Everybody in New York knows when a new hit restaurant opens, or closes, or becomes the next big thing, or gets handed off to the Bridge and Tunnel patrons (or *gasp* tourists), but sometimes in NYC you stumble across a culinary gem when you least expect it. I have a guilty pleasure. I advocate for reducing meat in our diets for the health of our bodies and the planet, but every so often a person can indulge in one of our city's mainstays of street eats: The Hot Dog. So I found myself hungry on Bleeker the other day in front of a joint called New York Hotdog and Coffee. The title was bland and a bit odd -- the food was anything but! I tried the Bulgogi beef dog (okay two), and Andy had the Kimchi Bulgogi hamburger. WHAT? I know. That's what I said. The Dogs in this place are Korean fusion creations and wild American twists that are so much more interesting and delicious than the name implies! Bulgogi is a slow marinated grilled sliced beef wonder, and Kimchi, for those of you who don't know, is a pickled cabbage creation spicey and sour and wonderful -- with more pro-biotics than yogurt, but lower in fat and calories, and that I'm now putting on everything I eat forever. The delicious fries made it through from the American tradition, and the wieners themselves were high quality 100% beef brisket (delicious and somehow magically low-calorie) on delicious potato rolls snuggled in with pickles. I love New York for just this kind of find -- strange delicious fusion right under your nose. Healthy fast food -- who knew?
According to my friend Sam -- who lived in Korea for two years -- this is actually the NYC branch of a restaurant originally founded in Seoul. Kind of backwards, no? (You've actually met the guy, we had drinks before your show back in January!)
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