Bark Hot Dogs / Brooklyn

BARK HOT DOGS
474 Bergen St
(between 5th Ave & Flatbush Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 789-1939
barkhotdogs.com

Members: Bertina, Eugenia & Alan
Special Guest: Sara Piali

the food:
Hot Dogs: note that all the hot dog wieners are made in Rochester, NY. a special recipe just for Bark Dogs. The wieners had a mad snap to them which i like–even more so than a gray’s papaya dog.
Bark Dog – Sweet Pepper Relish, Mustard + Onion – THE WINNER OF BEST DOG
Kraut Dog – Oak Barrel Aged Sauerkraut, Mustard
Slaw Dog – Cole Slaw
Veggie Dog- w/ Roasted Mushroom-Chickpea topping and Pickled Garlic Mayo
Gravy Fries – delicious
Chili Cheddar Fries- heavy but delicious
Brisket Chili- mmm good
Baked Beans- mmm good.
Onion Rings – way too salty onion rings that were only good for decoration…yet we continued to eat them
Genie’s butterscotch milkshake- “the butterscotch milkshake was one of the best i’ve had!”
Alan’s Six Point Bark Red Ale – “it had a decent amount of hops and was good with the dog :)”

the setting:
When you first walk into Bark Dogs, you can see that they put alot of thought into the interior. its very Eco friendly to say the least.
The  tables have foot ledges to rest your feet and place your bags. The tables also seemed to be from reclaimed wood. The lighting as also very industrial looking but cool. The aesthtic of the place could be called Eco-Modern–haha i just made that term up… but its pretty dead on. From the utensils to the plastic cups, to the recycling bins were all ecofriendly. There was even a tap water area so you could freely drink water without having to pay for it— a very understated but special points winner. You order your meal from the counter and they take your name. They will bring over your food. There were about 5 to 6 long tables that could easily seat 12 people to a table. the bathroom was even ecofriendly hardcore! there was a green lever that you push up on the flusher when you pee and flush down when you #2. and the freaking flush lever was antibacterial somehow. Overall atmosphere was great… we got there after the a big rush…. conversation levels were just right. The salt and pepper shakers were from the moma design store… awesome contraptions that look like they are more for blowing up the world than salting your dog

the convo:
wow we had a crazy range…from what we were eating, eugenia’s bleached blonde hair, what we’ve eaten in past meeteaters (LAN ZHOU hand drawn noodles!), to crazy super human mouse trapping stories, to life and death,, alan’s apartment hunting/greenpoint real estate, more mice stories involving hackey sack skills and tupperware…all the while messing with our “food face” made of ketchup, mustard and onion rings–it looked like a nice toupee.

lasting impressions:
overall, it was a great night of eating artisnal hot dogs and catching up on everyones lives while telling funny stories that made our stomachs hurt. Who knew mice could be so hilarious. Thanks Sara for coming out. I wonder what the next meeteaters location should be?

aok

Paul’s Da Burger Joint? Yes, please.

First, I have to give credit to Maria for telling me about this burger joint in the first place…I seem to have passed by the place on numerous occasions while passing through st. marks and somehow managed to never look in. Shame on me. Good thing we ended up here for this month’s MeetEaters.

Let me just say one thing: DEE-RiSH-US! I have to say that it’s one of my new faves for burgers in NYC, though I still have yet to tackle the many burger joints on this island. Knowing that this place has been around also leads me to ask myself, “Where have I been all this time?”

I say YES to Paul’s– to their meaty, 8-pounder that is cooked in a metal dome on a griddle so that you get the burger the way you want it (Mmmedium!). I ordered a plain cheeseburger with mozz on a toasted kaiser roll (which i heavily recommend so that you don’t have a soggy burger in your hands) and a side of yummy sweet potato fries…oooh let me tell you, i was a very happy camper. I didn’t feel nasty or weighed down by grease, and enjoyed the crumbly texture of the meat. That’s how a burger should be made!

