Townsville butcher Plaza Meat, Parkland, wins best lamb sausage in Queensland

An unpretentious Townsville butchery has bagged bragging rights after one of its sausages was named the best in Queensland.

Graeme James and Lee Reilly with Queensland's best Honey Lamb sausages at Plaza Meats, Parkside in Kirwan, Townsville. The sausage claimed best lamb entry at the Australian Meat Industry Council 2024 Sausage King Competition for Queensland in Brisbane. Picture: Evan Morgan

An unpretentious Townsville butchery has bagged bragging rights after one of its most popular varieties of sausage was named the best in Queensland.

Plaza Meats in Parkside Plaza in Kirwan claimed best lamb entry at the Australian Meat Industry Council 2024 Sausage King Competition for Queensland in Brisbane on Saturday.

The gourmet gong, understood to be a first for Townsville at the state awards, will see Plaza Meat, Parkland’s winning Honey Lamb Sausage go head-to-head with the best in Australia at the national awards in Tasmania in February next year.

Lee Reilly, who with wife and Townsville high school teacher Errin have owned and operated the butcher’s shop for 2.5 years, said the combination of honey and lamb worked well, attested to by its popularity with punters.

He said the creation was a collaboration between himself and offsider Graeme James, aka “The Master Butcher” who had more than four decades of experience in the industry.

Graeme James is known by his workmates at Plaza Meats, Parkside as “The Master Butcher”. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mr Reilly said the winning flavour had been inspired by the popular honey, mint and rosemary marinade for its lamb chops, before settling on the award-winning recipe.

“It’s the most popular seller as well … it tastes like gold.”

Mr Reilly said Plaza Meat, Parkside’s honey lamb sausage would now go head-to-head with the best in Australia at the national awards in Tasmania in February next year. Picture: Evan Morgan

Holding the exact recipe close to his chest, he said the sausages only used the very best ingredients, including lamb from Victoria and Manuka honey from New Zealand.

Mr Reilly, who has grown the business to employ five permanent and three part-time employees, also revealed that it had won regional North Queensland AMIC awards for its spicy chorizo and Thai chilly chicken sausages before unexpectedly claiming the Queensland lamb title.

“We’re just a little shop out in the suburbs of Townsville, we’re up against the bigger shops in Townsville … a lot of the bigger shops down there actually employ chefs to do … their sausage range,” he said.

“So yeah, it was a bloody big surprise.”

Originally published as Townsville butcher Plaza Meat, Parkland, wins best lamb sausage in Queensland