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Welcome to Haute-N-Ready, in which John Locanthi, Willamette Weekâs trencherman of leisure, tastes the hastily made, modestly priced food of the common man.
Something strange and altogether unexpected happened as I bit into my dog: I could barely taste the bacon. It may as well not have been there. Perhaps this is like eating spicy foods where devouring bacon on a regular basis leads to a dulling of the taste buds. More bacon is required for that same blast of bacony goodness. Or maybe it is simply mediocre bacon. The muted smoky flavor that irregularly appears is welcome.
To test if this was simply the result of covering my bacon-wrapped dog with sauerkraut, chopped onion and mustardâthe correct way to serve a hot dogâI also had one relatively plain. The bacon took a backseat even with just a sliver of the bland yellow mustard of the 7-Eleven condiment bar. Bacon is such a strong, overpowering flavor in most every way fast-food joints serve it that I am positively flummoxed by these results.
The good news is that the 7-Eleven Big Bite remains a solid beef frank. Itâs better or on par with most stadium dogs Iâve consumed and a fraction of the price, even in bacon-wrapped form. Outside of Sonic, which is a schlepp for most Portlanders, the hot dog exists mostly in novelty form in the fast-food and fast-casual world. If wrapping it in bacon is the only way to remind the public that this most American delicacy is a serious meal option, so be it.
WWeek 2015