Boston’s Best Sausage Sandwich
by Ben Long, LincsMag Writer.
Date: 12 August 2013
Sausage is one of the area's finer exports. Not only is Boston famous for its own banger but the county of Lincolnshire is too, highlighting the importance of this particular food product.
Any establishment worth its salt will have a sausage sandwich lurking somewhere on its menu and, after a brief search of what was available in Boston, I came across these four different eateries. Obviously, each sandwich came with its own garnishes and toppings so, to keep it fair, they were all ordered without any additional ingredients.
I (painstakingly) ate my way through four differing meals in order to try and find the best sausage sandwich out there, and you can read below to see how each place fared!
The White Hart's Boston Sausage Ciabatta
Score: 3/5
Verdict: Presentation-wise, this wins hand down. Served on a chopping block etched with scars and scrapes from previous diners, the White Hart's offering is a feast for the eyes. However, the ciabatta bread itself proves to be too stodgy, particularly when combined with the heartiness of the Boston sausage. It highlights the importance of the bread used and, compared to its counterparts, the ciabatta lacks the crunch in texture that the panini bread has in abundance.
Sack Store's Mountain's Boston Sausage Panini
Score: 5/5
Verdict: The one to beat. The panini bread that the Sack Store uses has that delightful crunch at the surface, leading into the soft spongy bread underneath which ultimately makes way for the full flavour of Mountain's Boston Sausage to power through. It is this trio of components that creates the perfect sausage sandwich and the dish could only be bettered if the Sack Store took a leaf out of the White Hart's book and presented it in a more innovative way!
Archie Hardwick's Sausage Panini
Score: 4/5
Verdict: The panini bread at Archie Hardwick has an incredible crispness, something that emphasises the contrast in textures between the sausage and the bread. When compared to the Sack Store's, however, the softness of the panini is occasionally missed and there is a discerning difference in flavours between the sausages used. Having said that, it is still a fantastic sandwich and, geographically, the best one available in the town centre.
Oldrid's Lincolnshire Sausage Panini
Score: 3/5
Verdict: Although my first bite was slightly on the dry side, my initial concern eventually subsided and the overall taste of Oldrid's sausage panini came through. Price-wise, it's the cheapest (nearly half the price of the White Hart's) though the key ingredient of Lincolnshire Sausage, in my opinion, falls short of its Boston sibling in every department. Even though there's plenty of it sandwiched inside the thoroughly decent panini bread, it never really comes close to the ones served at Archie Hardwick or the Sack Store.