Now, I’m not one to go into all the specifics and point out every little right and wrong– for me, if the food is good, the place is clean, and the service is friendly, you’ve got my vote. if you go over and beyond that, you’ll most likely get extra points and a better tip….which reminds me, MeetEaters, we have yet to decide on our how we are to critique these places. What did we decide on? Any suggestions? Well, I’ll make something up for now and give Paul’s 3 out of 4 forks (I shouldn’t have to pay extra for lettuce and tomato!)

Until the next bite,

🙂 B

P.S. Big shout out to Alan’s friend Ron who joined us as our honorary guest!

Paul’s Da Burger Joint: 131 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003 (at St. Mark’s Place); 212-529-3033; paulsburgers.com

Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches

I’ve been hearing about Nicky’s sandwich shop for the last few months and I thought it would be a good place to start our inaugural meeteaters club. With the economic down turn, a 5 dollar , no tax bahn mi sandwich does the trick. The shop at first glance is very small with three tables inside. The table we sat at was one you would find on someones patio. I ordered the classic bahn mi sandwich which consists of a freshly warmed French bread, pate, pickled carrots and cucumbers, cilantro, ham, roasted pork, mayo and the added kick your ass jalapeños strategically straddled throughout the sandwich–if your even more of a thrill seeker, the standard Sriracha sauce was there to play wingman to the jalapeños. I drank a lychee juice box for beverage. Was really good and not too sweet. The jalepenos were a bit too over bearing even for a spice lover like me. Like five minutes into eating my first bite i thought i had taken a shower i was sweating so much lol. The next sandwich we all tasted was the pork chop sandwich. This sandwich had much more meat than the classic bahn mi as well as a nice marinated Korean BBQ taste. This time we had the jalepeno peppers on the side. I used Sriracha sauce as well. You can never go wrong with that sauce. Over all I give the sandwich shop a thumbs up or a fork up or whatever scale we use. The sandwich was much tastier than any chinatown bahn mi shop. This maybe because of quality of ingredients as well as fresher bread. The french breads freshness is vital to supporting plethora of flavors the bahn mi brings.

Topics at the table
Obama was the biggest topic conversation as we had president elect Obama celebrations all over the world Tuesday. We went from talking about the emotional catharsis of waiting 8 years for change. And also the daunting future ahead of us. I have hope that Obama will do all that he can. This man is a leader that comes by once in a lifetime. We talked about family values and the fact that this was the by far, one of the only times I felt true patriotism and pride for my country. Love for my country and my new leader Barack Obama. The shop being so small, and our conversation so big, we had a few strangers join our conversation. One guy name was Brett and he was eating a pork chop sandwich / supporter of Obama–hes the one that got us to try the pork chop sandwich in the first place. There were two other fellows that were picking up sandwiches that also over heard our conversation. Right before they leave, one of them says, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but i couldn’t help but hearing about Obama and the things you expect in the upcoming term. He then said to look up “zeitgeist” the movie. After about 20 minutes of trying to really figure out what he and his buddy were trying to say…. he was saying this one statement: Obama is just a pawn and he is just like any part of the bigger, diabolical political machine. I’m definitely going to check this movie out with a grain or 8 of salt. Mish kept saying “granular” a lot haha. Ah to add, the conspiracy theorist guy was wearing a t-shirt that said “fuck you… pay me” he explained that it was part of his Halloween costume and that he was low on laundry. Hmmm maybe low on smarts. In any case…. we had a great conversation over great food about a sandwich I love and a president that I respect and have faith in. Please lets not judge the man even before he takes office. Thanks for reading yall.

-alan-

150 East 2^nd Street (btwn Ave. A & B)

New York, NY 10009

212-388-1088

Mon-Sat: 12:00PM to 9:00PM

Sun: 12:00PM to 7:00PM

   

 

the start of our food fantasia!

werd.