Ahhhh the good ol’ Christmas sarnie. Everyone’s favourite chatter in the office throughout December – well, before talk turns to who’s got off with who at the Christmas party anyway – each year in Blighty we’re blessed with some bloody delicious Christmas sandwiches. 2023 is no different, with both meat feasts and vegan-friendly versions on the menu. So, without further ado, here’s our rundown of the best Christmas sandwiches in London this festive period:
1. THE NATALE at Mondo Sando
The boys at Mondo Sando have already made a hell of wave across South London since they started back in lockdown, and have since branched into the world of banging Sunday roasts. They show no sign of slowing down anytime soon if their Christmas sandwich is anything to go by.
Billed as ‘THE NATALE’, it takes inspiration from a traditional Italian Christmas dinner, and features Tuscan herbed turkey with all the trimmings as well as pork and apricot piggy bacon, fennel and orange slaw and cranberry mostarda. The best part of all – it comes with turkey dripping mayo. What more could you ask for, hey?!
📍You’ll find Mondo Sando at The Grove House Tavern, 26 Camberwell Grove, London, SE5 8RE.
🚇 Nearest station is Denmark Hill.
2. ‘Christmas Toastie’ at The Little Scarlet Door
Next up on this festive sandwiches roundup is the ‘Christmas Toastie’ at The Little Scarlet Door – one of the best late night cocktail bars in Soho. Available throughout the whole of the festive season, it comes packed with juicy turkey, pork stuffing, cranberry sauce, brie and mayo – plus a gravy dip of course.
Plus, if you’ve room for dessert, then you can make your way through their delectable chocolate orange brownies – or simply head to the bar for a shot or cocktail. It is Christmas after all…
📍You’ll find The Little Scarlet Door at 12-13 Greek Street, Soho, W1D 4DL.
🚇 Nearest station is Tottenham Court Road.
3. ‘Turkey and Cheese Toastie’ at The George and The Cadogan Arms
Another one of our favourite Christmas sandwiches in London this year is the ‘Turkey and Cheese Toastie’ at both The George in Great Portland Street and at The Cadogan Arms in Kensington and Chelsea.
Served with plenty of stuffing and cranberry sauce, it’s a delightfully hearty snack that is guaranteed to fill a hole – plus, they’ve also got turkey curry (“just stir it Una!“), game pie, a wild mushroom and celeriac wellington and plenty of desserts on the roster at both pubs too.
📍You’ll find The George at 55 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 7LQ and The Cadogan Arms at 298 King’s Road, Chelsea, SW3 5UG.
🚇 Nearest stations are Oxford Circus and South Kensington.
4. ‘The Sleigher’ at The Black Pig
The Black Pig are bringing back their much anticipated Christmas sandwich – welcome, ‘The Sleigher’. Loved and longed for year round, this seasonal special comes filled with all the trimmings, served between thick slices of The Black Pig’s signature ciabatta. This year, to make the sandwich tastier than ever, The Black Pig in Borough Market has added a pot of roast chicken gravy for essential dunking. It’s pretty much an entire Christmas meal in and of itself.
‘The Sleigher’ features slabs of free range pork shoulder slow roasted for ten hours, before being finished cooking over coals. The tender, juicy pork is then placed in a toasted ciabatta, alongside smoked turkey and piled high with clove and cinnamon braised red cabbage. On top sits a toasted pecan, sage and crispy shallot crumble, cranberry sauce and confit leek mayonnaise. Now, name us a better sarnie than that!
📍You’ll find The Black Pig at Borough Market Kitchen, Winchester Walk, London, SE1 9AG.
🚇 Nearest station is London Bridge.
5. ‘12 Layers of Christmas’ at M&S
Ah yes – the M&S Christmas sandwiches are always a winner. But this year they’ve gone all out with their 12-layer Christmas club conveniently called the ‘12 Layers of Christmas’.
For just under a fiver, you’ll get to indulge in two slices of oatmeal bread, classic roast British chicken, maple bacon, cranberry chutney, stuffing, spinach, spiced pickled red cabbage, gravy mayo and another slice of oatmeal bread (but of course). So whenever you’re feeling peckish you best hot foot it to your nearest branch of M&S.
📍You’ll find M&S in numerous different locations across London and beyond. You can find out more here.
