Mums the final word in city battle of the bangers

IT was dubbed the Battle of the Bangers but now it seems the Capital isn't big enough for two neighbouring sausage and mash shops, with one deciding to sell-up.

The News previously told how former Monster Mash Cafe owner Terry Soe, 45, had returned from abroad to find that his friends, who managed the shop in his absence, had closed the Forrest Road diner and set up a near-identical eaterie a few doors down under the trading name.

The businessman, who launched his specialist sausage and mash diner in 2003, had handed it over to Andrew Cameron and his team while he travelled to Singapore in 2007 to set up a Monster Mash there and look after his frail father.

He then returned to Edinburgh, leaving his wife Joanne and two daughters in the Asian city-state, to find his friends had set up a shop next door called Monster Mash.

Mr Cameron said he and his partners saved Monster Mash after it got into trouble, trademarked the name to protect the brand and left Mr Soe with the site on Forrest Road when they moved.

Mr Soe then set up Mums, a new business on the original site using the same design as Monster Mash and making Forrest Road home to two almost identical specialist sausage diners. Now, after seven months on the same patch, his tenacity seems to have paid off as his rivals put Monster Mash on the market.

Mr Soe said: "It's a bitter-sweet end to this but it's a good example of, when your back's against the wall, making something good out of a really bad situation. The whole thing was a bit personal but I don't want to gloat or anything. In the restaurant game there are enough casualties. I haven't been focusing on next door since I opened my new shop. We see each other in the street from time to time and everyone's pleasant and professional. No one's been hurling abuse at each other.

"But we had really good support from the public and that's why we are still here."

Andrew Cameron, a director in the firm running Monster Mash Cafe, said personal differences between partners had led to the business being put on the market. He said: "There were some problems and we decided that for us it's better if we don't work together any more. It's got nothing to do with business reasons and it's still very much a viable business that's making money."

And he added: "I wouldn't call what happened a feud. I speak to Tony from time to time and we shake hands."

Monster Mash Cafe has a reported turnover of around 385,000. It has been on the market since the turn of the year.