Mocha Cafe, Charing Cross Road

Mocha Cafe is on the busy Charing Cross Road not far from Trafalgar Square and Chinatown but it feels hidden away because it's part of a row of shops that's set back from the road, under an office block that overhangs it. This is a nice, clean-looking, bright cafe that also has internet access.





Ordered my sausage sandwich toasted on brown bread, with brown sauce. It was only £1.70 which is cheaper than average. Not much to look at but the sausage was of higher than average quality. On closer inspection, I found the sausage actually contained herbs! Not something you see in your typical cafe sausage sandwich. The brown sauce used was good - not diluted rubbish - and overall it was a nicely made, inexpensive sausage sandwich.

3 out of 5. Best so far.

Bavarian Weiss Sausage - Explained!

A quite funny video from trndtv on how to cook, serve and enjoy Bavarian Weisswurscht (that's pronounced 'varrssswrrjj' according to the presenter).

Enjoy!

Bar San Valentino, Greek Street

This is one of the better cafes in Soho and does reaonably priced sandwiches with fresh-looking fillings. First time I've had a sausage sandwich from here though.




Really nothing special to report. The sausage was average quality and did at least have some meaty texture, but it was a basic pork banger. Bread and brown sauce were average too. Their normal sandwiches are better.

1 out of 5.

Cafe Lena, Berwick Street. (Home at last!)

Finally home after months working abroad. I actually got back a few weeks ago but I"m only just catching up with this blog malarkey.

It's good to be back in London but I'm going to miss being able to grab a quick bratwurst for lunch. The options back home are a little different..

America has hot dogs, here in Britain we have sausage sandwiches. These are not sold on the street, though, but in small cafes you find just about everywhere and the quality is - by and large - awful. Cheapness is the common factor here; the very cheapest sausages, the cheapest bread and the cheapest condiments.

I work in Soho and there's an abundance of cafes and sandwich shops so there's going to be no shortage of places to sample and review. The challenge is going to be finding somewhere good. First up is Cafe Lena on the corner of Berwick Street and Noel Street. I picked this one at random and it was the first sausage sandwich I had after returning to the UK.





In a word: Disappointing! The sausge was a typical cafe variety: bland, texturless and cheap. Processed to such a degree that the inside was perfecly smooth, like paste. To the cafe's credit though, they did at least put some effort into making the sandwich. I asked for it on a baguette, which they buttered and toasted panini-style. The sausage was cut into slices and griddled. It was the fresh baguette that stopped this from becoming a total disaster. The mustard was ok but had to be asked for (in British cafes it's considered a slightly more special condiment and isn't automatically provided) whereas the tomato sauce was again typical cafe quality i.e. poor - too vinegary and pale.

1 out of 5 (for the bread!).

The search for a decent sausage sarnie is on!

Hot Dogs Namibian Style #3

The third and final Namibian update! Just down the road from where I was working was this 'wurstbude'. When I saw the sign I imagined a kind of hot dog lover's heaven; A lengthy menu of different types of wursts with all kinds of different condiments to sample. In reality, it was just a pizzeria that also sold hot dogs and bratwurst.



The location is great, right opposite the beach and with the crashing Atlantic waves clearly audible. I placed my order at the counter, sat down in the gorgeous sunshine and it wasn't long before my double bratwurst in a roll arrived (along with a nice, cold Tafel lager).





These wurst were clearly fried, not grilled but they still tasted great. Nice crispy skin and none of the rank, stale taste that you find so often in UK cafe fried food. The ketchup and mustard were adequate but not especially nice. All in all though, it was a tasty roll that went great with the cold lager.

A nice note on which to end my Afican adventure.

Namibia just misses out on sausage world record!

Aww. Illustrating the Namibian love of sausage and bread, the country made a valiant attempt to break the world barbecue record a few weeks ago but narrowly missed out due to safety fears. This Septemeber has been a very sausagey month!

Read the full story here.