The Breakfast Club, Soho. My kind of club

The Breakfast Club is a great little chain of 4 cafes dotted around central London. I visited their Soho establishment, found at 33 D’Arblay Street, nestled amongst Soho's numerous other trendy eateries, bars and boutiques. The decor subscribes to the vintage cafe feel; unmatching wooden tables and chairs, old fashioned posters, rusted signs, and a dusting of retro bits and bobs. Once a quirky surprise, the retro look is now the standard in ‘cool’ cafes in the capital and nationwide. However The Breakfast Club pulls it off well, creating a great, cosy little cafe.
The menu is instantly engaging, offering numerous mouth-watering treats, from American style pancakes with maple syrup and bacon (which I have had and which are disgracefully sweet, salty and delicious) to pie and mash and almost everything in between. However, as you may have gathered this ain't no pancake or pie blog, this is a sandwich blog! So after a cursory scan, I focused my attention on the section entitled 'Hot sandwiches & wraps'. Well, what can i say, it is quite a star studded affair, featuring the likes of the steak sandwich, the pastrami sandwich, the fish finger sandwich, and even the 'When Haloumi Met Salad Wrap'. But I went for the ‘Breakfast Club Club Sandwich', a truly classic number rammed full of chicken, bacon, cheese and a little salad.
Now, I've had good club sandwiches before, but this wasn't a good club sandwich....this was an incredible club sandwich! The sandwich arrived cut into four big wedges, on toasted brown bread. Huge great chunks of beautiful moist chicken breast, thick, salty bacon and crisp lettuce were held together by rich creamy melted cheddar. The crunchy toasted bread was the perfect thickness, not so thin that the sandwich fell apart and not so thick that it dried it out, teaming up with the filling to create a truly delectable texture and utterly satisfying bite. If the sandwich gets a bit too much for you the side of beautiful creamy coleslaw and fresh salad, which come with the sandwich, provide a refreshing interlude to the occasion.
Accompanied by one of their amazing milkshakes (I would highly recommend the banana) this is a lunch hard beaten for less than a tenner. A true gut buster. If you like a lot of sandwich in your club, eat this club (sung to the tune of the 90's Club chocolate bar advert)!

Frankie Vaughans, Brighton. Brielicious

Frankie Vaughan's is a great little deli/coffee shop combo found on Edward St in Brighton, virtually opposite the Royal Pavilion. Depending on how fussy you are you can either go into the coffee shop and pick up one of their prepared sandwiches, or if you're a bit fussier and like to see your sandwich being made, like me, then you can just pop next door to the deli. Upon entering you are welcomed by a huge cabinet full of ingredients, and numerous chalk boards with various tantalising specials and suggestions. Truly overwhelming, but in the best possible sense.
After a long, long deliberation I opted for one of their specials, a brie and pastrami ciabatta with sweet onion pickle. There's a lot going on in this sandwich, lots of big flavours coming from the pastrami, the brie and the sweet pickle, but despite my fears it's actually a combination that worked well together. The brie was fairly mild and so didn't overpower the pastrami, the creamy cheese complemented the salty spicy beef, and the pickle brought a welcome sweetness in the background. The crunchy salad added a freshness and the lovely soft floured ciabatta tied the whole sandwich together perfectly.

Oklahoma, Northern Quarter, Manchester. Indie sarnies

Oklahoma is hidden away in the back streets of Manchester's creative, cultural, artsy Northern Quarter. It's a super indie cafe, come querky gift shop, come foreign film rental. Full of vintage, kitsch charm the cafe is full of mismatched retro furniture and old fashioned plates and cups. Oklahoma serves a nice selection sandwiches, jacket potatoes, cakes and teas, perfect for a lunch or late afternoon snack. The food is mostly vegetarian apart from the odd slice of salami here and there. I went for the Mozzarella, red pepper and rocket toasted sandwich. The crunchy toasted bread perfectly contrasted the lovely smooth, melted mozzarella, while the sweet peppers, still with a nice bit of crunch, worked beautifully with the salty cheese and peppery rocket. Very nice indeed!

