"Food Wars" hosts Harry Kersh and Joe Avella travel across NYC to find the best hot dog in the city. They'll be visiting five different locations in just one day to see what the city has to offer. This is "Food Tours."
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00:00 Here we are at Grace Papaya.
00:01 This place is legendary for street noise
00:04 and also hot dogs.
00:05 - Yes.
00:06 - Any New Yorker will tell you,
00:07 if you want to get a good idea
00:09 of how great hot dogs can be in this city,
00:12 gotta take it to Grace.
00:13 - All right, I'm here for it.
00:14 Should we try it out?
00:14 - Yeah, let's eat. - Let's go.
00:15 (upbeat music)
00:18 - Yeah, I wanna do two of the specials.
00:25 Let's do the hot dogs with kraut, onion, and mustard,
00:29 and two of the pineapple drinks.
00:31 Oh, papaya, sorry.
00:33 We get these to go?
00:34 - Okay. - Thank you very much.
00:36 All right, a bag of dogs and a drink, buddy, let's go.
00:40 - Let's go.
00:41 - Let's go eat this in the park.
00:42 There's no room in here.
00:43 Come on, let's go.
00:43 Check it out.
00:44 Well, there it is.
00:45 - Beautiful.
00:46 Who let the dogs out, am I right?
00:48 - All right, so this is Grace Papaya,
00:50 and we got two New York dogs and their papaya-flavored drink.
00:53 I guess the standard New York hot dog
00:55 is onions and sauerkraut and mustard.
00:57 - Sure.
00:58 - I know you like kraut, right?
00:59 - Yeah, I like kind of anything pickled or mustardy.
01:01 So in terms of toppings, this is very much up my street.
01:04 - Fantastic, so let's take a bite of the dog,
01:06 then we'll take a sip of the papaya drink,
01:08 and we'll see how you feel afterwards, right?
01:11 - I'm intrigued to see how this combination works together,
01:13 'cause it's not something that we find in the UK.
01:15 - Yeah, I'm starving, so let's do this.
01:16 - All right, man.
01:17 - The snap of the dog is 100% beef.
01:27 - Mm-hmm, dog.
01:28 - Flavorful, goes really well, I mean, yeah, you're right.
01:31 I guess the acidity of the kraut pairs with the snappiness,
01:35 the full flavor of the dog.
01:36 - Coming from someone who doesn't eat a lot of hot dogs
01:39 or love hot dogs, me, this is actually really, really good.
01:42 I feel like they've mastered the topping ratios here.
01:45 There's just enough onions to kraut to mustard to beef,
01:49 so really kind of balances all that,
01:50 it really works together.
01:51 - The papaya drink, it's fantastic.
01:54 And with the saltiness and the vinegaryness of the dog,
01:59 paired with this, fantastic.
02:00 - I can't say I've eaten many papaya things before.
02:04 - Get in there, buddy.
02:05 It can't be 100% papaya juice, right?
02:07 Like 100%, no, they can't do that, right?
02:09 How expensive would that drink be
02:10 if that was 100% papaya juice?
02:12 - You definitely wouldn't be able to get a combo
02:13 for $4 or something. - Yeah, yeah.
02:16 - This is really good.
02:16 - It's very good, right?
02:18 - This is like, the texture's quite creamy, I would say.
02:20 Do you get that? - Hell yeah.
02:21 - And sweet.
02:23 - Yeah, I think that does actually work really well
02:25 as a combination, which is not what I was expecting.
02:27 I don't know if this reference will hold up in the US,
02:30 but hopefully the UK viewers will get this.
02:31 - Let's go.
02:32 - For some reason, this tastes exactly like
02:34 a vanilla mini milk ice lolly.
02:37 - I do know what that is.
02:38 - Yeah? - Yeah.
02:38 - You had one of those before?
02:39 - I had one years ago when I was there,
02:41 but it's not something that I clamber for.
02:44 - They're not even super common,
02:45 'cause it's kind of like for kids.
02:46 - Yeah.
02:47 - But it's a very nostalgic flavor,
02:48 and honestly, I get exactly this.
02:49 - Yeah, we have something similar here.
02:51 - Usually a fruit is a dreamsicle.
02:54 It is a vanilla popsicle.
02:57 I think you said ice lolly.
02:59 - Yeah.
02:59 - It's orange and cream, so it's not vanilla.
03:01 It's an orange and cream popsicle.
03:04 It is exactly this, 'cause obviously that's orange.
03:06 This does have, though, that tropical fruit
03:09 and cream combo that is really good.
03:13 - I will say, again, for a self-confessed
03:15 not really hot dog enjoyer,
03:17 I have just kind of passively found myself
03:19 eating this whole thing.
03:20 - Yeah, 'cause you've been eating this
03:21 for, you've been eating those UK dogs.
03:22 I'm not gonna put it in there.
