Best Sandwiches in London
Because there is always a time and a place for a sandwich. Yes the sarnie is not just for lunchtimes ya know, over the past few years they’ve had a real glow-up and the sandwich scene in London has exploded – if you thought sneakers were hyped, you should see the queues that some of these bread babies cause. Eat your way around the city’s top tier sandwiches with a little help from the Sausage Press Sandwich Guide.
Our pick of the bunch includes the cult subs from Mondo Sando in Peckham and Dom’s Subs in Hackney, Morty & Bob’s classic cheese toasties, and the excellently-named full meals between bread at Max’s Sandwich Shop aka the late night sarnie shop you can get pissed in.
Crunch London is Old Spitalfields Market is serving up experimental (and big) brioche sandwiches, with fillings including flat iron steak, provolone, roasted red peppers, garlic confit & chimichurri and southern fried chicken, lettuce, pickles & allioli, which have been drawing the crowds. And Hackney falafel pitta don Pockets has been so successful (the queues have become legendary amongst East Londoners) that it’s graduating from a stall at Netil Market to a full-on permanent shop.
Cult sandwich slingers Mondo Sando have given their ever-changing menu of crowd-pleasers a permanent home by opening their very own shop in Camberwell – right next door to TOAD Bakery. What started as a lockdown side hustle – inspired by the food in Miyazaki films, Redwall novels and the Beano, as well as from delis, diners and drinking dens across the world – has grown into a fave of sandwich-loving Londoners, and Mondo’s held a series of popular residencies since launching (most recently at the Grove House Tavern, which will continue alongside the new venture). Now the team are moving up to the next level with Cafe Mondo, a fully-licenced sandwich shop on Peckham Road. As well as beer and sandwiches, the new site is doing wine, cocktails, slushies, pickles (all at affordable prices) and a sunny front porch to eat/drink on.
If you like your sarnies supersized, you’ll want to get down to Crunch London pronto. They’ve got two sites – a standalone shop in Soho and a kitchen at Old Spitalfields Market – which are serving up experimental (and big) brioche sandwiches, with fillings including flat iron steak, provolone, roasted red peppers, garlic confit & chimichurri; southern fried chicken, lettuce, pickles & allioli; and za’atar roasted aubergine, spinach, crispy onions, red peppers & harissa hummus. You can continue the crunch with sides like 1000 layer potatoes, popcorn chicken, and pepperoni lasagna bites – and don’t forget to save room for the deep-fried French toast.
Earl’s in might look like a little sandwich hut in a park in Forest Gate but they’re doing big things between bread. It’s run by Tim Vincent, who cut his teeth running speciality coffee spots, and Wahab Iqbal, a chef with serious kitchen pedigree, and togethe they’re upgrading your lunch with the kind of detail you’d expect from a high-end restaurant, including making everything from scratch. The stacked sarnies (made with ciabatta, sourdough, focaccia and bloomer breads) on offer include the butter chicken salad sando, with spiced poached chicken breast, butter chicken ghee mayo, green chutney and sev; a Ploughman’s with cheddar, chutney and housemade slaw; and a ham & cheese sarnie made with Cobble Lane ham, Neal’s Yard cheddar and their own rhubarb chutney. As well as having coffee roasted exclusively for them, Earl’s also fries its own crisps on-site – how’s that for dedication?
Getting your hands on Chatsworth Bakehouse’s weekly sarnie special is tougher than securing Glasto tickets. Yep, this neighbourhood small batch bakery in Crystal Palace is selling out of their sarnies in as little as five minutes and it’s no surprise when they’re slinging the likes of Only The Bravas (stuffed with Jersey Royals, romesco, fried almonds and alioli); the B(urrata).L.T, and a Tasty Tonno – all whacked inside their signature freshly baked focaccia. At the weekends it’s slabs of focaccia pizza and sweet treats all the way (hello dulce de leche basque cheesecake).
Dom’s Subs may be relatively new to London’s sandwich game having only opened on Hackney Road in 2020 but they made a big impact with their house-baked semolina sub rolls stuffed with epic fillings. The OG site runs collections and deliveries, so order up the likes of the Doms Club (with roast turkey, ham, bacon, Swiss cheese & guac), This Spicy D (with schiacciata piccante, salami, ham, nduja mayo & chilli oil) and The Roman (tenderstem broccoli, roast aubergine, marinated artichokes, provolone & romesco).
Taking inspiration from the food in Miyazaki films, Redwall novels and the Beano, as well as from delis, diners and drinking dens across the world, Mondo’s sandos are stacked with eclectic ingredients and big flavours, and you can grab them at the Grove House Tavern in Camberwell. Expect the likes of The Fauxmoor (rare roast beef, shoestring fries, peppercorn sauce, sweet peppers, rocket & gravy mayo) and CTM Mate (chargrilled chicken tikka thigh, masala sauce, cucumber raita, onion salad and nigella seed & garlic naan chips), alongside sides like Mexican fries with lime & salsa roja, a new vegan Thai larb and a special roast menu.
Sam Sandwiches is a proper hidden gem inside Shepherd’s Bush Market and these guys are slinging some of the best sarnies around with a menu inspired by Algerian street food flavours. Meat comes in the form of marinated chicken, lamb’s liver, merguez or a fish fillet before being topped off with a fried egg and chips. And these hefty sarnies are also slathered with plenty of harissa and mayo too, just how we like ’em.
If you’ve passed through Borough Market over the last few years, you’ll have likely seen hungry punters battling their way through enormous doorstop sandwiches covered in grated parmesan. That’s the signature creation from The Black Pig, a sandwich kitchen with an Italian influence. As well as being massive, the slow-roast pork, honey truffle and parmesan ciabatta is made with the finest ingredients including Blythburgh free range pork, cheeses from the market’s Parma Ham and Mozzarella Stand and ciabatta from Bread Ahead Bakery.
