London is a city replete with fine sandwiches, more so now than ever. There are probably enough quality shops now to enjoy a sarnie every day of the year. Even a simple bacon number in Cafe Verona, Moorgate, is worth eating; the meat crisp, grease settling nicely into sliced white.
There are the avant garde too and many have earned fame well beyond what some may come to expect of a sandwich shop. In celebration of National Sandwich Week (May 19-24), we’ve put together a list of 10 places to find a great lunch. All manner of excellent fillings are slipped between baguettes, sourdough, subs and more.
Max’s Sandwich Shop
Max’s Sandwich Shop in Crouch Hill has been afforded cult status for a while. It is not only owner Max Halley’s inventive combinations that lure diners, but his zesty persona, charismatically centred on such things as ducks. Those fortunate enough to visit when Max is in town will be greeted happily by a sort of Willy Wonka of sandwiches before choosing from a precise but explosive menu. The must-try is the “ham, egg ‘n’ chips”, where in thick white bread ham hock is accompanied by a fried egg, comforted by piccalilli and vinegar mayonnaise and plumped up with shoestring fries. There’s a reason supermarkets copy Max, a man who was most probably the first to use gravy mayo in a commercial capacity.
19 Crouch Hill, N4 4AU, maxssandwichshop.com
Chatsworth Bakehouse
Chatsworth Bakery is a diminutive hub of focaccia-based creativity, almost unassuming, but online it is a giant. The shop operates a weekly changing menu, serving sandwiches between Wednesdays and Fridays, and each Monday, as soon as a new £10 creation is announced on Instagram, the bakery sells out in under a minute — more than 200 every day. Competition is fierce: people have been known to set alarms, taken days off work, and travel for hundreds of miles to get to the front of the queue. The hype began in 2020 when Croydon-born founders Tom Mathews and Sian Evans were left twiddling their thumbs in the belligerent humdrum of lockdown. Mathews, a chef at a loose end, and Evans, in the music industry and working remotely with much less to do, opened a small venture and started baking bread and crafting inventive fillings. Today, they’ve expanded to a second site, serving pizzas, pastries, breads and those prized sandwiches that cause such commotion. The latest is in homage to Crystal Palace star Ebere Eze and is made with prosciutto cotto, marinated mozzarella, spring pea and wild garlic pesto, potato aioli, chilli pickled onions and Italian rocket. Heaven.
120a Anerley Road, SE19 2AN, chatsworthbakehouse.com
Paul Rothe & Son
Paul Rothe & Son is the oldest surviving sandwich shop in London and has been in the same family since 1900. It is a classic, rudimental deli, beautifully presented and with exceptional service that only seems to exist in places such as these. There are all manner of fillings, a variety of good breads, and you may choose a sandwich of your own design should you wish. But try an old school sarnie, too, whether prawn cocktail, coronation chicken, or ham, cheese and piccalilli. And eat in here: place your order with Stephen, the grandson of Paul and usually in situ, and find a seat at one of the Formica tables or perch on the counter top (advised, as you are likely to want more than one).
35 Marylebone Lane, W1U 2NN, 020 7935 6783
Banh Mi Aha
A banh mi is one of the world’s great fusion foods, marrying Vietnamese freshness and flavour with French indulgence. At Banh Mi Aha, the go-to is simply called “Aha!”. In a soft baguette goes homemade pate, three types of spiced Vietnamese sausage, ham, and the much-loved Kewpie mayo. Topped with pickled carrots, daikon, spring onion and coriander and here is a dish of canon, epitomising a sandwich’s ability to be efficient but endlessly rewarding. It is worth having a papaya salad on the side and if the weather is warm the shop makes for a perfect place to dine al fresco and watch the world go by.
