[HOT LIST] Scotch eggs

Ye Olde Scotch egg. Technically not era-appropriate but whatevs.

The Scotch egg. In addition to thanking the British for Shakespeare and Doctor Who, we can also thank them for this. It is a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage, coated in bread crumbs and deep-fried. Brilliant! Places that serve them are in short supply in metro Detroit (most people's first and probably only experience of them was likely at the Ren Faire, which only merely does the trick like any festival food), but no need to go all arse-over-tit trying to find some -- I've done the work for you. (With thanks to my western beerespondent for being my steel-stomached guinea pig.)

#1 Grange Kitchen + Bar (Ann Arbor)
All good things are made with duck. It's a Scotch egg only the egg comes from ducks from Our Family Farm in Manchester, MI. Duck eggs might be smaller but they are soooooo much richer than those of their pedestrian poultry cousin chicken. And if you question Chef Brandon Johns's commitment to local sourcing (or are just really passionate about it yourself), don't miss his annual 52 Mile Dinner on Nov. 7.

#2 One-Eyed Betty's (Ferndale)
Can you believe this place hasn't even been open a year yet? I feel like it has always been and forever will be. Like having a cell phone. Like, I know intellectually that there was a time in my life before it but it just seems so foreign and far removed from me now. So anyway, the Scotch egg is a fairly new menu item and it is ON POINT. Their secret to Scotchy awesomeness? Panko bread crumbs. It makes ALL of the difference. Not some. ALL.

#3 Red Coat Tavern (Royal Oak, West Bloomfield)
One of these days these guys are going to jump into the new millennium and get a real website. Until then you'll just have to take my word for it: they have Scotch eggs, and they are good. And as one of metro Detroit's mainstays of awesome Belgian beer lists, this place is a consistent win (maybe you've heard of their burgers?). Also now that Vinsetta Garage is reeling in all the traffic it might actually be easier to get a seat here!

#4 Wurst Bar (Ypsilanti)
You may have noticed that I pretty much love this place. (They are featured in three of the last five Hot Lists, including this one.) So yes, I really pretty much entirely love this place. But please take note: these are not Scotch eggs. These are motherfucking pterodactyl eggs. And for $5.95 you get two of these monsters, which are soft-boiled so that the yolks are all yummy and runny. Fair warning, if you eat them both you will likely spend most of the next day feeling like there is an actual pterodactyl in your intestines that is about to rip its way free Alien-style.

Pterodactyl eggs from the Wurst Bar.

#5 Dominion House Tavern (Windsor)
There are Scotch eggs and they have them, but the interesting thing about "the DH" -- located juuuuuuust across the border in Windsor, making it all of about 10-15 minutes depending on bridge and tunnel traffic (heh heh heh ehhhhhh, that only means something to New Yorkers) -- is its history. It is the oldest continuously-run tavern in the Border Region and would have served well on my Prohibition bars hot list except for that OH WAIT, CANADA DIDN'T HAVE PROHIBITION. Canada is awesome. And living on a border is also awesome. And also you can see metal bands play there without any of that "bridge and tunnel" newly-minted Canadian legal/American minor nonsense you get on Ouellette.

Bubbling under Concrete Cuisine (food truck; menu varies), Ye Olde Saloon (Royal Oak), Sean O'Callaghan's (Plymouth), Fort Street Brewery (Lincoln Park), O'Connor's Public House (Rochester)

Now THAT is a Scotch egg.