Monday, November 06, 2006

Ed's Easy Diner, Old Compton Street

This time, a rare occurence - an actual place that sells real hot dogs in London!

For most Londoners, the only time you will see a hot dog on sale is when you pass an illegal street vendor at about 1:30 a.m. selling suspicious looking, rancid smelling sausages with overcooked onions on a street corner. Those guys are illegal and the food they sell is probably dangerous to your health.

Ed's Easy Diner on the other hand is a reputable, established restaurant chain which sets out to re-create a classic, American burger bar in the U.K. Whilst their burgers are okay, they have been overtaken somewhat by the 'gourmet burger' phenomenon that has swept London and are in danger of looking a little dated. However they do sell hot dogs which is something their competitors don't. So, what are they like?

The branch I went two only sells two variations: Hot dog with onions, and a chili dog. So a chili dog it had to be.




Overall impressions: Not bad. A good quality, fresh roll, and a weiner sausage prepared with some care. The chili portion was substantial and served on the side in a little container. Now, this chili contained beans - a typical chili con carne - and having read some of the recipies for American style hot dog chili, I couldn't help but think that a bean-less chili might have been better. It wasn't especially flavourful but was still a nice accompaniment to the hot dog.

3 out of 5. Not a classic by any means, but it scores for novelty value.

1 comment:

Christopher Scott Jones said...

Yup, beans in hot dog chili should be an international crime.