Bratwurst Shop & Co

99 Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne 3000
Date visited: 7th April 2013

It all started last week when some neighbours of mine had a whole army of snags on the barbie.  The mouth-watering smell was just overpowering and mouthwatering.  Let's say it left me drooling and craving a good snag.

MerlinFan and I wandered through Queen Vic a few years ago looking for the Bratwurst Shop and for some bizarre reason could not locate it.  Now we decided to make another attempt with AJ and what d'you know, we must've been blind because right there it was in the deli area right opposite the Cake Shop.  Honestly.  Even having 20/20 vision (x2) couldn't save us.  Maybe it was because it had been so crowded with people we missed it all those years ago.

Long queue or not, it moved quickly.  Service was rather frantic and brisk to the point of coming across impatient, but this is akin to a fast food joint, so don't expect to be treated like you're wearing purple robes.  You order and seconds later you have a piping hot wurst in hand.

From left:
Mild bratwurst & cheese & tomato sauce,
Mild bratwurst & sauerkraut & cheese,
Weisswurst & cheese & tomato sauce

AJ and I both had the Mild Bratwurst, which was original beef and pork coarse textured sausage.  AJ had hers with tomato sauce and sauerkraut, whereas I had cheese and tomato sauce.

The bratwurst was definitely the star here.  The wurst was deliciously juicy with a snappy crisp shell.  Mine could have used a bit more char.  I'm awfully boring when it comes to toppings and always have tomato sauce and cheese, which are my favourites.  AJ wasn't very fond of the hard bread roll - do not expect the typical soft bun, because this is more firm with a crispy, crunchy crust that will give your jaw a good workout.  Fair enough, I think this tougher bun would hold sauces and toppings much better than a soft bun.

MerlinFan had the Weisswurst, which was German 'white sausage' aka the fine textured pork sausage flavoured with fresh onion and parsley.  The Weisswurst was thicker and had a stronger herbier flavour than the bratwurst.  Both were nice.  MerlinFan liked the sausage, however she did agree that she would have liked the bun to be softer and wished she had tried more exciting toppings.

Oh well, there's always next time, and I'm sure there will be.

Mild bratwurst

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