Sausage KL Café & Deli, 1 Mont Kiara

Sausage KL Café & Deli, 1 Mont Kiara

Words: Han Sen Hau
Photos: Rich Callahan

It’s inevitable that this review will be filled with double entendres, especially considering the fantastically juicy and meaty handmade sausages we’ve had the pleasure of shoving into our mouths. So, we hope you’re ready to have an incredibly passionate Brit pummel your tastebuds with his posse of plump sausages that come in all shapes and sizes because, you know, he doesn’t judge your sausage preferences and would prefer to cover all bases for a mouth-watering home run.

What a mouthful.

Sausage KL Mont Kiara

So, enough with the tease and time for the meat. If you’ve ever found yourself feeling jaded over the usual highly processed and skinny sausages that just don’t hit the spot, then a trip to Sausage KL’s latest outlet at 1 Mont Kiara is in order. With sausage aficionado Matt at the helm, you know you’re in for a good time with girthy, homemade bangers that are packed with meat and fewer fillers. Best of all, none of these salacious sausages contains any preservatives, and many of the items on the menu come with gluten-free options. 

The new outlet is conspicuous when you’re driving past 1 Mont Kiara mall as it’s located by the mall’s main entrance and faces the busy Jalan Kiara, though it can seem a little hidden if you’re coming from within the mall as you can only access the outlet from the outside. The not-so-secret to Sausage KL’s success over the past few years lies not only in the quality of its food, which is scrutinised by Matt himself, but also in the variety of offerings packed in a modest outlet. 

Just speaking solely about the handmade sausages themselves, there are currently an impressive 17 varieties to salivate over, from the uncomplicated Simply Sausage to the traditional Lincolnshire and the exotic Boerewors. Matt’s ingenuity doesn’t end here, though, as he continues to experiment and tinker with different flavours and ingredients to perfect his recipes and come up with new ones. So far, it’s the conventional ones like Simply Sausage and Cranberry & Thyme that have won over many hearts, though Matt’s most proud of his Hunter Duck sausage, which is made with smoked duck breast and pork mixed in with a healthy swig of Guinness and just the right amount of juniper berries and caraway.

Homemade Goodies

We began with a plate of morsels from the menu’s “Homemade Goodies” section, sampling the chicken nuggets (RM40/75 for 500g/1kg), sausage roll (RM20 for 2), Scotch eggs (RM30 for 3), and, surprise, breaded haggis balls (off the menu).

The real peril of dining at Sausage KL is assuming you know how something is going to taste like, thus avoiding it completely. This is definitely true of almost everything we sampled off the plate, as they’re seemingly “common” options one would tend to avoid from a menu (except maybe the haggis balls, which I’ll come round to in a second). 

Why have the chicken nuggets? 

Because they taste so bleeping-ly good and they’re packed with broccoli, carrots, garlic, and shallots, which we weren’t even aware of until we read it off the menu! The same goes for the sausage roll and Scotch egg, which were great on their own as individual options on the menu and were deceptively filling, despite their size. A lot of this can be attributed to Matt’s dedication to his recipes, as he strives to create that gratifying balance in every bite. 

If you’ve been around in Malaysia for a while, you would have definitely heard of the term puas, occasionally exclaimed after a particularly good drink or meal, and that’s the sort of satisfaction I experienced from everything on the plate, including the eye-opening and eyebrow-raising haggis balls.

To the undiscerning customer, these harmless little haggis bonbons just look like any deep-fried meatballs, which, might I add, was my modus operandi as I approached one of them. To my utter shock, it was love at first bite. While you still get a lot of that savoury profile from, ahem, the usual ingredients that make up Scotland’s national dish, the haggis nibbles were made so much more palatable from the oats and barley mixed in, which had the effect of sweetening the meat. 

That’s not all.

Matt served the haggis balls with a dram of whisky, and the flavours extracted with each sip tantalised the palate even further to the point where I can no longer imagine having haggis without pairing it with Scotch. The alcoholic vapour that tickles the nose is absolutely a necessary experience for me now the next time I order up a serving of these delectable balls.