03:24 That's all-American beef dog, buddy.
03:26 - Mm-hmm.
03:27 In the UK, it's way more common to get a pork frankfurter,
03:29 and maybe that has something to do
03:31 with why I'm enjoying this one slightly more.
03:32 It's definitely got more of like a savory taste to it
03:35 that I'm used to.
03:36 - Yeah.
03:37 - Which I'm really enjoying.
03:37 - All right, on to the next spot.
03:39 Let's go.
03:40 - Let's go.
03:41 - Harry and I already had enough of eating outdoors,
03:43 so I brought us to some familiar territory,
03:45 a dark and noisy bar named McSorley's Old Ale House.
03:49 This bar's been here since I think the 1800s.
03:51 It might not seem that big of a deal
03:52 for you coming from London,
03:53 but here in America, that's really old.
03:55 - Yeah, for you guys,
03:56 that seems like it's been around a while.
03:57 Almost when you were founded, I forget when that was.
03:59 - Yeah, yeah, this was,
04:00 this is definitely New Amsterdam days.
04:02 - Okay.
04:03 (laughing)
04:04 It does kind of remind me of like a British pub.
04:06 It's nice.
04:07 - This place is amazing, it's ridiculous.
04:08 They have two types of beer, dark or light.
04:11 You have the light, I have the dark.
04:12 Houdini was here once, Abraham Lincoln drank here,
04:14 E.E. Cummins mentioned it in a poem.
04:16 - So I'm not even the most famous Harry
04:17 to have drunk here.
04:19 - Harry Styles dropped in after his roast for every,
04:21 yeah, he sold that Madison Square Garden,
04:23 he went right to McSorley's.
04:24 - Came to McSorley's.
04:25 - Everyone was like, "Who is this child?"
04:27 Anyway, one thing about this place
04:29 that most people don't know about
04:30 is they have a fantastic hot dog.
04:33 - Okay, I'm here for it.
04:34 - Dude, you know what they have here
04:35 that's totally ridiculous?
04:36 You can get a plate of onions, cheese,
04:38 and like saltine crackers?
04:40 - Like cooked onions?
04:42 - No, they're raw.
04:43 - Okay.
04:44 - We're not getting it,
04:45 but I wanna say for the record,
04:46 that's totally not normal.
04:47 - Well now I feel like we should get it.
04:48 Now that you've mentioned it.
04:49 - Can we do two hot dogs
04:51 and a plate of the cheese and crackers and onions?
04:52 - Hot dogs, do you want chili and sauerkraut,
04:54 one of each or?
04:55 - I think just the sauerkraut.
04:57 - Just the sauerkraut, one sauerkraut for each.
04:59 Yeah, thanks bud.
05:00 - Do you need a couple more onions?
05:02 - Yeah, sure, why not?
05:03 - Yeah, come on, dude.
05:04 - Yeah, for props.
05:05 Yeah, thanks.
05:06 - Thank you.
05:09 - Did he do two hands or one?
05:12 - I think he had all of those in one hand.
05:14 - No.
05:15 - How many of those can you do in one hand?
05:16 'Cause I cannot do eight.
05:17 - It's impossible.
05:18 - He definitely did that with one hand.
05:19 - It's impossible, no, that was not one hand.
05:20 - I'm gonna see how many I can do in one hand.
05:21 I reckon like three or maybe four.
05:24 - I feel like four, do I have tiny hands?
05:27 Oh, here we go.
05:28 - Here we go.
05:29 Thank you.
05:30 There we go.
05:32 - I love this, this sleeve of saltines.
05:34 - Full sleeve of saltines.
05:35 - Full sleeve of saltines.
05:37 - I don't know that I've ever had a saltine cracker,
05:39 you know?
05:39 - You haven't?
05:40 - I don't think so, they're not really a thing in the UK.
05:42 - Oh no, this is like what you get with soup.
05:45 - Yeah.
05:45 - I know there's a, oh, is this mustard too here?
05:47 - Yeah.
05:48 - I was kind of rude about it,
05:52 but the onion's kind of winning me over.
05:54 - That's immediately come around to that.
05:57 - Let's dip that.
05:58 - Oh my God.
06:05 - That is some strong mustard.
06:06 Definitely try that mustard.
06:08 Oh man.
06:09 - I love a bit of strong mustard.
06:09 - Oh, yeah?
06:11 That's a mustard?
06:12 - It's not English mustard, man, that is hot.
06:14 - Now is that, is that great Poufan level?
06:17 - Is what?
06:18 - Grey Poufan, you know what a Grey Poufan is?
06:20 - I have no idea what you're talking about.
06:21 - You don't know what Grey Poufan mustard is?
06:23 - Grey Poufan, what are you saying?
06:25 - Poufan, first word, grey.
06:26 - Yes.
06:27 - Second word, Poufan.
06:28 - Poop.
06:29 - Well, not poop, Poufan.
