Hamburg Day 3

After yesterday's quest for fire at Geraldo's grill event, I decided that I would go on a quest for the common currywurst. With Matt's help and advice I was pretty confident that we would be able to find a street vendor and persuade him to sell us some sausages. We started off at the suggested 'Curry Pirates'. I had checked their website last night and was looking forward to trying their speciality and, 'The most expensive sausage in Germany' and perhaps even the world. This combined with the recommendation offered from Kim at yesterday's barbecue event had built the visit to such a point that I hoped that it would be on par with the Curry Queen. It was closed. A hastily scrawled note in the window helpfully informed the reader that they were closed all weekend. Bugger!

Refusing to accept this as the end of our quest Matt suggested that we try the harbour area as he was pretty sure that there would be somewhere that served currywurst. As we approached the harbour district we passed beneath a bridge where a number of squatters sat on new looking sofas, I suddenly remembered passing beneath the bridge in a taxi twenty years ago. It's strange what instigates a sudden attack of memory. After finally finding a parking space, Matt surreptitiously left his car in a private, corporate space. We walked along the front, passing many expensive offices and apartments,  until we reached a busy thoroughfare lined with waterside restaurants. Continuing until a sandy beach barred our way we stopped at an old bunker to consider our options. The shack, or trader that Matt had expected to find at the end of the walkway was not there.

We retraced our steps to the nearest restaurant, which Matt knew, where I ordered currywurst for me and Nachos for Matt and his son, Sam. I enjoyed the sausage, the sauce was not a patch on that served at the Curry Queen, where they not only have uniques sausages, but also have a number of unique sauces. Here they served a standard bratwurst with a standard curry sauce, the presentation was OK but the taste was mediocre. I supposed this could be described as the middle of the range currywurst.

Our next stop, after a drive through the affluent area of Blankenese, was a small 'embiss' at the foot of a rather steep hill where we should be able to buy some currywurst. Unfortunately, although sausage was on the menu, currywurst was not. They did, however, sell beer, in fact it appeared as though almost street vendor whether they sold newspapers, food or cars also sold beer (I made the last one up). There was one last option, a trip to the train station with the hope that with the amount of human traffic passing through should warrant a number of low end eating establishments.

As we passed F.C Pauli, Hamburg's second football team, it was evident that a game was taking place. This was encouraging as I expected that there would be places open at the railway station to accommodate the travelling fans. Whether this was true or not, we did in fact find exactly what I needed to complete the set, as it were, of sampling currywurst. I had tasted the best and a mid-range dish, now I could get stuck into a cheap and probably nasty version.

Mission accomplished!

Hamburg is a fantastic city, with so much more to offer than I thought twenty years ago upon my first visit. This time I have, yet again, on a visit to satisfy my goals for 'The Sausage Trail' scratched the surface of a destination that has so much to offer.

Many thanks to Matt and Alex for putting up with my obsession, providing me with their suggestions and advice, introducing me to their friends and taking me into their home. All in all a great weekend and one which I hope will lead to a future visit to Hamburg.