BagelMan, The Lanes, Brighton. You can keep your bagels, sir!

BagelMan is situated on Bond Street, one of the streets that makes up Brighton's fantastic, uber trendy 'lanes'. After a morning perusing the record shops and vintage stores (or not), BagelMan makes a great lunch spot. But as you may have gathered, I was not there for a bagel. I had heard that word on the street (or should that be lane) is that Bagelman makes a mean falafel - so naturally this had to be investigated. The street did not lie, this was a falafel and a half. Lovingly crafted, the falafel balls were carefully arranged with the tomato and cucumber inside a soft, slightly toasted pitta, and covered with just the right amount of chilli sauce and tahini. The careful arrangement ensured every bite was a treat; the perfectly cooked falafel (crispy on the outside, nice and soft in the middle) made spicy by the chilli sauce, was deliciously cooled down by the fresh tomato, cucumber and the cool savoury tang of the tahini. And for around £3 it's also a bargain. So Mr Bagelman can keep his bagels, the falafel is king!

Husk, Melbourne, Australia. A Rather Fancy Affair

For those of you who aren’t in the know (or more so for those of you who don’t hail from Melbourne, Australia) Husk is a rather trendy/overpriced clothing and homewares store favoured by affluent thirty-something ladies who lunch. Now, while it may not be such an obvious choice for those of us with rather less disposable incomes, there is indeed a saving grace. That being the “Famous” Husk Chicken Sandwich, from the stores self-titled cafe. Although this fame may be self-anointed, it is deservedly so, for this is one delicious sandwich. Finely poached chicken, seasoned liberally with cracked black pepper and the most gourmet of sea salts, sits atop delectable multi-grain bread with lashings of avocado, rocket and finally, a scintillating squeeze of lemon juice. A rather simple affair it may be, but that is where its beauty lies. And beauty is indeed in the details. The bread is firm and crusty, the chicken seasoned to perfection, the rocket crisp and fresh with the lemon juice adding a welcomed zing to the whole affair. However, the perfection of this sandwich lies in the generous application of avo. Nothing is worse, in my eyes, then a sandwhich-hand who is stingy with their avo and thankfully the lovely café staff at Husk are anything but. So while it may be completely overpriced at $9.50 (around £ 6 apparently), go ahead and treat yourself, sit back and relax amongst Husk’s luxe Moroccan inspired décor. After all, that chicken sandwich is “famous” for a reason.

By Foreign Correspondent Sophie Lamell

Silver Apples, West Didsbury, Manchester. West is best.

Silver Apples is a delightful cafe bar, slap bang in the middle of the haven that is West Didsbury. Quirky mismatched tables and chairs are complemented by quirky mismatched cups, plates and cutlery. As you walk through the door your eyes are immediately drawn to the glass counter full of homemade cakes (lemon raspberry and poppy seed cake is amazing!) and cup cakes. A chalk board on the wall lists the pies of offer that day, served with, mash, mushy pies and gravy. But what about the sandwiches!? Well, they have their own chalk board...Feta, pesto and sunblush tomato on foccaccia, serrano and mozzarella ciabatta, brie, bacon and cranberry focaccia...just some of their delights. But I went for the chorizo, hummus, olive and sunblush tomato ciabatta. Here's how it looked; lovely toasted ciabatta with a generous spread of hummus, topped with chorizo, olives, a few sunblush tomatoes and a rocket salad. The lovely toasted ciabatta ensured a nice crunch, perfectly complementing the smooth hummus. The chorizo and olives brought an oily saltyness to the ensemble (that's right the ensemble), while the sunblush tomatoes threw a nice slice of sweetness into the equation, and the rocket brought the ever essential hit of pepper. All in all a top sandwich, my only criticism being that they could have been a bit more generous with the chorizo, BUT that may just because I'm greedy, I would definitely have it again...and probably will.