off, and cut into triangles.
The sarnie can be enjoyed at any time of day. From a bacon sandwich between slices of white bloomer for brekkie to a lunchtime bap or a late-night cheese toastie, the sandwich is far from humble. It’s a staple.
Not only does a sandwich do the job of feeding a hungry mouth, but it is also a vessel for innovative flavour combinations, as tried and tested by the many shops in London slinging out experimental recipes.
If you’re after a wedge of bread stuffed with tasty, not-your-standard chicken and sweetcorn fillings, this is my rundown of the best sandwiches in London. Now, please stop going for a spicy tunacado at the place that rhymes with Moe and the Moose.
Chatsworth Bakehouse
If you’ve experienced the constant refreshing of a webpage trying to get Glastonbury tickets, you’ll be prepped to secure a Chatsworth Bakehouse sarnie when they go on sale each Monday lunchtime for the week ahead. And just like the festival, it’s the best on earth.
The Crystal Palace spot is proud to be a neighbourhood bakery. Born from lockdown, they’ve even opened a second location a few doors down due to demand. Chef Tom Mathews bakes focaccia and packs it with always-interesting fillings. Every ingredient holds its own, making for the perfect mouthful every time.
Highlights include “Only the Bravas”, filled with a tangy tomatoey sauce and potatoes because who doesn’t love double carbohydrates, and “The Anerley Hill Hot”, with a combo that hits all your taste buds, from spicy to sweet and everything in between.
Crystal Palace, SE19 | chatsworthbakehouse.com
Max’s Sandwich Shop
Thank you, Max, for taking the ingredients of a spring roll and putting it into a sandwich. The “This is how we spring roll” at Max’s Sandwich Shop in Finsbury Park has a pickled veg spring roll, kimchi-kraut, and a black bean, honey and MSG mayo, among other things, in what can only be described as perfection.
Another worthy mention is the “Et tu, brute? Murdering the Caesar”. It’s a “murdering-ly” good take on the classic, but it’s mostly special because it’s got pickled grapes that burst so delightfully.
A small but select and never simple menu means Max’s is a hotspot for sandwich lovers. Go with your lover and share two sarnies straight down the middle with two cold beers for the ideal date day.
Finsbury Park, N4 | maxssandwichshop.com
Mondo Sandwiches
From two sandwich-loving mates, Café Mondo is the latest in their journey of taking carefully curated ideas from their flat’s kitchen counter to residencies and now a sandwich-counter-turn-dive-bar.
They have been slinging sarnies from Camberwell’s fave pub, the Grove House Tavern, for years, where the menu boasts deliciousness like the Chickpea Caesar that’s topped with bursting pickled onions and crouton crumb, or the Mondo Frango stuffed with grilled peri-peri chicken, a pea salsa verde, potato matchsticks, and shrettuce.
Go over a postcode, and the newer Café Mondo site has an exclusive sandwich menu that features new flavour combos like pork and greens and their take on the almighty fish finger sandwich.
The bread for the caff is sourced from next-door neighbour TOAD Bakery, and the hoagies are baked in-house. When I tell you these subs and sandos are served overflowing, you best prepare to get messy. The only way to eat them is with your hands and perhaps wearing a bib.
Camberwell, SE5 and Peckham, SE15 | Café Mondo’s Instagram
Italo
Italo is known for its tea-time supper clubs and kitchen residencies, but the lunchtime offering shouldn’t be overlooked, either.
Especially because focaccia is having a moment. The Vauxhall restaurant is another spot slicing these in half and stuffing them with varying combos.
From the pork shoulder sarnie with fig and pistachio salsa, pickled red onion, and crunchy lettuce to the coronation chickpea with the spiced ‘peas, peanuts, coriander, and baby gem lettuce, each is so well-thought-out that they deserve the crown.
Vauxhall, SW8 | Italo’s Instagram
Dusty Knuckle
You’ll likely already know that Dusty Knuckle makes the best loaves, but they also use them to make sarnies to sit in or take away at the OG site in Hackney and the Harringay café.
Beef and horseradish might be a combo your da’ eats on a Sunday, but Dusty Knuckle’s is filled with beef brisket, sauerkraut, horseradish cream, and crispy onions, plus a salad of herby dill and parsley with sliced shallots. Your da’ wouldn’t touch this; he would call it “too London”, but that’s ok with me. I’ll have his.
Then there’s the sarnie with whipped feta, an ingredient that makes me order at lightning speed. It’s got celeriac and shallots roast with Pilpelchuma, whipped feta and labneh, pickled turnips, and smoked almonds. It’s doused in a green sauce and date syrup and finished with another herby salad. Just imagine the cross-section on that.
Hackney, E8 and Harringay, N4 | thedustyknuckle.com
Secret Sandwich Shop
Okay, there is nothing secret about this, but there is a whole load of tasty sarnies here. Although its website gives absolutely nothing away, I know that through a little West London door are some of the best sandwiches you’ll ever have.
Inspired by a Japanese Wanpaku sandwich – Wanpaku means cheeky or naughty, and that is exactly what the sandwiches are.
Often jam-packed, the fillings sit between pillowy shokupan – Japanese bread (which can be swapped for white or rye), tempting you to take a big bite. And once you hear some of the combos, you’ll try to unhinge your jaw to get more in, snake-style.
There’s the Patty Smith, a Big Mac-tasting burger sando, and the Prawn Katsu sandwich that encompasses all the best flavours and is finished with caramelised walnuts, shaved cabbage, and tonkatsu sauce.
The actual Secret Sandwich, its signature sando, comprises five seasonal vegetables with the house waft dressing, avocado, tomato, and Kewpie mayo. Add as many additions as you please, and make it bigger and bigger until you can bite no more.
Notting Hill, W11 | secretsandwichshop.com
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