Randall and Aubin, Brewer Street

Randall and Aubin has one of the most appealing shop fronts in Soho, if not the whole of London. Originally a butcher's shop, it is now known to denizens of Soho as a lively place for great seafood, wine as well as rotisserie items such as roast chicken, not to mention great french fries.

It has a wonderful, open, bustling atmosphere and is that rare (in London) combination of being a casual and accessible restaurant yet also high quality.

Personally I've always liked their fresh seafood selection more than the hot menu but with a sausage baguette on the menu, how could I possibly resist?



The offering is actually a sausage baguette plus french fries for £5.00 (takeaway) and on balance I think this is a good deal; Randall and Aubin's fries are hard to beat.

The sausage baguette is substantial and good quality but it's underwhelming. It's a case of the product not living up to the promise of such an appealing venue.

The 2 sausages (on the main restaurant menu they are described as pork and honey sausages) are unembellished with any herbs or outstanding flavourings. The darkness of the cooked outer casings suggest they are deep fried (perhaps alongside the fries?) rather than griddled. The addition of plain sliced tomato helps but overall there is a feeling of pallid dryness and a lack of 'oomph', flavour-wise. More delicate cooking might extract more out of the sausages.



For £5 you do get a very satisfying sausage, bread and fries combo that is hard to fault for value for money but one that is, I'm afraid, unlikely to get your taste buds excited.

3 out of 5 (1 point for the fries)

Link: Randall and Aubin

Oh no! Goodbye, Farmer Brown! (Il Castelletto, New Row)

This is a truly devastating revelation. The little known, out-of-the-way cafe that (in my opinion) served the best straightforward sausage sandwich in central London is no more.

It has been replaced by a generic 'Italian' cafe called Il Castelleto which, at the time of reviewing, had not even fully removed the old signage from its shopfront.

Once I was over the shock of Farmer Brown's demise, I decided to try the new establishment out in the hope that they had retained the same supplier of sausages:



They hadn't. I'm afraid what would once have been a delicious sandwich filled with two fat Cumberland sausages, has been replaced by a bland sarnie indistinguishable from those bought in many other Soho cafes. Microwaved at my request (because the shop's griddle had not been turned on and would have taken 5 minutes to heat up), the sausage was your usual salty, flavourless cafe fare, and the bread was no more than ordinary.

1 out of 5. RIP Farmer Brown. you will be sorely missed.

Caffe Milan, Shaftesbury Avenue

First of all, I apologize for the lack of updates recently. After a spell out of the country, I'm finally back in London and what better way to brighten up a drab, winter morning than with a sausage sarnie?

Caffe Milan is located on the Covent Garden/Soho border, a few steps from Cambridge Circus. The first impression when you walk in is how clean and modern the interior is for a cafe. The menu covers the usual bases with the addition of a small salad bar. Overall the impression is that everything seems carefully prepared, although their on-display panini look a little meagre with their fillings.



But what of their toasted sausage sandwich on brown bread? Well, the sausage is what I would call a 'catering Cumberland'. It has the speckled appearance of a well herbed sausage but lacks little in texture and flavour. It's quite generic. What can't be faulted though is generous serving of two fat sausages in each sandwich. Many establishments try to fob you off with one sausage cut into slices but not here. For £2.20 it's a good value, if unremarkable sarnie from a well-maintained establishment.

2.5 our of 5 Good value for money

Tokyo Sausage

A wonderful little video sent in to me from readers Mike & JJ.



Commuting on the London Tube is certainly nothing like this.