Speaking of Scotch, Matt threw in a delightful trivia: all customers are welcome to bring in their own spirits (there will be corkage; no beer, though) to enjoy with their food at Sausage KL.

All Day Breakfast

Already off to a fantastic start, we then moved on to two All Day Breakfast options: The American (RM30) and The Full English (RM28). The only difference between the two is the pancakes, and Cranberry & Thyme sausage served with the former versus the toast and Lincolnshire that comes with the latter.

One thing you’ll notice about both plates is how non-greasy everything is, which can be a source of relief for many. While the hash browns have been grilled to golden, crisp perfection, it is also not floating atop a layer of grease. The same can be said of the bacon and sausages, which do not coat the tongue with an acrid taste from pan-fried meat. Instead, you get to appreciate the sweetness oozing out from the Cranberry & Thyme sausage and savour the complex layers of spice from the Lincolnshire. 

The Full English did come with an additional surprise, though: black pudding (RM60 – 80 for 600 – 800g). Had I not known what this was, I would have thought it was simply an interestingly savoury piece of muffin. Soft and chewy in the middle while retaining a light crisp around the edges… I couldn’t imagine it as anything else but the best piece of muffin of toast I’ve ever had that, apparently, hid a “dark yet delicious” secret. 

Like the haggis balls, it’s the ingenious mixture of ingredients that made the black pudding truly enjoyable for me. Though we didn’t have this with whisky, Sausage KL does stock Irn-Bru, so if you think you can’t get over knowing what goes into black pudding, at least you’ll have Irn-Bru to wash it down.

Handmade Burgers – Hunter Duck Burger

As the portions were large and our stomachs weren’t necessarily the same, we settled with just the Hunter Duck Burger (RM32) from the list of burgers since we thought we should at least try the sausage patty Matt’s most proud of.

What you see on the plate is expected standard fare – burger with fries. However, the real treat was the patty, which was only lightly coated with caramelised onions and apples, so we were able to fully relish the array of flavours from the tender Hunter Duck patty. 

Most of the time, a trip to any burger joint would leave you with messy fingers drenched in grease and condiment; that was not the case here. With the burger we had, we were able to discern the subtle fragrance of juniper berries because the patty was not overwhelmed with a condiment of some kind, thus allowing us to dissect the wonderful flavours with every mouthful. 

Mains – Bangers & Mash

It would be odd to have one “main” as our final dish considering what we’ve already had, but a trip to Sausage KL would not be complete without a classic Bangers & Mash (RM28) on the table. 

Although we’ve waxed lyrical about the sausages, not enough praises can be sung of the accompanying mashed potatoes that were so incredibly airy and fluffy. Unlike the usual sloppy glob, you’d find almost universally anywhere, Matt’s mash deserves recognition on its own for not looking like a blobfish and having a lightness akin to cotton candy. The complementary chunky onion sauce also goes smoothly with the bangers and mash, and it’s for these factors that we’d happily return to this cosy little deli at 1 Mont Kiara.

Final Thoughts on Sausage KL at 1 Mont Kiara

As much as the fare you would find at Sausage KL be indisputably categorised as comfort food, this is clearly to the outlet’s benefit as you would be hard-pressed to find a better alternative for not only quality sausages, but a hearty meal that would make you scream “puas!” Though I personally live a 30-minute drive away from Sausage KL, it is a trip I would happily take again to revisit some of my favourites and to explore new ones. 

Reasons to visit Sausage KL: The variety of homemade sausages available and Matt’s passion in perfecting them; I daresay I’ve had the best experience with haggis and black pudding here, which was a treat and a surprise; very hearty meals that will keep you full and happy for hours.

Sausage KL Café & Deli
1 Mont Kiara (when exiting the mall’s main entrance, swerve left past A&W)
Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
+6 017 605 6457
www.sausagekl.com

Sausage KL Mont Kiara Opening Hours
10:00am – 8:00pm daily

Check out Sausage KL’s outlet in Ampang here, find other porky restaurants in Kuala Lumpur here,and and stay up-to-date with the latest gourmet and travel recommendations for Malaysia here and here.