The Breakfast Club, D'Arblay St

Great name for a cafe. I wonder why no-one's thought of it before?



There are two branches of Breakfast Club, this one in Soho which opened in 2005 and another in Camden Passage in Angel which opened in 2007.




Inside you are greeted by nice, friendly staff and a ragtag-style interior made up of seemingly reclaimed items of furniture. The atmosphere is either Bohemian or cheap, depending on how you look at it, and reminded me of places I would frequent as a student. It's certainly a place with character and a great alternative to the ubiquitous chain coffee shops.

One word of warning: I sat at the back of the cafe and noticed that the cooking smells from the kitchen were quite strong so I'd recommend trying to sit at the front if you can.

The menu is has a very un-British feel to it. By that I mean it's something I would expect to find in the US or maybe Australia; Wraps, smoothies and salads all feature heavily as well as the more conventional breakfast items. Obviously, the sausage sandwich was all I was interested in.




This was quite a hefty sausage sandwich, made with thick slices of a good quality, fresh bread and two sausages. The sausages were meaty and of decent quality. Overall the sandwich seemed a little dry - perhaps due to the thickness of the bread or the amount of time the sausages had been cooking. Still, it's a substantial and satisfying sandwich made with ingredients that won't fill you with remorse after eating. Can't fault the price either.

3.5 out of 5 (Bohemian in a rickety chair kind of way)

Website: The Breakfast Club Soho

Canteen, Spitalfields Market

It's believed that there has been a market at Spitalfields in the East End of London (corner of Lamb and Commercial Street) since the thirteenth century. The market survived the Great Fire of London, declined after the 1820s before reviving again when it was redeveloped in 1893. The market expanded steadily until it had to be moved to larger premises in Leyton in 1991. The old site was then extensively redeveloped in 2005 and is now a covered market for small stalls with a range of restaurants and cafes.

It's a nice area to walk around: You leave the bustle of Liverpool Station, surrounded by the tower blocks of London's financial district and within minutes you're in the wide open market with its eclectic range of shops. Step beyond the market and the East End streets are full of character - there's an undeniably interesting feel about the place.

There's a fairly good mix of places to eat too although not quite the grazer's heaven that is Borough Market. After a quick scout around, I decided to give Canteen a try.




There are three Canteen restaurants, all in London. The mini-chain is devoted to high quality British food served in fashionably retro-modern surroundings that are like a cross between a library, a train station waiting room and a works canteen.

As you probably guessed the prices and not very canteen-like and the high quality of the ingredients used in the cooked-to-order menu is reflected in the prices.

I visited in the mid-morning and decided to go for the sausage and roast onion sandwich at £5.75.




This is more than I would normally expect to pay for a sausage sandwich so I was fairly skeptical when the sandwich arrived but I didn't have to be.

What you get are two, dense, pork sausages. Not strongly seasoned or herbed, fairly well cooked although I would have liked them a little more browned. The casings were thin. They are very good, thick, plain pork sausages. The roasted onions were sweet and soft and were not overcooked. The bread was little on the thin side and the melted butter - whilst it tasted very nice - did make the sandwich quite soggy. So much so that I didn't feel like I could add any condiments otherwise the whole thing might have fallen apart into a wet, messy pile.

Taste-wise everything worked. The onions were mild and complimented the meat. The buttered bread had its own flavour and wasn't overpowered. The only minor quibbles are that I'd have preferred a more distinctly flavoured sausage, cooked until a little more brown.

I initially was going to mark the sandwich down because of its price but by the end, the quality of the ingredients shone through and 6 quid for a very good sausage sandwich in these surroundings is not a bad deal, I think. Worth a visit.

4.5 out of 5

Link: Canteen

A Seasonal Treat: Customized Sausage Rolls

This is straying a little bit from the 'sausage and bread' concept but hey, it's the holidays.

I don't know about you but I've found it quite difficult to track down a really nice sausage roll when I'm out and about. Usually the sausagemeat filling is cheap, over-salted and lacking in flavour, and the pastry is too greasy or (even worse) is cold and claggy.

So having spent so much time tracking down great sausages to put in sandwiches, I thought I would experiment and try making my own sausage rolls. I say 'make' but really I'm using all ready-made ingredients and simply assembling them and baking. The results are great, though, and if you have the time this is great way of making a tasty, sausage-based snack. They key is to use a good quality sausage and to serve them warm, fresh from the oven.