06:31 It was this ad campaign in the 80s
06:33 where they made a thing like this brown mustard
06:35 called Grey Poufan was like a really fancy mustard.
06:37 And you see one guy sitting in the back of a,
06:40 like a nice town car.
06:41 He's like eating a meal in the back seat of his car.
06:45 And the second car pulls up,
06:46 another rich guy pulls in the window,
06:48 he's like, "Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poufan?"
06:51 And the other guy's like, "But of course."
06:53 And then when he hands him the jar
06:55 and the guy like goes to like get it
06:56 from like one window to the next,
06:58 they pause that and like, "Grey Poufan,
07:00 this mustard's fancy, I don't know what the..."
07:02 They make a joke of it in Wayne's world.
07:04 - If we're talking mustard in the UK,
07:06 like English mustard, I guess like Coleman's
07:08 probably has the market cornered on that one.
07:12 - Okay.
07:13 - But yeah, this is good, this is like some powerful stuff.
07:15 And weirdly, yeah, I'm kind of enjoying the onion.
07:18 Joe wipes the sauce off his back.
07:21 - Okay, we're the dogs,
07:23 you're gonna flip your Grey Poufan when you try it,
07:24 I'm telling you, buddy.
07:26 - Damn, thank you.
07:28 - This is what I'm talking about,
07:29 now this looks real good.
07:30 Thank you so very much.
07:31 - Thank you very much.
07:32 - Awesome.
07:33 Okay, I'm not playing with this hot dog, dude.
07:36 This is for real.
07:36 - This looks like a slippery hot dog, man.
07:38 - You gotta have a little bit of the mustard
07:39 ahead of time with the cheese.
07:41 - I've got a little taste already.
07:43 It's powerful stuff, I feel like using it
07:45 kind of sparingly. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:46 This mustard, I mean like,
07:48 just a clear sign of something.
07:50 - I'm excited.
07:51 - Yeah, this dog is ridiculous.
07:52 - This looks pretty good, man.
07:53 - Ready?
07:54 Get in here.
07:55 - I think I'm ready.
07:56 - Let me tell you, how good is this dog?
08:06 Whoa, that mustard just hit.
08:09 It's a Feltman's hot dog?
08:10 - Right, okay.
08:11 - Right, it's different from the other ones you've had today?
08:12 - Who are Feltman's?
08:13 - Probably one of the oldest hot dog companies in the US,
08:15 certainly in New York.
08:16 - Right.
08:17 - Others have moved in,
08:18 but they're sticking with the originals.
08:20 - Okay, but they don't have too many hot dog stands, right?
08:23 - It's not as common as you think.
08:24 - Sure.
08:25 There is a definite difference in the taste there.
08:27 - Really tastes a difference, right?
08:28 - And the casing is really good.
08:29 It's like a real snap.
08:30 - There's a good snap to it, yes, I was gonna say.
08:32 Look, it even has like the excess casing here,
08:35 like, I don't know what that means,
08:36 but it feels like because of that, it's more natural.
08:39 - That looks like, you know the sausage you see
08:41 in like Tom and Jerry?
08:42 When it's got, it looks like a balloon knot on the end.
08:45 It's like that.
08:46 - Like the sausage legs.
08:48 As they've been cutting it, oh man.
08:50 You get a chance, try a bite on the other end
08:52 with just the dog, the meat, it's impeccable.
08:54 - It's really good, man.
08:55 I will say like, when it arrived,
08:57 it looked like a lot of sauerkraut,
08:59 but it's not the most like aggressive sauerkraut
09:01 you've ever had, right?
09:02 It's like fairly gentle, not overly tangy and in your face.
09:05 - Dude.
09:08 - You getting the mustard?
09:09 - Yeah, I get like a mustard pocket.
09:10 I was about to agree with you.
09:12 That thing just goes right up your nose.
09:15 - It really does.
09:15 Mustard here is weird,
09:17 'cause it's more that wasabi like attacks
09:19 like the back of your nose.
09:21 - I love this.
09:22 - It's really good.
09:22 - It's really good.
09:23 I told you, man, this dog is incredible.
09:25 - This is a serious dog, man.
09:26 - Yeah, this might be the one to beat.
09:28 - Man.
09:33 - Like eating with Kasia.
09:34 - I keep hitting like.
09:37 - What, you getting the mustard at the end there?
09:40 - Man.
09:41 - You take a bite, you chew, you think you're in the clear
09:45 and then you hit a pocket of mustard.
09:46 - You get real cocky with your breathing again.
09:49 And you're like, now that it's out of my mouth,
09:50 time to inhale.
09:51 - I'm in the clear.
09:52 - Gotcha, yeah.
09:53 - You have deleted that dog, wow.
10:00 - I think the dog, with nothing on it,
10:02 if I just got that with just the dog and bun,
10:04 I still would be very, very pleased.
