Brighton's Best Sandwiches, Wraps & Baps
The go-to handheld eateries we send our guests to first, from Church Street banh mi to Kemptown deli stacks
Brighton does handhelds like few other cities. You will find Vietnamese baguettes queued out the door just off the Lanes, Chinese rou jia mo being pressed to order on Preston Street, Taiwanese bao coming out of a North Laine pub kitchen, and Argentinian empanadas round the corner from Duke Street. These are the spots we come back to week after week, the ones we send visitors to first, and the places that keep Brighton locals arguing happily about who really does it best.
Earl's Sandwiches
If there is one sandwich everyone in Brighton has an opinion about, it's the banh mi at Earl's. The rice-flour baguettes are baked fresh every morning and arrive with the kind of shattering crackle that makes you pause mid-bite. The meatball is stacked with homemade pate and warm lemongrass meatballs, while the vegan version, in our honest opinion, is the better of the two: edamame pate, maggi tofu, miso aubergine and squash, all layered with the classic cucumber, carrot, mint, coriander and chilli. Expect a queue, especially at Church Street, and order a caramel lemonade while you wait.
Social Board
Social Board took Best Takeaway at the 2024 BRAVO Awards, and one bite tells you why. Owner Tomas was head chef at Food For Friends, and he brings that chef's eye to every stack: mac and cheese bites tucked inside a sandwich, breaded halloumi layered with something sharp, loaded fries that come as a side but end up stealing the show. Ingredients are sourced from the best in Sussex, with meat from Steyning Butchers and bread from Flour Pot and Coburn. You are in and out with a very full bag in ten minutes, and you will be back within the week.
The Pickle of Brighton
Denisa and Sam opened The Pickle in Kemptown and the city promptly lost its mind for it. Everything is homemade, and the deli-style mortadella sandwich has become a minor obsession: tangy roasted-garlic aioli, salty tapenade with parello olives and capers, fresh mozzarella, figs, hot honey and rocket, all balanced to within an inch of its life. The tuna melt is the other one to order, grilled to order until the bread goes crispy and the cheese threatens to escape. Classic sandwiches with small twists, executed with serious attention to detail. Queue early or miss out.
Bayit Bagels
Bayit means 'house' in Hebrew, and every detail at this brother-and-sister-run bagel shop comes back to care. The bagels are baked fresh daily with organic British flour and come out fluffy rather than chewy, despite being boiled first. Fillings lean local, seasonal and often foraged: a vegan special with roasted iron cap pumpkin, bubble moon radish, homemade sunflower seed spread and spicy plum chutney from Sussex surplus produce. The signature salmon with foraged seaweed smear and Curing Rebels smoked salmon pastrami is a genuine treat. Not the cheapest bagel in town at around eleven quid, but you are paying for Brighton's most thoughtfully sourced one. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10am in The Open Market.
The Pond
The Pond is a North Laine pub doing Brighton's best bao buns, served out of the kitchen under the Baby Bao name. If you have eaten at Earl's, you have already met the team. The menu rotates with the seasons and covers meat, fish, veggie and vegan, all stuffed into pillowy steamed bao that arrive hot enough to hurt. Order a couple with a pint of their own Pondwater Pale Ale, grab a table in the back, and you have found one of the most quietly excellent lunches in Brighton. Open midday till midnight, seven days a week.
We Love Falafel
A Brighton fixture for years, We Love Falafel keeps it simple: fresh falafel, loaded into a pitta or wrap, with every salad and sauce lined up along the counter for you to build your own. The queue moves quickly, the price stays reasonable, and you walk away holding something that punches well above its ten-quid weight. Sydney Street is the main shop, but there is also a seafront kiosk at Pool Valley for eating on the stones. Everything is vegan, which makes it one of the easiest casual lunches in the city for mixed groups.
Malo Empanadas
Technically not a sandwich, but a handheld pastry stuffed with something brilliant is close enough for us. Malo is a family-run Argentinian deli doing an array of varieties of baked empanadas from their Duke Street and Kemptown shops. The Brighton Blue empanada is the one to try first: a bold hit of local blue cheese inside flaky pastry, eaten with the ten-out-of-ten spicy chimichurri. Don't leave without a milk chocolate alfajores for the walk home. Argentinian beer in the fridge and dogs welcome at both branches.
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