Mark Goding’s rugby teammates never passed him the ball. Playing with a squad composed mainly of South Africans (old animosities die hard), he spent most games running up and down the pitch ignored. But that all changed after they tried his sausages. From then on he was one of the team, becoming known as Mr Sausage.
“They even started throwing me the ball,” he said, between slugs of fresh fruit juice (a glass of which he generously offered my sniffling dining companion).
After a bite of his version of chorizo I can understand why. Located in an alley directly behind the TTV (台視公司) building on Bade Road (八德路), Mr Sausage’s Kitchen serves up the tastiest sausages I’ve tried in Taipei (you may have tasted them before: The Brass Monkey and Alley Cats are among
his clients).
The chatty man from Down Under calls himself a “fiddler.” His kitchen, located in the back of the sparsely decorated and simply furnished restaurant of wooden booths and tables, is his workshop where he spends several hours daily grinding meat, chopping vegetables and adding spices before casing the creations into traditional classics such as Andouille, frankfurter and Lincolnshire to more exotic varieties such as a Guinness sausage and Thai green curry.
Our two-man party went with the bangers and mash (NT$250), which came with a choice of two sausages, a mound of mashed potatoes with gravy, two slices of fresh beer bread, sauerkraut and salsa salad (four sausages, NT$420). A vegetarian sausage roll and meat sausage roll (NT$50 each) got the ball rolling.
The 6-inch rolls arrived heated on a plate with vegetable sticks drizzled with tzatziki dressing. Puff pastry topped with black sesame seeds wrapped the fragrant and spice-infused sausage.
Chorizo and Thai green curry were my sausage choices for the bangers and mash, while my dining companion went with the bratwurst and chicken “classic.” Though the menu says that the chorizo contains tequila, I didn’t notice it through the rich and spicy flavor of the chilies. And yet, the chorizo didn’t overpower the delicate flavor of the green curry, which had subtle hints of coconut and basil.
Both were delicious and cooked so that the outer skin was slightly crispy.
A Fuller’s London Porter stout (NT$200 for a 500cc bottle) seemed the perfect accompaniment.
Mention should be given to the
light-tasting gravy pooled in the center of the mashed potatoes as well as the salsa salad, drizzled with the pesto tzatziki dressing — the tangy sauce of the latter setting off the stronger flavors of the meat.
My dining companion, while uttering “very good, very good” (好吃好吃) in between bites, allowed me to taste the bratwurst, which had a peppery flavor and a hint of nutmeg that was quite mild. I preferred the more robust flavor of the chorizo.
Though stuffed, we made room for an order of homemade apple pie with sultana raisins and Taiwanese plums.
I was so impressed with Goding’s sausages that I took half a kilogram (NT$225) home, along with six sausages rolls.
Mr Sausage’s menu features
beers (NT$120 to NT$240) from
Germany, Scotland, Australia and of course, England.
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