10:06 The way that, yeah.
10:07 - Yeah, let me try just like a little bit
10:08 of the sausage on its own.
10:09 - Yeah, freestyle just the dog.
10:10 - Yeah.
10:11 That might be the best snap we have all day.
10:16 That might be the best one.
10:18 That's like, right?
10:20 - It's so flavorful.
10:21 - Right, it's like, what I imagine biting someone's finger
10:24 off would be like, to pop, right?
10:26 - That's not how I wanted to imagine it.
10:29 - Oh, okay.
10:29 - But you do you.
10:30 - Yeah.
10:31 - Considering how spicy it is and how much it like,
10:33 almost hurts, it's like so more-ish,
10:35 you just keep, what do you put it,
10:35 keep going back every time.
10:37 - It's almost like eating hot wings in a certain way,
10:38 where like, the pain of it,
10:40 and then like the endorphin rush after it like, adds to it.
10:43 - Why do humans do that?
10:44 It's like, things that are like spicy, really sour,
10:47 we just like, can't get enough of it.
10:49 - And now I'm kind of picking up the onions again.
10:50 - Well, I mean, we've still got like,
10:51 half a sleeve of saltines to get through, so you know.
10:54 - We'll get those to go.
10:54 - Perfect for dessert.
10:55 - Well, as much as I'd love to stay in a bar
10:57 all day and night, we unfortunately have to go
10:59 and eat more hot dogs, so let's finish these
11:02 seven or eight more beers that they gave us.
11:05 - Yeah, cool.
11:06 - And then on to more hot dogs.
11:08 - I'll drink to that one.
11:10 Cheers, buddy.
11:10 - One quintessential New York hot dog experience
11:14 is getting one at one of the blue and yellow
11:16 umbrella carts that's right by Central Park.
11:19 So, here we are on 93rd Street, I think.
11:21 Gonna get two dogs from my guy,
11:22 get over to the park, hang out and eat 'em.
11:24 - Sounds good.
11:25 - Nice, let's do it.
11:26 Behold, the dog.
11:28 Mustard, sauerkraut, and onions.
11:30 I don't know what he put on this, to be honest.
11:31 That guy was moving lightning fast.
11:32 - He really was, yeah, he knew his stuff.
11:34 - Two dollars for a dog, did you notice that?
11:36 - I did, that's cheap.
11:37 - That's really cheap.
11:38 - Is that like the standard kind of street hot dog price?
11:40 'Cause we're right next to Central Park,
11:41 we're in a good location.
11:42 - Yeah, I know, it varies.
11:43 I think that guy, he's in it for the love of the game.
11:45 His car was wrapped in plastic
11:47 like it had just been murdered.
11:49 Yeah, like a crime scene.
11:51 - It did a little bit, yeah.
11:52 - Okay, great.
11:53 But he's working hard, so we'll do a dog's proud, bud.
11:57 I'm actually really hungry, so.
11:58 - Yeah, let's give it a try and then we'll discuss.
12:00 - Not as much of a distinct flavor
12:05 as the dog we've had before today.
12:07 But still an incredibly good hot dog.
12:10 - Yeah, I'm pleasantly surprised.
12:12 I think like often in the UK,
12:14 hot dogs tend to be boiled rather than grilled.
12:17 I know sometimes places will boil them here, like this one.
12:20 - Yeah, oh yeah, good point, these are boiled, yeah.
12:22 - I think generally speaking,
12:23 I prefer the texture of like a grilled one
12:25 'cause you get more of like a snap on the crust.
12:27 But you still get like a little bit of that here.
12:29 And honestly, it hasn't changed the flavor that much,
12:31 I don't think, it still tastes fairly similar.
12:33 - Yeah, this is like a nostalgia play, you know?
12:34 - Yeah, so he put ketchup on this one.
12:36 - Where do you stand on ketchup on hot dogs?
12:38 'Cause some people find that controversial.
12:40 - Who gives a (beep)?
12:42 Put whatever you want in your dog.
12:44 I can't stand this.
12:44 We did it with the pizza episode the other day,
12:46 like, "Bleh, bleh, bleh, pineapple!"
12:47 - It's true.
12:48 - Put whatever you want in your hot dog, who cares?
12:50 - People have rules, some people like to stick to the rules.
12:52 - Absolutely nonsense.
12:53 - You're more of a maverick, that's fine.
12:54 - It's a weirder topping, sauerkraut and onions, right?
12:59 And with the ketchup, it's like, hold on.
13:01 Ketchup's the third weird thing on here, right?
13:04 - Apparently, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council,
13:08 A, there is one, and B, they released a statement,
13:11 'cause they release statements,
13:12 saying something to the tune of,
13:14 "You can put ketchup on your hot dog
13:15 "until you're like 13 or 14,
13:17 "and then have to add that,
13:18 "like, be an adult or whatever, grow up."
