It’s always sandwich season
It’s one of the world’s most popular and adaptable dishes. Here are are five of our favourites, from London to Leeds
The humble sandwich, named after a hard-gambling 18th-century nobleman who had the bright idea of stuffing two slices of bread with roast beef so he didn’t have to leave the card table to eat, was once described by the Wall Street Journal as “the biggest British contribution to gastronomy”.
While that comment was clearly intended more as a slight than a compliment, no one can deny the global reach of this simple and infinitely adaptable meal. Given that the average Briton consumes an estimated 18,000 sandwiches in a lifetime, it’s just as well that the format now includes everything from Japanese katsu or strawberry and cream sandos to caesar salad wraps and chopped Italian subs.
Quick to make, handheld and frequently featuring photogenic cross-sections, sandwiches are probably posted about by influencers more than any other kind of food. Some deserve more than 15 minutes of viral hype, though. Here are my top five purveyors in the country.
Logma, London
This Iranian-Iraqi bistro in Hackney, east London, has become a go-to for good reason. Its sandwiches — though it feels reductive to refer to these gigantic filled sourdough pittas as that — came about by accident, added to the menu while waiting for plates and cutlery to arrive ahead of the restaurant’s opening. Nothing else is left to chance, though.
My top tip, the kofta and aubergine sandwich (£12), offers a symphony of flavours. The traditional Iraqi baharat blend used to spice the minced lamb pairs perfectly with tangy kashk bademjan, a beloved Iranian dish of fermented whey, crispy onions and aubergine. It is an unusual combination, especially in sandwich form, but one that feels completely natural as soon as you start eating.
To say that it reminds me of my Iraqi mother’s “everything pitas” — filled with leftover kebab uroog, fried aubergine, roasted peppers and whatever sauce is available — is the best compliment I can give.
Tamini Lebanese Bakery, London
Tamini Lebanese Bakery is a family-owned neighbourhood business launched in 2020 in Fulham, west London. It has since opened two more branches in Bloomsbury and Kensington. With fresh Lebanese pastries and manakish coming out of the stone-clad ovens throughout the day, it is easy to miss the wraps on the menu.
Don’t.
Served in flatbreads made to order, options include shredded chicken, spicy kafta and sausage (all £9.45), falafel (£8.95) and labneh (£7.95). My favourite is the kafta mix: lamb and beef skewers, tomatoes, pickles, garlic mayonnaise and a punchy harissa-style sauce. The kafta is distinctly Lebanese in flavour — mixed with fresh parsley, minced onions and seven spice — and pressed flat before cooking. The hot bread, straight out of the tannour oven, fresh parsley, family-secret spice mix and sour pickles make one bite enough to transport me to the streets of Beirut.
Fostok Halab, London
This Syrian supermarket and butcher in Acton, west London, has been the subject of countless influencer videos. The attention to detail and the barely believable price point of its in-store shawarma counter has inspired awestruck superlatives from the likes of Bite Twice and Eating with Tod.
What started as a back-of-the-shop operation has since expanded to a dedicated section to the left of the main supermarket, replete with large screens displaying the menu and rolling video footage of all the online food critics who have tucked into its now-famous £3.00 chicken wraps.
I typically favour the samoon and pitta used, respectively, for Iraqi and Lebanese shawarma. The Syrian variety comes in much thinner shrak bread and often relies too heavily on toum (a pungent whipped garlic sauce) for me. Fostok Halab is enough to make me rethink those preferences. Its chicken is beautifully charred and the shrak toasted to a welcome crunch. Upgrade to a shawarma Arabi meal and you’ll get a serving of chunky pickled carrots and cucumber and crisply fried, spice-dusted potato slices for £5.50.
Fat Pat’s, Manchester
Located in an unmarked hatch down a back street in Manchester, Fat Pat’s bakes its eight-inch milk rolls on site fresh every morning. They become the vehicle for its highly recommended hot honey fried chicken (£16), shrimp po’boy (£14), Philly cheesesteak (£16) and eggplant muffuletta (£12) subs. Operating since 2022, this spot uses halal-certified ingredients and has become a staple of the wider Manchester food scene.
Orders are placed online and waiting times can be up to an hour, but what you get is worth it. The Philly cheesesteak is my recommendation for meat lovers: rich, unctuous, generously seasoned and topped with crunchy onions and a piquant sauce. Sure, it’s at the pricier end of the sandwich market, but the portions are big enough to keep you going for the rest of the day.
Sweet Saeeda, Leeds
The merguez sandwich (£5.50) at Sweet Saeeda in Kirkgate Market is served in fresh Tunisian bread. Similar in appearance to a French baguette, the exterior crunch gives way to a pillow-soft interior. The vibrant red lamb and beef sausage is fragrant with cumin, fennel, paprika and garlic, and comes accompanied by a spicy harissa sauce. Finished off with a hearty topping of fresh salad, tangy pickles and salty olives, this is a bite that you’ll be hard-pressed to beat anywhere in the country.
