Ask most meat-eating Scots why they don't go vegetarian or vegan and the answer will inevitably involve our deep-abiding love for a fried breakfast treat – with a roll and square sausage highest on the agenda of things they'd say they'd miss.
However, one popular Glasgow-based café has created a way for vegans to still enjoy this geometric morning roll-filling delight by selling their own plant-based version. First launched in 2016 by the team at Rose & Grants on the Trongate, it's gone on to become one of their best sellers and put them firmly on the map for vegans and vegetarians looking for somewhere to 'square up' their hangovers (pun intended).
Thanks to Caroline Melville's genius idea, owner Ben Rose has loved helping Glasgow's vegans to scratch that very real itch.
READ MORE: The popular Merchant City cafe that's home to the famous vegan square sausage
So, intrigued and with one of Glasgow Live's curious omnivores we decided to head along and see how it compared to the classic full-meat version – and bringing a gun to a knife fight we of course picked the ever-popular Scran, now down by the Barras, for the meat version to really push the envelope.
How they compared looks wise
For all intents and purposes, though it was obvious which was which due to the lighter colouring of the vegan version, both looked pretty appetising and wouldn't have looked out of place on any full fry-up plate.
READ NEXT: We tried a Buck's Bar takeaway and the portions were insanely large
How they tasted:
This vegan square has been put forward to being as close to the real thing as you can get without meat and we were pretty impressed. Once you put aside that it's plant-based and approach it as a different beast (pardon the pun), you really appreciate the balance of spices that really mirror the real thing.
The texture was not quite spot on, with more of a dry crumbliness than you'd expect normally, but once you notice the flavour with the first bite you really don't mind, as it tastes like a more oniony and spiced version of a regular square sausage with less of the grease.
When compared to Scran's top-quality meat version, it's definitely more noticeable that the juiciness you get from using meat products was missing but thanks to the full flavour of the onion and the spices on the R&G version it's an acceptable change, especially for those who like their treats guilt-free.
Overall, we were more than happy with the vegan version, though we tried it dry to really let it shine on its own, if you were to stick some red or brown sauce and a potato scone in a roll alongside it, we'd be hard-pressed to tell it wasn't the real thing.
READ MORE:
Luxury train taking Glasgow passengers on a stylish trip with champagne lunch
Battlefield's Window Wanderland is back and they need people to sign up for displays
Spots around an hour or so of Glasgow that are ideal for an epic caravan break
Glasgow's Six By Nico set to open third restaurant in the city
Exciting new Italian restaurant to take over Raffaele's site in Bearsden