13:20 - I love the existence of a National Hot Dog
13:22 and Sausage Council.
13:24 The word council is brilliant, though.
13:26 Not like organization, council,
13:28 like the council has spoken.
13:29 - Yeah, these carts like this, they're all over the city,
13:32 but this one specifically, a 93rd, Billy's,
13:35 I'm assuming that was Billy himself who helped us,
13:38 has hundreds of five-star reviews.
13:40 It's almost like the most popular
13:43 or well-reviewed hot dog cart in the entire city.
13:45 So if I'm taking the one,
13:46 you gotta take the best one, right?
13:47 - Yeah, I mean, I wonder why he's got the best one.
13:49 The location's great, we're right on Central Park,
13:51 that's pretty cool.
13:52 And he seemed like he knew his stuff.
13:53 - Yeah, he's a perfectly nice guy.
13:55 I just think it's insane to be rating a hot dog cart.
13:58 Just eating it out, you know?
13:59 Really bizarre to be like, "Mm-hmm, two stars,
14:02 "like what the hell?"
14:02 - Unless I got like the worst food poisoning ever
14:04 and I logged on to give a bad rating.
14:07 I don't know, like how are you gonna have my--
14:09 - So you get the worst food poisoning ever
14:10 and you give it a bad review?
14:12 You gonna call the health inspector?
14:13 (laughing)
14:14 Call that guy.
14:15 - I feel like that feels too much like--
14:17 - I'll show that, that's the British in you,
14:19 like, "Why do I be impolite, so let's give him two stars."
14:21 - Yeah, that feels too rude.
14:22 That's too much like snitching, where it's just a bad review.
14:23 - Went to the hospital, two stars.
14:25 (laughing)
14:27 - Dog was pretty good on the way down.
14:28 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:29 - It's pretty good.
14:30 (laughing)
14:31 - All right, finish up, we got more hot dogs to eat.
14:32 - All right, buddy, let's go.
14:33 (laughing)
14:35 - From there, we made our way to Madison Square Park
14:37 for our next dog.
14:39 We're here at Madison Square Park,
14:41 the original Shake Shack location.
14:43 Now, it used to actually be a shack, probably right there,
14:46 that sold hot dogs,
14:48 then eventually burgers and shakes got in the mix,
14:50 but this is where it happened, all right here at this park.
14:52 This hot dog is one of the highest rated hot dogs
14:55 in the city, but that might be because
14:59 the Shake Shack is highly rated,
15:00 and they also sell hot dogs here.
15:02 - Okay, so they've kind of like hacked
15:04 TripAdvisor a little bit.
15:05 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah.
15:06 - But this is the dog that launched 1,000 Shacks, then.
15:09 - That's right, so of course,
15:12 we have to show off this insane debacle of a hot dog.
15:17 I believe it's called like a flat top hot dog.
15:19 - Right.
15:20 - And the reason they do that,
15:21 they cut it in half, - Cut it, and then you can
15:22 press it on the grill. - And put it down,
15:23 some call it like the butterfly cuts.
15:24 - Sure.
15:25 - The idea is, if you're making a hot dog,
15:27 and an earthquake strikes,
15:28 it doesn't roll off of the grill,
15:31 because it's just semi-inferred.
15:33 I mean, I think the original Shake Shack guy used to,
15:35 his first job was making hot dogs on a pirate ship,
15:38 I don't know, for whatever reason.
15:39 - On a fault line.
15:40 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right, yeah.
15:42 - It looks pretty well cooked,
15:43 there's like a nice bit of color on that.
15:44 - I'm biting this dog, see how it tastes.
15:46 - Cheers, let's go.
15:46 - Yeah, the char taste really comes through with this.
15:53 I almost, in a weird way,
15:55 I almost wouldn't want to put anything on this.
15:57 - I do slightly disagree with you.
15:58 I do think it needs some moisture, is the main thing.
16:00 (laughing)
16:02 - Oh, and then toppings.
16:03 - Topping, yeah.
16:04 - You didn't mean like, just like,
16:05 spray a little bit of water or whatever.
16:06 - Yeah, that works.
16:07 - Okay.
16:08 - No, I think like, a little bit of sauce,
16:09 or like some caramelized onion or something.
16:12 Just to kind of, you know, aid it on the way down.
16:16 But the dog itself is really tasty.
16:17 It's got like a chewier texture than I've had before.
16:21 I would make some changes with like, the toppings.
16:24 I think if this came with some grilled onions,
16:27 and maybe a little mustard, I'd be a happy man.
16:28 - Did somebody say toppings?
16:30 - I did say toppings.
16:31 - All right, funny you should mention toppings.
16:32 I did have a bit of an ulterior motive bringing you here.
16:35 This Shake Shack actually has a Chicago-style dog.
16:37 And me being from Chicago,
16:38 I think Chicago-style dog is the best style of hot dog,
16:41 at least in America.
