Thing 42: M'Dawg Haute Dogs

After a solid afternoon of attending the Gay Pride parade and drinking on the street, followed by more drinking at the Duplex Diner with my former landlord and Andrew Sullivan, this girl needed a spot of supper before heading home to the comforts of an air conditioned apartment and a warm bed. I was in Adams Morgan, where the late night dining options are plentiful -- big slice? falafel? empanadas? scrambled eggs? -- but this time I had a hankering for a hot dog, and headed up the street to M'Dawg.

Brought to us by the same people who own the Amsterdam Falafel shop across the street (which will get its own delicious post sometime soon), M'Dawg has a similar philosophy: serve one thing, prepare it well, and then let your customers load it down with toppings. At M'Dawg, you can choose from 13 types of dogs (half smokes, red hots, brats, corn dogs, veggie dogs, etc) and then for an extra dollar you have full access to the topics bar, from onions and relish to black beans, wasabi mayonnaise or apricot chutney. Go wild! Build your own! Or, if you're like me and slightly drunk, indecisive and overwhelmed, enlist the help of the man behind the counter to build the greatest hot dog ever. Ever.

After spending my ten minutes in line debating the merits of bratwursts versus soy dogs, I settled on a Hebrew National with a poppy seed bun. Then I spent another ten minutes staring at the toppings bar, debating my usual go-to (sweet relish and yellow mustard) with something more daring.

The man behind the counter finally took charge of my dog, building a tremendously delicious monstrosity with the following: sweet relish, sliced tomatoes, raw red onion, mushrooms in garlic butter, ketchup, mustard, and cheese product.


Amazing.