Hierarchy of pleasures: Max Halley on London’s best sandwiches

• Adana kebab, Gökyüzü, Harringay
  For £14.50 you can turn one of the world’s great kebabs into one of the world’s great sandwiches by ordering it like this: “Can I have a large adana in a wrap, please, but can I have pide bread not lavash, with onions, parsley, sumac, pomegranate molasses and chilli sauce.” Expect to be smiled at and asked if you have been to Istanbul. 

• Any sandwich at Quality Wines, Farringdon
  I don’t care whether it’s his magical mortadella, sensational salame rosa, ravishing roast beef or brilliant bifana, if Sandwich was a country, Nick Bramham would be running it. 

• Scallop and bacon bun, Billingsgate Café, Poplar
  For those who think surf and turf is an overcooked prawn on a badly cooked steak, here’s a lesson in the joys of life. Keeping the hours of an after-party nightclub (3am-8am), this café is one of London’s greatest joys. It also does fishy versions of the classic set breakfasts you find in any greasy spoon.

• Big Mac, McDonald’s
  The Big Mac is a lesson in perfect proportions and excellent value for money. The ratio of bread to meat, salad to sauce and pickley-ness to sweetness is unmatched in cooking done on this scale. Long live the Big Mac.  

• The all-day breakfast sandwich, most supermarkets
  Yes, Pret’s jambon beurre is good, but this is my go-to option, especially when driving. As my dad told me, “When there’s a sausage on the menu, Max, order it.” These sandwiches keep the wolf from the door regularly and go very well with the Tabasco in my glove compartment. 

“Max’s World of Sandwiches” is published by Hardie Grant 

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