Not content with opening new takeaway Hoodwood on Kentish Town Road, Omar Shah has also opened new Filipino bakery Cafe Mama & Sons next door. Classic pandesal dough is at the heart of the bakery, used in sandos like corned beef, mushroom adobo, egg mayo, and jerk chicken, which you can get with housemade crisps on the side. There are plenty of sweet treats on offer too, including ube mochi bow croissants, ensaymadas and banana pudding, plus hojicha, milo milk, ube lattes and more.
Paul Rothe & Son is a rare beast in that it’s a family-run business in central London and it’s been going since 1900. Classics are very much the name of the game here – you don’t last for over 120 years by being a hypebeast now do you? Sandwiches come on white, granary or wholemeal bread (you can upgrade to rye or ciabatta if you’re feeling fancy) and fillings range from smoked salmon to coronation chicken to mature cheddar. As the sarnies are made in front of you to order, you can also ask for whatever combo you fancy from the ingredients at the counter – if they’ve got it, they’ll put it between bread for you, no matter how weird or wonderful – and they get cut into quarters here so they’re easier to wrap and easier to eat. The deli also serves up homemade soups and salads, and has a very impressive range of preserves lining the windows and shelves.
Marylebone’s uber-trendy Monocle Café may be small but it’s serving up some mighty sandos, from the katsu chicken, shrimp and pork ones to the classic egg salad slapped between soft Japanese bread. And what makes these better than rest is that they’re served with a side of salt and vinegar crisps (as all good sandwiches should be).
Max’s Sandwich Shop, the late night sarnie shop you can get pissed in, might not serve up the cheapest sandwiches in London, but for the comedy value and the fact you probably won’t be able to move after noshing down it’s so worth the money. Expect quirky names and filthy creations. You can’t go wrong with the classic ham, egg ‘n’ chips but we also love The Original Gangster, a braised beef, sauerkraut and “incredibly slutty gravy mayo” creation and don’t miss the crispy potatoes coated in crack-like rose harissa yoghurt either.
We’ve been fans of Morty & Bob’s for years. Their grilled cheese sarnies are high on our list when it comes to cheesiest of cheese toastie dreams. Their roast mushroom and truffle grilled cheese is always a winner, whether it’s morning, noon or night.
After operating out of a shipping container in the Dalston car park of the Bootstrap offices, The Dusty Knuckle has since expanded into one of those former offices, with a bakery, cafe, and a terrace where they run pizza nights in the summer and regular guest chef Dusty Dinners, and a second cafe and pizza restaurant in Haringey. The bakery turns out a range of breads and pastries, including pain au chocolat, morning buns, potato bread, and feta & honey swirls. The monster sarnies, made using their signature bubbly bread and filled with everything from lemongrass pork meatballs and sambal mayo to mapo tofu and sweet potato. What makes The Dusty Knuckle especially great is their support for young Londoners who are attached to the justice system, coming out of custody, or are asylum seekers, through their successful work experience and employment programmes.
Who’d of thought one of our favourite sandwiches would be served in an atmospheric wine bar on Hackney Road. Oh yes at Sager & Wilde you’ll find some epic toasties, one with cheddar and spring onions; one with cheddar and ndjua; and another with cheddar and pepper & chilli jam. Question is, which one will you choose?
Husband-and-wife team Patrick and Carol started the Scottish-influenced Deeney’s as a stall on Broadway Market. Their toasties, particularly the signature Macbeth, with haggis, cheese, rocket, caramelised onion and mustard, quickly gained a cult following, leading to the opening of Deeney’s Cafe in Leyton in 2015. You can get Scottish fry ups and a range of other toasties at the cafe but the haggis (or vegan haggis if that’s your thing) are where it’s at.
EGGBREAK serves up a range of egg-cellent sarnies, including the Eggbreaky Melt with scrambled egg, cheddar and roasted red pepper jam inside a potato bun. Shout out to the Egg, Bacon & Cheese Toasty and the Spicy Piggy Bun with a gochujang pork patty. Hangover = SORTED.
A fave over in LA where it first hatched, Eggslut has properly established itself in London with sites in Notting Hill, Fitzrovia, Shoreditch and Victoria. It’s all about egg sandwiches here (there’s a big fat clue in the name), although the signature Slut, a coddled egg on a potato purée, poached in a glass jar, topped with gray salt and chives, is not to be missed. Sarnie-wise, the Fairfax is for all you scramble fans, with cheddar, caramelised onions and sriracha mayo joining the soft eggs in a brioche bun, and the Sausage, Egg & Cheese, with house-made turkey sausage, over-medium egg, cheddar and honey mustard aioli in a brioche bun, is always a winner too. A side of truffle hash browns and some fresh OJ and you’ve got a brekkie that’s good enough to eat all day long.
As part of her 1996 Group, Florence Mae Maglanoc runs Panadera in Marylebone and Soho. The bakeries serves up a range of Filipino-inspired treats including garlic cheese pandesal, strawberry matcha cookies, buko pandan frappes, corned beef hash sandos, calamansi meringue pie, ube (that’s the purple yam that’s been turned into ice cream and stuffed into doughnuts at Mamasons) tart. Pair your bakes with drinks like milo mocha, buko pandan frappes and brown sugar taro boba.
The Rogues Sarnies crew has been doing such roaring business since they opened in summer 2023 that they’ve had to relocate to a bigger site, which is now open in Bethnal Green. The new spot gives them six times more space, which means more capacity to make those bangin’ wood-fired sarnies, like the roast beef Lord Nelson and the Marmite Cheesy. They can now also offer an extended drinks menu, including champagne by the glass, boozy slushies, beers, and cocktails.