39 Lamb’s Conduit Street, WC1N 3NG, banhmiaha.co.uk
Mondo / Café Mondo
There are numerous places for remedial subs in London. Dom’s, in Hackney, is one. Another is Mondo, which operates out of the White Horse pub in Peckham and more recently opened a standalone fixture serving sarnies, small plates and natural wines. Options change regularly. Right now is a sausage sandwich elevated by gumbo mayo, a Cajun-style corn salad, cheese, butter lettuce — called “shrettuce” by the brand — and American mustard. Another combines pastrami with “sausage-seasoned chickpeas”, charred broccoli, fried onions and pickles. Order the house-made hot sauce for dipping and a portion of moo krob pork belly on the side.
Café Mondo, 42 Peckham Road, SE5 8PX, instagram.com
White Horse Peckham, 20-22 Peckham Rye, SE15 4JR, whitehorsepeckham.co.uk/mondo-sando
Beigel Bake
The best time to visit Beigel Bake is after the pub. There will be queues, but there’s something faintly thrilling about the wait. A camaraderie. Indeed it’s rare that queueing for food is worth it. At Beigel Bake, the salt beef that flies the flag, a New York-level bagel where the bread is chewy, the meat fall-apart tender, the soft mustard a guiding force. This is the messiest of food and all the better for it — a legendary shop and one of the few times the word “institution” might be bestowed properly.
159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, bricklanebeigel.co.uk/london/beigel-bake
Dusty Knuckle
Dusty Knuckle bread has become synonymous with London’s hip sourdough culture. That is a conversation best avoided. The point is, the bread is among London’s finest and although there is argument to be had that bacon sandwiches are most agreeable when made with sliced white, it would be foolish to ignore Dusty Knuckle’s version, where smoked back bacon is squeezed into traditional, flavourful sourdough and partnered with ketchup (correct) or brown sauce (the connoisseur’s choice and therefore wrong). Go with a friend, hungover, for breakfast, and share. Because there will also be an egg chilli cheese sandwich — fried egg, spring onions, pickled green chillis and coriander — in focaccia, which is stunning.
Abbot Street Car Park, E8 3DP; 429 Green Lanes, N4 1AH; Highbury Place, N5 1QL, thedustyknuckle.com
Panadera
If there is one sandwich that typifies Instagram in London, it’s the sando. Some of the best are dainty, like the wagyu one at Taka, Marylebone. Such juicy, juicy meat. But the first port of call must be the big-time creations at Panadera (two sites: Soho and Marylebone), a Filipino bakery brand from Florence Mae Maglanoc and Omar Shah. There is an egg sando of spectacular design, and another of American-style corned beef, which is made in house. First, brisket is brined for three days, then shredded, but loosely, so as to deliver a resourceful texture. The meat is then made into a croquette with potatoes and a rich bechamel sauce before the whole thing is fried, placed into Filipino milk bread — or pandesal — and jazzed up by lettuce and aioli.
Various locations, panaderabakery.com
Chet’s
Apparently the club sandwich originated at Saratoga Club House in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the late 1800s. Early recipes are simple, with turkey or chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and lots of mayonnaise between three slices of white bread. Today, slices of egg make an occasional appearance, as does cheese from time to time; ham has been known to replace crisp bacon. Anyway, at Chet’s, the club sandwich is a canny take on the New York classic: fried chicken, bacon, papaya slaw, jalapenos and red cabbage are dressed in ranch. It comes with a great number of French fries, as a club sandwich must. Crisps? No.
65 Shepherd’s Bush Green, W12 8QE, chetsrestaurant.co.uk
Amol’s
The vada pav, where a deep-fried potato dumpling sits on chutney and green chilli and served in a burger bun, has not yet fully made it into central London’s food hype arena, instead mostly cavorting around the periphery. Still, this is Indian street food (more specifically, Mumbai and wider Maharashtra) at its best — vegetarian, cheap, and filling. One prime location that serves classic vada pav is Amol’s near Alperton station in northwest London. Some recommend adding cheese. More central is Curry On NaanStop, a food stand with sites in Seven Dials, and a delivery site in Herne Hill. Of course, the vada pav has been enjoyed by communities across London for decades. It would be fun to see it get a little more mainstream limelight.
181 Ealing Road, HA0 4LW, amolsvadapav.com
