I was browsing menus on my first lunchtime visit to Elliott Stables when my mate says “Wanna sausage?”
Yep I thought, like the sound of that, pretty clear it would be at least one step up from a Mad Butcher number outside The Warehouse. No offence, Mad Butcher, but there’s a time and place, eh.
Photo credit: Elliot Street Stables
I was not disappointed. We headed to Frankies Wurstbude European Sausage House. We both had bangers, mash and mushy peas. You get to mix and match the sausage and the sauce. I had South African Boerwors, that’s beef spiced with cloves, nutmeg, allspice & coriander. I took the recommended Frankies Curried Tomato Sauce to go with it. My Mate had a French Toulouse made of pork, thyme and garlic.
In their blurb, Frankies say: With a range of over 12 different sausages from around the world we serve our sausages on a choice of rolls, wraps or with mash and gravy. Then we add the authentic sauces and traditional trimmings like sauerkraut, jalapeños, chutneys, mustards and caramelised onions.
The dollop of mashed spud was huge, and so too the mushy peas. But with a great sauce, and some mustard, the potatoes and the mushy peas disappeared pretty quick.
Photo credit: Frankies Wurstbude
After a frosty morning and a crisp cool Auckland spring day, the soul food of sausage and mash went down a treat. It came quick, and we had plenty of time to eat and chew the fat, not off the sausages that is they were pretty lean (pardon the old man pun, I’m allowed now I’m 50)
To be fair, the actual sausage I found was only really a 6 out of 10. Trouble is it didn’t have the crunch of a freshly barbecued sausage, it felt slight steamed. It is probably tricky to get the crunch up to par in the fast turn around of a busy eatery. But to me crunch in food is a critical factor, from sausages, to toast, to chocolate, texture and resistance when chomping down is key to my enjoyment of food.
But big ups to Frankies, the service was great, and helpful, even if our server seemed to tell us every sausage on the menu was his favourite. We forgave him that, because of his genuine enthusiasm and the large servings he was ladling onto plates for us. Frankies idea of plating up is the polar opposite of modern cuisine that sits in a small pile in the centre of a huge plate. Their servings are definitely, dare I say it, seriously man sized.
A great ‘old school’ feed for the soul.
Elliott Stables is a great spot for a business or catch-up with a mate lunch in the central city. It’s places like this that is having Auckland start to rival Melbourne as a foodie haven.
Overall rating: 8/10
- Location: 8
- Value: 8
- Service: 8
- Quality: 7
- Environment: 6
- X-Factor: 8
Frankies Wurstbude, 41 Elliott Street, Auckland