Ingredients:

• 1 x pack of good sausages. Choose your favourite but avoid varieties that contain fruit (e.g. apple) or a lot of garlic as these can exude a lot of water or be too overpowering, respectively.
  
• 1 x pack of ready rolled puff pastry (defrosted if frozen).
  
• Jar of tomato relish (or condiment of your choice). I find tomato relish works especially well with the baked pastry.
  
• 1 x egg, beaten.
  

Recipe:

Lay your pastry out on a floured board and cut into long strips about 4 inches wide.


Place the tomato relish (or your own choice of condiment) along the centre of the pastry strip in a narrow line. Be sparing - you don't need a lot.

Seperate your sausages and cut along the casing of each one.



Extract the sausagemeat from the casing and place it on top of the tomato relish or condiment, in the centre of the pastry strip. You will find that most sausages are much to thick for a sausage roll and you will have to pinch the sausagemeat and 'thin it out' until it is roughly half of its original thickness. This means that one sausage link will make a sausage roll that is roughly twice its original length.




Brush beaten egg along one of the inner edges of the pastry strip, and fold the strip over to make a roll, using the beaten egg to seal. Position your rolled pastry so the join is facing down and hidden. Pat the roll gently to seal.

Cut your long roll into bite-sized or longer sections, as you see fit, with a single cut straight down.

Using scissors, make a little V-shaped snip in the top of each sausage roll.



Brush the top and sides of each sausage roll with beaten egg.

Bake at 220 degrees centigrade for roughly 25mins or until the sausagemeat is well cooked and the pasty lightly browned. Take out of the oven and eat whilst warm.



This is really so easy to do and I'm willing to bet they will be the best sausage rolls you've ever tasted!

That's all for 2008. Have a great New Year and see you in 2009 for more Sausage and Bread goodness!

The Sausage and Bread Top 5 2008

Hard to believe it's been a year since my last Top 5. I've discovered loads of new places over the last 12 months and the thing that strikes me is how the bar has been raised in terms of easily available, good quality sausage and bread.

Your average greasy spoon cafe might still be selling nasty, 'economy' sausages but there seem to be more and more gourmet outlets springing up and newer sandwich shops tend to make sure they at least have a half decent Cumberland on the menu. Recent bad press about cheap, processed meat products and a general demand for better quality food may be the reasons.

As for the places reviewed in this blog: The Gourmet Hot Dog Company has survived for another year and while it's possible to get a West Virginian hot dog that isn't too shabby, its cooked-on-rollers sausages are a bit uninspiring.

Eat is probably the leading chain outlet with its grilled sausage muffin proving to be reliably tasty. Leon and Benugo's sausage and bread offerings perhaps proved that image isn't everything - both were quite disappointing.

The Diner deserves credit for its attention to detail and faithful reproduction of an American menu. Its chili cheese dog is a must try but the price and stodginess are negatives.

Cafe Soho continues to be a great sandwich shop but unfortunately its been forced out of the Top 5. Not because of any drop in quality, but because new places have muscled their way into the list. I re-visited recently and it still thoroughly deserves a 'Recommended' tag.

The 2008 Sausage and Bread Top 5 for London

5 - BAR BRUNO


Soho is literally being knocked down and rebuilt around it, but Bar Bruno continues to dish out a fantastic toasted pork sausage sandwich, prepared quickly. I was sure Bruno's was going to drop out of the list this year but a re-visit proved me wrong. Long live Bar Bruno.

4 - FERNANDEZ AND WELLS


The chorizo and roasted pepper ciabatta is a favourite. One of the stars of Soho.

3 - THE HONEST SAUSAGE




On my first visit I thought the Honest Sausage's location was a negative being out of the way and requiring a special effort to get to it. Now I've changed my mind and I've decided the setting in Regent's Park should be seen as a plus not a minus. On a sunny autumn day, what could be better than an organic sausage in fluffy white bun, eaten outside surrounded by squirrels, trees and a wide open park? Welcome to the Top 5, Honest sausage.


2 - FARMER BROWN



I've made multiple repeat visits to Farmer brown since I discovered it earlier this year. They make a sausage sandwich that is actually moreish. The owner has told me they get regulars who come to the cafe just for the fat, juicy Cumberland sausages.


1 - PAUL (salami baguette)


Yes, I'm afraid the long-standing number 1 has retained its spot. It remains the perfect combination of sausage and bread, in my opinion.

Do you know of any other places that serve great sausage sandwiches or hot dogs? Drop me a line with anything sausagey and bready that you'd like to share.

Here's to another year of outstanding sausage and bread!

Dec 2008