6. ‘Smoked Turkey & Swiss Cheese Sandwich’ at Gail’s
With a seasonally-changing menu consisting of goodies including chocolate and hazelnut buns, mozzarella, tomato and pesto focaccia and sticky date and coconut babka buns, there’s plenty to satiate all manner of both sweet and savoury teeth at popular bakery chain Gail’s.
However, this Crimbo they’re pulling out all the stops and are not only offering some delectable mince pies, but they’re also rustling up a ‘Smoked Turkey Sandwich & Swiss Cheese’ too. Expect free-range smoked turkey with Mayfield Swiss cheese, spicy homemade chipotle mayo and even bacon jam! Only the best at Gail’s…
📍You’ll find Gail’s in numerous different locations across London and beyond. You can find out more here.
7. ‘Merry Squash-mas Toastie’ at Ole & Steen
Another toastie here – this time at the chic Ole & Steen who, sticking to their Danish roots, are aiming to create a ‘Hygge Wonderland’ this Crimbo. They’ve got their ‘Turkey Roastie Toastie’ – packed full of roast turkey, stuffing, tarragon mayo, cranberry sauce, Cheddar and spinach – but it’s their ‘Merry Squash-mas’ that we’re really bowled over by.
Vegan-friendly, it combines two slices of focaccia filled with roast squash, vegan stuffing, vegan tarragon mayo, cranberry sauce, Violife cheese and spinach. In a word – get in our belly! They’ve also got some fantastic hot chocolate here too.
📍You’ll find Ole & Steen in numerous different locations across London and beyond. You can find out more here.
8. ‘Christmas Sproutwich’ at Deliveroo
Perhaps one of the most ‘out there’ Christmas sandwiches in London here, the ‘Christmas Sproutwich’ from Deliveroo features no less than six different sprout elements! Yep, seriously…
Drumroll please… you’ll get a green artisan sprout-infused focaccia spread with lashings of garlicky lemon zest sprout mayo, layered with crispy maple bacon, a succulent sprout stuffing, buttery Emmental cheese, roasted sprout halves, fried sprout shavings, and finished off with zesty lemon and olive oil marinated sprout leaves. Plus, no Christmas creation is complete without accompaniments right? So each sandwich will come with a pot of hearty roast chicken gravy for dunking, dipping or drizzling once heated at home. You can order this online from Deliveroo from Wednesday December 6.
📍You can order the sandwich online via Deliveroo here.
9. ‘The Very British Festive Sando’ by Rondo at The Hoxton
From now until the end of the festive season, Londoners will be pleased to hear that this festive season there’s even more reason to pop in to The Hoxton – ladies and gentlemen, the beloved hotel institution has only gone and entered into the Christmas sandwich game.
Created in collaboration with none other than restaurant critic and foodie extraordinaire Grace Dent, each of the four branches is adding a very special sandwich to its destination restaurant and lobby menus this festive season. That’s four new Yuletide sandwiches to add a little cheer to those bleak midwinter lunch breaks. While they’ll all make you salivate, our go-to might just be ‘The Very British Festive Sando’ at Rondo in Holborn – a heavenly concoction of chargrilled Sutton Hoo chicken, Baron Bigod cheese, cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets and butter with TABASCO® Sauce on thick sliced treacle bread. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
📍You’ll find Rondo at The Hoxton, 199-206 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7BD.
🚇 Nearest station is Holborn.
10. ‘Nuts About Christmas’ at Benugo
Rounding off this list of the best Christmas sandwiches in London for the 2023 festive season is none other than beloved chain Benugo – which this year has announced a brand-new range of seasonal sandwiches, festive treats and cockle-warming hot drinks with a selection of products available in all Benugo high street cafés, John Lewis cafés and Benugo workplaces around the UK.
Perhaps our favourite – though there are plenty to choose from – is the ‘Nuts About Christmas’ which incorporates vegan hummus & chestnut roast with roast carrots, crispy onions, pickled onions and spinach – served on a crusty bloomer or malted loaf bread.
📍You’ll find Benugo at various different locations in London. You can find out more here.
So there you have it – a roundup of the best Christmas sandwiches in London for 2023. It’s the time to get merry and put on some weight, so loosen up that waistband and gorge yourself silly!