16:42 - Keep your voice down, man, we're in New York.
16:44 - I know, no, please.
16:45 And I wasn't sure if any other places we were going today
16:48 was gonna have one, so I wanted to make sure
16:49 you got at least to try one while you're here.
16:53 Here it is.
16:54 Feast your eyes on,
16:56 that's right, I said it,
16:58 the best hot dog combination in America,
17:01 the Chicago-style dog.
17:02 Okay, I did notice they split the hot dog
17:04 and did it how they normally do.
17:05 That's not a Chicago way of doing it.
17:07 - Sure.
17:07 - But you got tomato wedges, diced white onion,
17:11 relish, sport peppers, celery salt, yellow mustard,
17:15 and a wedge of a pickle.
17:17 So you mentioned before that you kind of were responding
17:19 favorably to the sauerkraut having that vinegary-ness to it.
17:22 - Yes, a little bit of tang, yeah.
17:23 - This is all tang.
17:24 Even though I don't like pickles,
17:26 I do like the wedge on the dog.
17:28 - You'll make an exception for Chicago.
17:29 - I'll make an exception for Chicago, always.
17:31 - Does this look reasonably authentic then,
17:33 as a Chicagoan?
17:34 - Yeah, so far it does.
17:35 The bun should be a poppy seed bun,
17:37 but we don't cut 'em in half.
17:39 It's a regularly boiled hot dog.
17:40 - All right, I've never had one of these before.
17:42 - Okay.
17:42 - I'm excited, let's go. - Let's go.
17:44 - Oh yeah.
17:50 - Mm, mm.
17:50 You're destroying that thing, wow.
17:55 The way you're going in on that.
17:56 - I guess you like it.
17:57 - Yeah, I've had a few before.
17:59 This right here is the secret ingredient.
18:01 These square peppers, the little green peppers.
18:03 They're not very spicy.
18:04 - No.
18:05 - Give a little bit of a kick to them,
18:06 but they're still good.
18:07 And the tiniest thing I got, like a snap to 'em.
18:10 Fantastic, fantastic dog.
18:11 - This is really good.
18:12 - Yeah, right?
18:13 Told you.
18:14 - Why do we not put pickles on hot dogs more?
18:15 This is delicious.
18:16 - I don't know, I don't know why not.
18:17 - See, this is more up my street,
18:19 'cause it's got plenty of moisture in here.
18:22 There's like texture contrast going on.
18:24 You get crunch, you get snap, you get chew.
18:26 I don't know if we can consider that
18:28 a contender for a New York hot dog video.
18:32 - You and I might not be welcome back in New York
18:34 if we say that the best dog in New York
18:35 is a Chicago-style dog.
18:36 - Bring it.
18:37 - You know, that's on them.
18:38 If they can't offer something better than this, then.
18:41 - It's their fault.
18:42 - Can you please explain the term glizzy to me?
18:44 'Cause I've seen this all over the internet.
18:46 - I think that's what people nicknamed my hot dog.
18:48 - Really?
18:49 - Hot dogs suddenly became like, not cool to eat.
18:51 I'm normalizing eating hot dogs.
18:53 Not with these kids and their apps, making fun of it.
18:56 All right, I'm gonna finish this beer.
18:58 We got more glizzies to eat.
18:59 - I'm ready to gulp some more glizzy, man.
19:02 Let's head off.
19:03 - Someone please isolate that audio,
19:04 make it a viral TikTok audio.
19:07 I will take the shame to be sort of famous.
19:10 No New York hot dog tour would be complete
19:14 without a trip to Nathan's Famous over in Coney Island.
19:17 I know we've been eating hot dogs all day.
19:19 - That we have.
19:20 - This is a bit of a haul.
19:21 Went pretty far south, but had to take you to Nathan's.
19:23 The world famous, the one and only, here in Coney Island.
19:26 Also home of the hot dog eating competition.
19:29 - Yes.
19:30 - Your boy Kobayashi.
19:31 - Even I've seen that.
19:31 It's horrifying and fascinating in equal measure.
19:34 - Nathan's has been here since 1916.
19:36 It started as a hot dog stand.
19:38 And remember we were talking earlier
19:39 about Feltman's hot dogs?
19:40 - Yes.
19:41 - When Nathan's opened, they undercut them
19:43 by selling five cent hot dogs instead of 10 cent hot dogs.
19:45 So that rivalry runs deep.
19:48 They have locations all over the world.
19:51 You can get Nathan's hot dogs in grocery stores
19:53 all over the country and possibly also internationally.
19:56 It is the quintessential hot dog.
19:59 Arguably the most famous one.
20:01 And I think you should see why.
20:03 Also, if you're listening, you can hear
20:05 we're only steps away from the Coney Island
20:08 carnival grounds, rides, the whole thing.
