What's Up? Hot Dog

As much as the gourmet hot dog craze has pretty much leveled out, there are surprisingly not an over-abundance of places one can get one.  Sure, there is Japadog, Dougie Dog and Eli's Serious Sausage, but other than some other hot dog carts, there are very few places dedicated to the sausage in a bun.  Enter the newly opened What's Up? Hot Dog located in the former Master Chef in East Village.  Seeing how my son wouldn't pass up a hot dog and waffle fries, we headed over there confident that he would approve.

Since their dogs are larger than most, we got the Matt & She's Dog for the kiddies to share.  Consisting of a natural Two Rivers beef dog, house made mac & cheese, bacon bits, green onion and black pepper, this combined 3 of my son's favourites.  Naturally, we omitted the green onion since it would put the poor kid in shock due to the addition of something green.  Beautifully juicy with a firm snap, the wiener was lightly smoky and only purposefully salty. Despite the rich orange hue, the mac & cheese could've benefited from more sharpness and salt.  The generous sprinkle of black pepper was pretty impactful with each bite.  For myself, I had the A-Rueben Bahama, Come on Pretty Mama with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, hot mustard and Russian dressing.  This was essentially a large hot dog posing as a rueben sandwich.  This partially offset the price since it was a lot of food which was enough for me.  I enjoyed the ample amount of tangy sauerkraut and impactful hot mustard.

Viv opted for the Hog & his Pogs with pulled pork, house made BBQ sauce, apple slaw and pepperoncinis.  Again, this was an ample amount of food as there was enough topping to make its own sandwich.  The moist and well-sauced pork was slightly sweet and tangy.  Upping the tang was the slaw and pepperoncinis, which added a brightness to an otherwise heavy concoction.  With all the dogs, the soft bun generally held together and was somewhat airy.  We also got a couple orders of the Waffle Fries which were super light and crispy.  Despite its ample appearance, these fries went real fast since they were so easy to eat.  In the end, we enjoyed the specialty dogs at What's Up? Hot Dog.  At first, the prices concerned us ($8.99 - $10.99), yet if we take into account the quality of the actual wiener and the amount of toppings (which would fill another sandwich), then it becomes much more palatable.

The Good:
- Good quality Two Rivers wiener
- Ample toppings
- Nice people

The Bad:
- I didn't mind the prices, but for some, a $10.99 hot dog might not work for them
- Limited space