by Mark Jones

Our quest to find the world’s best Club Sandwich is gaining momentum. We were delighted to receive this note from Rex Leyland, a well-known figure on the London restaurant scene in the 1980s.

“I started serving club sandwiches in my Chelsea restaurant Foxtrot Oscar in 1980,” Rex writes. “It became one of our signature dishes.

“You are right to promote this survey, as a Club Sandwich measures the ability of a restaurant or hotel, as well as giving value for money. I always try one wherever I am staying.

“The ingredients vary, but probably the essentials are as follows:

* Chicken or turkey (light and dark meat)
* Egg cooked any way, but normally hard-boiled and sliced thinly
* Very, very crispy hot streaky bacon (never back bacon)
* Lettuce (normally crisp)
* Tomatoes, thinly sliced
* Homemade mayonnaise
* Lightly toasted bread, crusts off, preferably and normally white (and a triple decker, of course)

“The sandwich must be cut into four manageable quarters to eat and enjoy without having everything dropping out!”

Rex Leyland is also a loyal Executive Club Member. He adds, “I had a section on my menu called The Club Section, which was inspired by the launch of BA’s Club Class around that time!”

We also had this in from one of the stars of the modern London dining scene, Henry Harris, chef patron of Racine (@racine_kitchen) in South Kensington.

Unlike Rex, Henry is a Doubter.

“Club Sandwiches in the main are best avoided,” he writes. “All too often they are an assembly of precooked and over-chilled ingredients served in slices of toasted inferior white bread. Toasted white bread once cold is pretty unpleasant.

“That said, I once had a lobster and bacon Club Sandwich in New York, where all the ingredients were freshly cooked and warm, and hollandaise was used in place of mayonnaise. It was a silky and slightly messy delight.”

So, in response to our challenge, Henry has, in his words, “taken an Alps-to-Lyon route with some great Parisian bread”.  

Here’s Henry’s recipe:

* Toast three thin slices of pain poilâne. Top the base layer with some Morbier cheese and melt under the grill.

* Top this with a scattering of hot shredded duck confit and some crisp shallot rings. Then take the next slice of bread and spread with a good mustardy aioli. Place this on top of the duck and add lightly grilled rashers of Alsace bacon and some leaves of escarole lettuce.

* Top with the last remaining slice of toast and consume immediately. A large napkin or two is essential, as is a bottle of Beaujolais!

We asked Mr Harris what the calorific value of his sandwich was and he replied, “What’s a calorie?”

Have you come across a better Club Sandwich on your travels? We want to know about it!

Have an opinion on The Club that you’d like to share? Let us know

This article has been tagged Food + Drink, Opinion