20:11 So all that screaming is people on roller coasters
20:13 and not people eating hot dogs.
20:15 - Sure, that's reassuring to know.
20:17 I do love how I'm here and it feels like
20:20 I could also be somewhere on the British coastline.
20:22 - Really, why's that?
20:23 - I feel like just coasts in general,
20:25 or at least in the UK and the US from what I've experienced,
20:27 have that similar kind of like run down charm, I would say.
20:31 It's not like glamorous over here,
20:33 but it's very fun, it's nostalgic, and I like it.
20:36 So yeah, I feel right at home
20:38 and I'm ready to eat this hot dog.
20:39 - All right, once again, we got the sauerkraut,
20:40 we got the onions on here.
20:42 - This is a pretty good looking hot dog.
20:44 I like the color on the onions.
20:45 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a thinner frank.
20:48 But that's to be expected.
20:48 I know Nathan's are a little bit thinner.
20:51 I think a hot dog eating competition would be a lot better
20:53 if they had to eat ones with the toppings on.
20:55 That'd be really funny, right?
20:56 - That would be.
20:57 - All right.
20:57 - That's the challenge on hard mode.
20:58 - But before we go any further, we gotta eat this dog.
21:01 - We do, man.
21:02 - Ready?
21:02 - Cheers. - Cheers.
21:03 - Mm.
21:10 - Mm-hmm. - Right?
21:12 So good.
21:13 - Mm-hmm.
21:13 - So, so good.
21:14 - As far as first bites go, really, really good.
21:17 Even though it's thinner than most we've seen today,
21:19 it does have a really good snap to it.
21:21 - Mm-hmm.
21:21 - Incredibly flavorful.
21:23 - 100% beef.
21:24 - These have a distinct flavor.
21:25 The frank has a distinct flavor that
21:27 I could probably pick out of a hot dog lineup.
21:31 - Mm-hmm. - Right?
21:31 - I'd say, although this is a beef frank,
21:34 tastes fairly similar to some of the more pork-based
21:38 frankfurters that we're used to, maybe, in the UK.
21:40 - Oh, is that right?
21:40 - Yeah.
21:41 Something to do with the seasoning.
21:42 The texture as well, it's quite homogenous,
21:44 I guess, the texture.
21:45 I feel like some of the ones we've had,
21:46 maybe you can taste more distinct bits of meat.
21:49 - Okay. - Whereas this is kinda like
21:51 just one solid piece of meat.
21:52 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:53 I like how this place is like a hot dog complex.
21:55 You know what I'm saying, where we're in line there?
21:56 It's like-- - This is huge.
21:57 - Just running through hot dogs like crazy.
21:59 - Churning them up. - Yeah, they're churning them up.
22:00 - Friendly vibe in there.
22:01 I like it. - Yeah, really nice.
22:02 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:03 This dog is as iconic as Coney Island itself.
22:05 If you are here, you're eating a hot dog.
22:07 - Yeah, can you kind of separate Coney Island from Nathan's,
22:11 or are they kinda just one and the same?
22:12 - One and the same.
22:13 - Yeah, you're enjoying it so much
22:14 that you wanted your pants to get a taste of that too.
22:16 - I know, God damn.
22:17 (laughing)
22:18 I'm a wreck, I've had 20 hot dogs today.
22:21 - And about five beers.
22:22 - Yeah. (laughing)
22:23 I think it's the hot dogs.
22:24 - The kraut's really good here.
22:26 Crunchy, tangy.
22:28 Honestly, like I added mustard,
22:29 but I'm not sure it needs it,
22:31 'cause you actually get quite a lot of sourness
22:33 from the sauerkraut and a little bit from the onions.
22:36 - If you had to enter the hot dog competition tomorrow,
22:39 how many dogs do you think you could put away?
22:42 What was the record again?
22:43 - I don't know if it's a record,
22:44 but Kobe actually did like 69.
22:46 - Nice.
22:47 - And that's in 10 minutes, I think?
22:48 - That's a lot.
22:50 In 10 minutes, I could, mm.
22:52 - I can't eat 69 hot dogs in a year.
22:54 - No. (laughing)
22:54 - Can you?
22:55 - If I was really hungry, I reckon I could maybe do 10.
22:58 - Oh, 10 hot dogs.
23:01 10 hot dogs.
23:02 - How many do you think in 10 minutes?
23:05 - I bet you'd put away six and then you puke.
23:07 (laughing)
23:08 Right?
23:09 - You got so little faith, man.
23:11 We eat fast food professionally.
23:12 You think our stomachs aren't used to that?
23:14 - Oh, God.
23:15 (laughing)
23:16 Give me a one-beat, man.
23:17 (whistle blowing)
23:19 - Oh, sorry.
23:19 - I feel like my stomach's getting more sensitive.
23:21 It screams like, "It's pretty jarring."
23:23 Like, "They're okay."
