The UK's best restaurant has been crowned and it sells ‘superb' sandwiches

Metro

28-05-2025

It's thought that there are around 15,000 restaurants in London, so trying to work out which ones are the best would take a lot of time and end up costing you a pretty penny too.
If you don't want the hassle, we've got good news as the some of the hard work has been done for you, thanks to Deliveroo.
The food delivery service has just unveiled the winners of its Restaurant Awards for 2025 and 13 of them are located in the capital.
One of the top picks was deemed so good that it even beat out competition from the rest of the nation to be named both the Independent Restaurant of the Year in Greater London and the Independent Restaurant of the Year in the UK & Ireland.
The overall winner was CRUNCH, a sandwich shop with locations in Soho and Spitalfields, which is known for its giant sarnies that elevate classics and provide bold flavours in every mouthful. https://www.instagram.com/p/DI8y2qWodKC/
CRUNCH was founded by Sacha Yonon, Michael Medovnikov and Joni Francisco and they are perhaps best known for their Patty Melt, a sandwich which consists of brioche, truffle beef patties, red Leicester cheese, crispy onion marmalade and black truffle mayonnaise.
The bestselling sandwich costs £11 and is joined on the menu by sandwiches like Michaels Chicken (310), Veg-King Roast (£11), Umami Shroomwich (£11), the Crunch Reuben (£12) and a Katsu Sando (£12).
But it's not all savoury items, you can also order two desserts – a chocolate bomb (£5) or deep fried french toast served with sweet apple, mini chocolate chunks and a side of Dulce de Leche (£6).
The business has built up somewhat of a cult following online, with fans branding the food 'superb', 'the best sandwich in London', 'insane', 'incredible', 'epic', and 'delicious'.
The team from CRUNCH joined five other regional finalists to battle it out for the top award in a cook-off judged by Deliveroo's CEO and founder Will Shu, food critic and journalist Jimi Famurewa; and TV Chef and personality, Tilly Ramsay.
They had 45 minutes to cook their most popular dish from Deliveroo and Each restaurant was assessed against criteria including brand personality, food quality. value, packaging and presentation, customer reviews, customer loyalty, innovation, and going the extra mile.
The judges were blown away by the innovativeness and bold 'next level' flavours of CRUNCH's Patty Melt, noting they'd received numerous glowing five star reviews from customers. But most notably, the judges commended the owners for creating a new generation of game-changing sandwiches and their fearless approach to cooking.
Jimi Famurewa said: 'I was blown away by the passion and talent on display at the Independent Restaurant of the Year cook-off. Each finalist brought something unique and delicious to the table, making the final decision incredibly tough for us. However, CRUNCH from London stood out amongst the fierce competition, showcasing immense creativity, fine dining-level technique and mind blowing flavour that impressed us all.'
OVERALL WINNER – Independent Restaurant of the Year UK & Ireland 2025 and Independent Restaurant of the Year Greater London 2025 – CRUNCH, London
Best Sushi, London – Kiyoto Sushi, London
Best Salad / Healthy, London – Ottolenghi, London
Best Pizza, London – BONA Sourdough Pizza, London
Best Middle Eastern, London – Gokyuzu, London
Best Japanese, London – Bone Daddies, London
Best Indian & Nepalese, London – Kricket, London
Best Chinese, London – Three Uncles, London
Best Chicken, London – NUGS, Romford, Greater London
Best Burger & America, London – Bleecker St, London
Best Breakfast & Coffee, London – B Bagel, London
Michael Medovnikov, Co-founder of CRUNCH added: 'From our humble beginnings in a Shoreditch pub to winning Independent Restaurant of the Year for UK & Ireland with Deliveroo in just a few years – it's an absolutely surreal and incredible feeling!
'We poured our hearts into every single sandwich we've made for our customers, so this award is for our amazing team and all the Londoners who've supported us from the start of this wild journey. Thank you to Deliveroo and everyone who voted for this amazing recognition!'
CRUNCH weren't the only notable winners in the Deliveroo Restaurant Awards 2025, with Bleecker Burger being named the best burger in London, BONA Sourdough Pizza being crowned the capital's pizza champs and B Bagel taking the prize for London's Best Breakfast & Coffee.
Outside of London, Oowee in Bristol was named the Independent Restaurant of the Year for South England and Wales, Get Baked (Leeds and Manchester) won for North England and Midlands, Big Manny's Pizza in Aberdeen took the crown for Scotland, while it was Seed in Belfast that won for Ireland.
There were 65 awards up for grabs in total and more than 160,000 votes were cast by Deliveroo fans and users.
If you're looking for more London restaurants to try, this comes after Metro's Courtney Pochin tried the spot Nigella Lawson has been raving about on social media.
The 65-year-old shared three posts about Dove in Notting Hill, claiming it seved the 'best pork chop' she'd ever eaten, her 'dream' starter and a 'sensational' burger.
Courtney said: 'I'm unable to confirm whether or not the burger lives up to the hype, but I can tell you that Nigella wasn't wrong about the pork chops… at least, not completely. More Trending
'They're tender and juicy with a tangy sauce that I couldn't stop dunking the duck fat fries into. And while a portion for two might cost £60, there's a LOT of meat on the plate – you certainly won't go hungry if you order this.'
And Metro recently shared how restaurant tipping rules and service charges have quietly been changing.
Experts have claimed that 15% is going to become the new industry standard when it comes to restaurant service charges instead of the 10 or 12.5% we've all become accustomed to. Some have even suggested we could see this move more in-line with the 20 to 25% tipping rate that's standard across America in the future.
A number of popular London restaurants have already started adding a 15% charge to bills including The Wolseley, Fallow, Gordon Ramsay's Lucy Cat restaurants and Bob Bob Ricard, so it's not difficult to see how this could keep on increasing.
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