Take a bite out of this: Cheese stuffed bacon wrapped sausage between hot dog buns topped with sundried tomatoes and bacon bits for crunch. And squiggles of spicy ketchup and mustard to finish.
It’s called the Piggy Dog — and although we aren’t a fan of the name — it checks all of our boxes, and then some. So we are not surprised when we find out from one of the founders of Top Dog — a cloud kitchen which caters to hot dog cravings — that this is one of their best sellers.
“For folks who love their pork, and don’t find it on too many menus, this is great value in terms of cost and taste,” says Sagar Sadhwani (29) who also owns the Pappa Roti franchise in Phoenix MarketCity. There are two other female partners, who wish to remain anonymous, we are told. Sagar who studied business in France tells us that recipe trials went on for a month before launch, with buns sourced from a local homebaker and frankfurters imported from Germany.
With seven hot dogs on the menu, he admits, “We weren’t sure what to expect when we started an Instagram page a month ago. But now we are doing so well, that we are having discussions about expansion.” This includes veggie options (with a soya sausage) that should be available in a few weeks, we are told and a possible vegan option further down the line.
For the moment though, every item on the menu can be made with either chicken or pork. We try the Fiery Dog (chicken) with chopped jalapenos, peri peri sauce and spicy mayo. The result is a subtle hint of spice balanced by the sweetness of caramelized onions. So you might need to give specific instructions if you are hoping for ‘dynamite’. Later, we dig into a Sriracha Dog (pork) with homemade beet sauerkraut and a signature sriracha mayo blend. And finally, a Slurpy Dog — which gets its name from the chicken kheema on top. Look out for sides like Sweet potato fries and a ‘bacon loaded’ option for meat lovers in the next couple of days.
INR 190 to INR 260.