Snag Stand
Corner LaTrobe and Swanston Streets, CBD (outside Melbourne Central)
He says
When I was a little kid I loved going to the Victoria Market solely for the Bratwurst sausages that could be found in the Deli Hall. I can remember it like it was yesterday, the flaky bun, the crispy sausage, the mounds of onion; it was all hastily assembled but with a deliciousness that was, in the eyes of a child, unreproducible.
Many, many years have passed since then, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the not-so-humble sausage. On a trip to Sydney earlier in the year (pre-work related purgatory), a friend introduced me to the mythical wonderland of the Westfield Pitt Street Food Atrium, and specifically to the delights of Snag Stand. I was in love.
Luckily, the folks at Snag Stand could feel the large hole left in my heart by the lack of a Melbourne location, and they’ve answered by opening up a stand on the corner of Swanston and Latrobe Street (and with cheaper prices than Sydney). It’s still a little overpriced, but once your joyous sausage arrives you’ll instantly forget about the dollars and be transported back to your yummy, yummy childhood.
She says
For our last pre-flight Monday night dinner of the year we decided to make the trek up to the corner of LaTrobe and Swanston to hit up Snag Stand. Snag Stand started out in Sydney and has recently expanded to Melbourne. Gerard discovered they joys of Snag Stand on a trip to Sydney earlier in the year, he was so disappointed that there wasn’t one in Melbourne. Luckily for my BBQ’d meats loving boy he didn’t have to wait too long for one to appear.
The cute little shop front/service window has popped up on the corner of LaTrobe and Swanston, next to the escalators up to Melbourne Central. The seating is all outdoors (but undercover) and in short supply. Don’t let the lack of seating scare you off though, with the State Library and associated outdoor seating just across the road there should always be somewhere to sit.
One look at the menu and I was hooked, it has a surprising number of sausage varieties and toppings. The visit was easily the highlight of my Monday. I had to go back to work after dinner and found that everything was much easier when snag-powered. I even got through my work earlier than I expected to and managed to get home and watch an episode of survivor before I passed out. Yes, 23 seasons later they are still making survivor and at least 1 person is still watching it.
My one sticking point with Snag Stand (other than the obvious lack of diet-friendliness) is the price – at almost $10 a sausage they’re not necessarily the best value in town. Is $10 too much for a sausage? Maybe. They are tasty though and offer a much bigger variety of toppings, for around $1-$2 more, than other city or near city sausage vendors (I can only think of Riverland and the Vic Market).
We ate
We shared 2 snags (they both came conveniently cut in half), the first was a Greek (lamb, rosemary and oregano sausage with tomato, onion, olive salsa, feta and tzatziki on a poppy seed roll – normally $9.90, but we paid $7.50 because it was the daily special). Now this is a great snag. The toppings are what it’s all about, it was delicious.
The second was the beef and horseradish (grilled wagyu sausage with sauteed onions, horseradish mayo and beetroot relish on a poppy seed roll – $9.90). This had the superior sausage and we enjoyed the onion/horseradish/beetroot combination, the beetroot was probably a little too sweet for us though.
We also shared a serve of chips ($3.90) with herb aioli ($1). The chips are just crispy enough and coated with flaky sea salt goodness. Yum.
Worth it?
Combining a snag, a cold drink and the grass outside the state library is about the closest you’ll come to being at home having a BBQ without leaving the city or actually BBQing. It’s better though, because this BBQ has chips. Really good chips.