23:25 - They're fine, they're fine.
23:26 - Yeah.
23:27 We spent the whole day eating hot dogs.
23:28 Went all around the city to decide
23:30 what was the best hot dog you had to date.
23:33 Well, I've thrown down a few.
23:34 Every hot dog I think was great for its own reasons.
23:37 - Yeah.
23:38 - The hot dog at the Papaya, I think,
23:39 was just a classic dog, right?
23:42 The snap, the texture.
23:43 - Of course.
23:44 - That was a good start.
23:45 But, you know, the one that we had in Central Park,
23:47 it was just like the nostalgia play, right?
23:49 It just was, "Yeah, you know, this is what it's all about."
23:51 Having a hot dog in the park,
23:53 contemplating your existence,
23:54 the futility of your existence, if I may.
23:57 That was great.
23:58 Shake Shack, I mean, maybe I'm biased,
23:59 we got that Shack-Cago dog.
24:01 Shack-Cago dog, I think, was very good.
24:02 But their actual regular dog,
24:04 as much like the hate on the butterfly cut-in-half thing,
24:08 it did have a nice flavor to it.
24:09 - Yeah.
24:10 - McSorley's, I mean, that whole thing was just ridiculous.
24:13 That specific frank they had on there,
24:15 I loved the sauerkraut too.
24:17 And then here, look at the size of this building.
24:19 You don't have a building this big
24:20 unless you're selling some serious hot dogs, right?
24:23 - You really don't.
24:23 - You're moving a lot of dogs.
24:24 So, it's a real hard choice.
24:26 But what do you think?
24:27 What are some things that stood out to you?
24:28 - The main takeaway for me
24:30 is that New York has slightly changed my opinion on hot dogs.
24:32 - Oh, that's fantastic.
24:34 - I wasn't much of a hot dog guy.
24:35 - Yeah.
24:36 - Honestly, we've had some really great hot dogs,
24:38 pretty much at every location,
24:39 to the point where I think in the future,
24:42 I would now voluntarily eat a hot dog.
24:44 I would go out of my way to buy and eat a hot dog.
24:46 Whereas in the past, maybe I wouldn't have done that.
24:48 So, I think broadly speaking, New York has done well.
24:51 You guys do a good hot dog.
24:52 But I think my personal favorite was McSorley's.
24:56 - Really, why's that?
24:57 - I really liked the vibe in there.
25:00 It might be 'cause I kind of felt like
25:01 a nostalgic British pub vibe from it.
25:03 - Interesting.
25:04 - But it's very classic in there.
25:05 It's a little bit of a throwback.
25:06 People were friendly.
25:07 It was cheap.
25:08 Good quality.
25:09 That hot dog was just delicious.
25:10 We both destroyed that thing.
25:11 - Yeah.
25:12 - Do you agree?
25:13 - I agree we both destroyed it.
25:14 And I'm going to agree with you.
25:15 I think McSorley's was the best hot dog we had today.
25:18 Now, I thought it was gonna be Grey's Papaya.
25:20 - Yeah.
25:21 - After we had it, I'm like, come on.
25:23 I went out getting a better hot dog than this.
25:25 But what jumped out for me is McSorley's is,
25:28 it didn't have as much sauerkraut on it,
25:30 or the kraut wasn't as strong of a flavor.
25:33 Right?
25:34 - Yeah.
25:34 - I remember the Chokin.
25:35 - Definitely.
25:36 - The Feltman's Dog, which--
25:37 - Feltman's Dog.
25:38 - I don't think anyone else had a Feltman's Dog that we had.
25:40 Certainly not Nathan's.
25:41 I think most of them were Nathan's or something else.
25:43 - Yeah.
25:44 - And with that mustard, ooh!
25:45 Now, what else could you put on that dog after that mustard?
25:48 - I don't think it needed anything else.
25:49 There weren't onions on there.
25:50 I don't think it needed onions.
25:51 - So, with just their kraut and the mustard,
25:55 made for a fantastic hot dog.
25:57 - Yeah, I think simple, but very, very effective.
26:00 - Yeah.
26:00 - And like I say, the vibe in there was really great.
26:02 - Yeah, it's a cool place.
26:03 - Go back, even if you weren't gonna eat,
26:04 just go back for a drink in the evening.
26:05 - Yeah, it's cool.
26:06 - Just friendly in there.
26:07 And yeah, would happily endorse that to any tourist
26:10 who is heading to New York.
26:11 - All right.
26:12 Do you wanna go on a roller coaster now
26:13 that we have a stomach full of beer and hot dogs?
26:16 - That's a recipe for throwing up, so yes, let's do it.
26:19 See you in a couple of weeks for the hot dog eating contest.
26:21 (laughing)
26:22 - He said eight?
26:24 - I said 10.
26:25 - Yeah, that happened.
26:26 - Bring it on, man.
26:27 - That happened.