Dear reader, life is too short for crap books.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Don't Diss My Dodger Dogs

This weekend, the NYT's Peter Meehan wrote an ambitious and cholesterol-packed feature on the highlights and atrocities of ballpark cuisine, complete with a super cool, drool-inducing interactive map laying out best and worst bets at 30 major league baseball stadiums.

DO NOT look at this right before lunch, as even the plastic cheese nachos and soggy BBQ sandwiches will start to look good to you.

While I was not particularly astonished that Dodger Stadium didn't come out on top, I was horrified by Meehan's description of the park's legendary Dodger Dog as "contemptibly bad (salty, greasy and tepid)."

I beg to differ, as Dodger Dog cravings carry considerable weight each time Potts and I debate whether to shell out the dough to attend a Dodgers game. I've never found a Dodger Dog to be either greasy or tepid, and aren't hot dogs supposed to be salty?

Meehan's winning stadiums include San Francisco, Seattle, and Milwaukee, and while I can vouch for the bratwurst at Brewer Park, I suspect our palettes may differ somewhat. The Seattle Sea-Dog (a cod hot dog), which he loved, sounds like poison to me, and I would never, ever in a million years eat sushi at a ballpark unless I was in Japan.

Alongside Los Angeles, Chicago, and Baltimore fared poorly with a crab cake sandwich at Oriole Park written up as "the worst dish I had the displeasure of sampling at a ballpark."

After checking out the map, though, I'm suddenly inspired to travel to St. Louis for the sole purpose of going to Busch Stadium for a "bratzel," a bratwurst wrapped in a pretzel and served with spicy mustard. I looked at a picture of it over 12 hours ago, and haven't stopped thinking about the yummy-looking thing since.

4 comments:

Bob Timmermann said...

Not even a bratzel is worth a trip to St. Louis unless you have family there or are inexplicably drawn to look at arches.

I have had sushi in Japanese stadiums. It's not much better there. But takoyaki served outside the stadium is something you don't want to miss out on.

Comrade Dave said...

I wonder if he didn't get a "proper" Dodger Dog (i.e., grilled not boiled); but I thought they were good.

His assessment of the Jake (I still can't call it Progressive Field) is pretty on. The food's nothing spectacular; and the service is abysmal (you have a long wait for just about anything there). But not to mention the world's best mustard is a crime. It makes the ordinary dogs and brats much, much better.

mary_m said...

Takoyaki: disturbing, but delicious-looking. I must have them.

And Dave, I heard from one of my co-workers that even grilled Dodger Dogs are actually boiled before they're grilled. But yeah, I suspect he got one of the lesser dogs.

I completely agree with you about mustard. A good one makes all the difference in the world. It can even make one of those godawful ballpark soft pretzels taste good.

Anonymous said...

I would say to Mr. Meehan - shut up, sit down and watch the game.