Offbeat Eats

Just a block away from the busy harbor of Reykjavik lies a little stand in a modest parking area, next to a taxi stand. If you’re ever in Reykjavik, you can’t really miss the place. Between its opening at 11am, and whenever it closes (sometime after bar closing), this stand, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, has at least a modest line of people queued up waiting to order, and the line moves quickly. Doing a little bit of research, I also found that Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur is actually (by number of annual visitors) the busiest restaurant in Iceland, and that the vast majority of Icelanders, and a good fraction of tourists, have eaten here. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur is a hot dog stand. The name actually translates to “The best hot dog in town”. And judging from the lines, the name is probably accurate: I saw at least a thousand hot dogs served up from this little stand during my visit here.

As we continued our March through Chicago, about 1/3 of the way through our Milwaukee Ave segment we made two stops. The first was at The Map Room for a beer. The second was at Redhot Ranch for a hot dog. I’ve always had a like for Chicago-style Hot Dogs, and you can read my writeup of several notable Chicago dog places here. While there’s definitely some difference between different vendors, there’s a widely-respected view that a proper Chicago Dog has some basic requirements: A Vienna Beef hot dog (preferably of the 6 per lb ‘Jumbo’ variety, with natural casings), celery salt, onion, that neon-green relish, tomatoes, a pickle, and, most importantly, sport peppers. Most any place that’s serving up a proper Chicago dog serves it up with exactly those ingredients, and as a result, there’s not a lot of difference between one place’s Chicago dog and another’s (mostly, the difference whether the dog is a char dog or not, and how carefully it’s assembled). But that’s actually talking about the “proper” Chicago dog, and it’s important to mention that a few places focus on a slightly more pedestrian variant of the Chicago dog: the “Depression Dog”. Redhot Ranch is one of these places…

As I briefly mentioned a few years ago in my review of George’s Coney Island, the phrase “Coney Island” means different things to different people. To someone in New York, it’s a neighborhood, best known for its amusement parks, beach, and boardwalk. In many places, it means a variant of the chili dog, usually one served up with a beanless and slightly sweet chili, diced onions, and mustard. To someone living in Southeast Michigan, however, it actually means a particular type of restaurant…This time, I checked out Leo’s Coney Island, which is actually one of the larger coney island chains in Michigan…

As I’ve mentioned a few times before, a lot of people believe that (to quote my former coworker Marc), “A hot dog is a hot dog.” I don’t concur, I’ve eaten enough hot dogs, from Sonoran Hot Dogs, to Chicago Dogs, to DC half-smokes, to New York papaya dogs, to Dodger dogs, that this clearly isn’t the case. It’s also important to note that it’s not just serving styles that vary, but also the dog itself. The Sabrett’s beef hot dog is what give those New York dogs their flavor. Similarly, a Chicago dog isn’t really right unless it’s a Vienna Beef dog hiding under all that stuff. And in the case of Connecticut, there’s quite a bit of variety hiding in this little state, with several regional butchers producing the hallmark style of that state: beef and pork blend, spiced similar to New York dog with lots of garlic and paprika notes. One of my favorite hot dogs is one of these from Hummel Bros. in New Haven, CT, making a good natural casing hot dog with a serious spiciness to it. And one of the best places to get a Connecticut-style dog is Blackie’s in Cheshire, CT.

Our next lunch stop on the Manhattan Death March was for hot dogs. Like many regions of the country (as an aside, Wikipedia has a rather nice summary of regional hot dog variations, New York City has it’s own take on hot dogs. In fact, it has two: the “dirty water dog” (a typical street cart dog, so named since they simmer them in warm water in the cart) and the “papaya dog”. The latter is the interesting one, since, despite the name, the papaya dog doesn’t actually have papaya in or on it; it’s the same Sabrett’s hot dog you’re buying from the dirty water carts on the street, although they’ve grilled it instead boiling it, and it’s generally offered up with both kraut and hot onion sauce as condiments…

As I’ve mentioned here several times before, I have a soft spot for one of the DC area’s unique food items. Indeed, you can read my previous treatise on DC’s most notable item, the half-smoke. But, after reading that and some of the comments I received from both my readers here and on flickr, I realized I’ve been amiss in visiting the mother of all half-smoke joints: Ben’s Chili Bowl.

In an attempt to redeem our reputation, somewhat sullied by reviewing high-concept over-priced pabulum served in the dark, the European Bureau of Offbeat Eats has attempted to get back in touch with the culinary roots of this blog. Although we at the European bureau can’t really compete with Los Manjares de Pepe after a hot day of dropping things out of airplanes, the least we can do is find a decent hot dog in continental Europe. As sometimes happens, you may find yourself on the scenic route from Flensburg (in the northern German region of Schleswig Holstein) to Sønderborg, Denmark. If you haven’t had your fill of herring and potatoes in Flensburg, you might be able to fill in the cracks with one of the better hot dogs on this side of the Atlantic.

I’ve covered a lot of hot dogs on this list. Chicago Dogs. Pink’s Hot Dogs in LA. Coney Island dogs. Rochester White Hots. And even the hot dog’s cousin, the Half Smoke. You’d think I’d be running out of hot dog varieties, but, really, I’m only barely scratching the surface (God bless the fine folks at Wikipedia for gems like this). Which brings me to the latest variety, the “New York System” hot dog, native to Rhode Island (and not, as the name would suggest, New York… but then again, you won’t find a Coney Island hot dog anywhere near Coney Island, NY, either. Sometimes, you just gotta roll with it). For those that have never heard of the style, New York System Wieners (or, in a regional mispelling, several places use the mispelling “Weiner”, such as today’s entry) are similar to a “Coney Island” or a “Michigan” hot dog. It starts with a slightly smaller veal and pork sausage than your normal hot dog, served in a steamed bun with meat sauce (sweeter and milder than Coney Island sauce, and definitely way too mild to be called a “chili”), mustard, onions, celery salt. The last of these is what makes the style unique, since while celery salt is a standard Chicago Dog topping, it’s not often seen on a Coney Island dog. In any case, there are several “Hot Wiener” joints in Rhode Island, including Olneyville New York System, Saugy’s, and today’s entry, Cranston’s Wein-O-Rama…

A quintessential part of the New England dining experience is the Worcester Diner Car, and quite a few New England towns have at least one Worcester Diner Car-based diner, typically with a long service counter, stools, tables, and lots of chrome. And, despite being designed on a wagon and/or train car style chassis, they typically don’t move. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the earliest Worcester Diner Cars weren’t this way. Early Worcesters had the stovetop, food prep, and service counter in the end of the car, with seating at the other end. And the cart was mobile, typically stored during the day and pulled out at night to serve factory workers. However, it’s extremely rare to find examples of these early Worcester Diners. Gilley’s PM Lunch in Portsmouth, NH is, however, a good example…

One of my simple guilty pleasures that I indulge in on every trip to the DC metro area: A “Half Smoke” hot dog , with mustard and “cooked onion” sauce. Many of you that aren’t from broader Washington, DC metropolitan area are probably asking, “what the heck is a half-smoke?” Like many areas (Chicago and Rochester being particularly good examples), Washington, DC has it’s own particular variant of the hot dog, the half-smoke. A half-smoke is a close cousin to the hot dog, but is a slightly larger and spicier sausage, with a level of seasoning halfway between a typical smoked sausage and a hot dog, hence the name. Interestingly, however, the sausage itself isn’t smoked (halfway or otherwise).