Hollywood - Pink’s Hotdogs
Usually, when I’ve visited the States, I’ve left blogging until after I get home, done a couple of decent posts then run out of steam. In an attempt to manage better coverage this time, I’m blogging offline with Live Writer for posting once I get back. (Now that I’m back - I didn’t succeed as well in that as I hoped, but still have a bit of a head start.)
msinvisfem and I visited the famous Pink's of Hollywood, a hot dog stand of 71 year’s standing patronised (occasionally) by the rich and famous and (more commonly) by hordes of commoners willing to queue for up to an hour to sample the gourmet hot dogs.
msinvisfem's only option was the vegan Patt Morrison Baja Vegan Dog (topped with fresh guacamole, chopped tomatoes and chopped onions) but she declared herself satisfied. I ordered a “Planet Hollywood” dog for myself (Polish sausage, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, bacon and nacho cheese), and msinvisfem recommended* a Martha Stewart dog (relish, onions, bacon, chopped tomatoes, sauerkraut and sour cream).
I dug into the Martha Stewart first. The bacon was nice and crispy and the sauerkraut made an interesting contrasting layer between the bacon and the hot dog. The other ingredients, while each making a contribution, were less significant in their impact. On the down side, it was impossible to get a full height bite of the dog in one mouthful, and the wetness of the ingredients led to fairly quick disintegration of the hot dog, and a fair bit of fall-out.
I finished off Martha Stewart, and started in to the Planet Hollywood. My first impression of this was the nacho cheese adhering to my face as I tried to bite into it, and unfortunately it’s only at this point that I recalled I’m not over keen on nacho cheese - it’s a bit slimy and plasticky, and doesn’t even have the greatest taste. The Polish sausage was mildly spicy, but gave the impression of being made of the cheaper bits of meat. It may be true, but generally we want to be able to fool ourselves about this! Even the bacon was less well cooked than in the Martha Stewart, and was a bit on the fatty side. I wasn’t sure when I started out that I’d finish both dogs, but the Planet Hollywood made it easy to give up half way through.
Pink’s is worth a visit, but I would recommend avoiding any dog based on the Polish sausage - try one of the other ones. The Martha Stewart was nice.
* The recommendation was made on general principles, not experience. msinvisfem wishes to further clarify that "'General principles' doesn't mean that I think people should go around eating giant wodges of bacon. Especially as I am vegan."