CBD's Top Hot Dog? Dog House Opens in Central Park

Hot dogs have a strange history in Beijing. A&W Root Beer served chili dogs during their late 1990s residence in Beijing. Gongti hole-in-the-wall Fubar started out as a hot dog stand (Stadium Dog) with a speakeasy bar behind it. Coney Island's Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs came to Beijing, gave it a shot, then packed up and went home when they failed to catch fire. Then of course there's Beijing's best hot dog/late night excuse: the hot dog stand in front of Maggie's Bar. Really honey, I was just getting a hot dog. By the way, what are you doing here?

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The opening of Dog House in Central Park's Tower 14 looks like a bit of a risk. Two doors down from Central Park's Jenny Lou's, the rent must be murder, which may explain why they're sharing the space with a dry cleaner (the two businesses share a door but are separated by a wall). We hope that hot dogs are a good way to monetize the space, which is painted white and accented with the classic hot dog colors, bright red and yellow.

Promising "gourmet hot dogs" and noting that they are the official hot dog of Shanghai's Mercedes-Benz Arena, they offer 13 dogs on the menu, all priced from RMB 35-45. One option they don't offer that might be worth a go is plain. Many are regional variations, such as Japanese, Korean, and Sichuan, and a few mash-ups with other foods, including pizza and reuben.

On the recommendation of the courteous, slightly nervous woman who runs the place, I ordered a Philly, and added to that a Peking, because, Beijing. She warned me that two hot dogs might be too much for one person, and she was correct, although in the service of this fine publication, I finished both.

The Philly (RMB 45) is billed as an imported beef hot dog with cheese sauce, sauteed mushrooms, jalapenos, and crispy onions. It certainly has all that, although the combination of the cheese and mushrooms results in a bit of cream of mushroom soup feeling. It's good though – it's a quality hot dog, the crispy onions can be picked off like mini-onion rings, and the rest comes across like a mini-Philly cheesesteak placed atop a hot dog.

The Peking (RMB 45) is similar. It's also an imported beef hot dog, topped with sweet garlic sauce, braised duck, hoisin sauce, scallions, and cucumber. The duck was tasty, but its presentation was more like pulled duck – it looked and felt the way pulled pork does. The combination of sweet garlic sauce and hoisin sauce makes it slightly too sweet. But while place a hot dog inside your next Peking duck roll-up would be pointless, this one works.

Both dogs got a common thing right: the bun. Most hot dogs in China have failed because they're served on glorified bread, making them too chewy and too filling. While perhaps not ballpark quality,

I didn't order any sides – the two dogs were more than enough – but there are waffle fries that are served seasoned, topped with cheese, or with homemade beef chili, for RMB 15, 20, and 25, respectively. I suggest you order them: they come in a large metal dog dish. I couldn't stop laughing when they were served to the three guys next to me, who also thought it was a put-on.

To wash everything down, there's a selection of soft drinks, along with bottled beer and hard cider from RMB 5-40.

Besides ketchup and mustard, other sauces, including Huy Fong Sriracha sauce, are available. However, given the amount of toppings on any dog, there's really no room for that kind of garnishing. Again, a plain dog might do well here.

Dog House has an opportunity here because while there are plenty of dining options in and around Central Park, there are few if any fast food outlets, and these guys are quick. They also deliver, and will be popular with kids – they'll not only love the hot dogs, but the mess they can make disassembling them, eating the component parts, and then squirting ketchup and mustard on the remains, and each other.

It would be nice to see Dog House succeed. "Gourmet" and "hot dog" don't belong in the same sentence, but this is a solid product in a convenient location. Would I go back? Yes, I would, but probably only order one dog and a side of fries in the dog dish because that's just funny.

Dog House
Daily 10.30am-9.30pm. Shop 103B, Tower 14, Central Park, Chaoyangmenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District (6500 2067) 
朝阳门外大街6号新城国际14号楼底商103号

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Email: stevenschwankert@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Steven Schwankert