Japadog • 5 comments • I love unusual food pairings. I love Japanese food. I love like hot dogs. Ergo, I was enthusiastic about the thought of trying Japadog - a food cart that a bunch of my friends told me to find when in Vancouver. Japadog's website says they are "making the world happy and alive through hot dogs!" and a good small business story always tugs at my heart strings. Alas, I can't say that I'm a fan. The actual hot dog was great and the ingredients were so fresh... but I imagine that the toppings are what fish food tastes like. Don't take my word for it though, Anthony Bourdain seemed to be into it. <<<>>>
crif dogs • 12 comments • The East Village is the home of Crif Dogs where they make deep-fried hot dogs with crazy toppings. Is it wrong that we had hot dogs on more than one occasion in NYC? Probably. But they were deep-fried. We understand that anything out of a vat of oil in the states is considered a delicacy. We have yet to try the deep-fried Twinkie/Mars bar/Oreo cookie phenomenon. One day. A lot of people warned us about rude service from the Crif Dogs staff, but luckily, we didn't experience it. The girl behind the counter took our order then handed us our food -not particularly effusive, but certainly not discourteous. The atmosphere had an intentional 'dive' feel to it, complete with dim lighting and arcade games in the corner. Alex ordered the 'Chihuahua' - a bacon wrapped dog with avocado and sour cream. I was feeling a little less adventurous that day and just got some cheddar on mine. They should call this place 'Crif Toppings' because these were the skinniest dogs ever. Again, they were deep-fried, and deep-fried equals automatic deliciousness, so we're not complaining. I'm going to type 'deep-fried' one more time for good measure. Have a greasy weekend!
street meat • 13 comments • New York is bustling with street carts selling everything from pretzels to shawarma. Hot dog carts are especially prevalent. Buying a hot dog from one of these vendors seems like a ridiculous NYC cliché, but as tourists, we are obligated to participate in them. Despite the inflated price tag (due to the cart's proximity to Times Square), Alex clearly enjoyed his late night snack. - Mina
my kind of razzmatazz • 17 comments • Did we say the drive to Fargo was bad? We arrived in Chicago around midnight, after a snowy drive, and checked into the hotel to sleep. The next day was filled with clowning around at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago-style hot dogs, chili fries, too much dessert, and some Frankenstein at the Daley Plaza We took the requisite tourist photos at the bean: Apparently, fine establishments will not offer ketchup with your Chicago-style hot dog as the sugar in the ketchup over-powers the flavor of the dog. How pretentious & delicious. We got some cheap dessert. Evidently, cheap does not necessarily mean small in the States. The ice cream sandwich I ordered was the size of my face. Our Hallowe'en night ended with some Frankenstein in Daley Plaza. My kind of town, Chicago is.
