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Tag: hot dogs

L.A. Chow: Cupid’s Hot Dogs

September 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

We weren’t impressed by this LA chain

Cupid’s Hot Dogs are a staple in the San Fernando Valley. I had never heard of it myself, but I only started eating hot dogs when I got pregnant with my first baby – long after I’d moved away from the Valley. The now small chain started in North Hollywood back in the 1940’s and been in the family since then. While some of its locations are now run by the granddaughters of the original owners, others seem to be franchises. We visited the Chatsworth location, which seems to be one of the latter.

Given its long history, it’s not surprising that much has been written about Cupid’s Hot Dogs, and I found out about it through an Eater’s list of the 25 essential restaurants in the San Fernando Valley, though it has also been featured in the SF Gate, LAist, Secret Los Angeles and the LA Times among others.

Cupid is particularly well known for its chili hot dog ($7 after tax) and that’s what Mike got one weekday day last week – I wasn’t hungry enough to get one myself.

He was underwhelmed. The hot dog was utterly unremarkable. The hot dog was standard – it could have been an Oscar Weiner wiener for all he knows -, and the chili was uninspired. It was perfectly fine, but it was as generic as they come.

What was surprising about the chili dog is that eating it wasn’t a mess. He’s not sure if this was because there wasn’t too much of it, or if the chili was more solid than usual, but it was perfectly clean to eat – he barely spilled any onto the container. The hot dog is also normal size – not the extra large ones you get at Costco.

Finally, Mike was quite unhappy that the hot dog came in a styrofoam container. which are now ilegal in LA.

While the menus at the different Cupid’s seem to be the same, I’m not sure if the same can be said about the quality. We might try one of those still in the family next time we are in town.

Cupid's Hot Dogs
9840 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Unit D
Chatsworth, CA 
(818) 700-1729
M - Sa 10:30 AM TO 8:00 PM

Los Angeles Restaurant Reviews

San Leandro Bites: Mochinuts

March 11, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Crispy Corndogs and Mochi Donuts, what is not to like?

Mochinut is a newish chain fast food restaurant/bakery that serves just four products: Korean-style corn dogs, mochi doughnuts, canned drinks and soft serve ice cream. Their concept reminds me of Hot Dog on a Stick, a chain of food stands serving corndogs and fried cheese that was very popular at malls in California when I was a teenager. Mochinut already has over two dozen stores in seven states and continues to expand. It opened in San Leandro a few months ago.

I hadn’t been super-impressed the first time I got donuts from them, but decided to give it another try and try their hot dogs as well.

Their hot dogs look similar to corndogs, which is why I’m tempted of calling them that, but they are encased in a batter made from Korean rice flour. This results in an extremely crispy exterior – though it also means the dogs are very high in carbs, about twice as much as what you can expect a regular corndog to have.

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We got both an original hot dog ($5) and a half-and-half ($5.50) one. The latter was half hot dog and half cheese (rather than hot dog surrounded by cheese). The cheese wasn’t very flavorful, but the hot dog itself was tasty. I’d order them again. In addition to these rather plain dogs, they also have some covered with crunch cereal, hot cheetos, takis and even ramen. You can get just a fried mozzarella stick, but they also seem to have a hotdog with cheddar that I might try next time.

Of course, Mochinut is mostly famous for its mochi doughnuts, and my reviews of these are pretty mixed.

I love how elastic the dough is, which gives them a pleasant, light chewiness. But they are overwhelmingly sweet. The churro donut was, perhaps, my favorite simply because it wasn’t as sweet as the others – but I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon and it’s messy to eat. Both the original glaced and the mango one were too sweet for my taste.

That said, I do look forward to trying other flavors, thought for about $10 for a box of three, this is a very occasional treat. They are served beautifully, though.

Mochinut
Pelton Shopping Center
185 Pelton Center Way
San Leandro, CA
(510) 969-7247
M-Su 12-7 PM

NYC Food Adventures: A NYC Hot Dog

March 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments 
Notes from a New York City Foodie Trip

NYC is famous for its hot dogs. Should it Be?

As part of my foodie trip to New York City, I wanted to try some of the city’s most iconic foods: New York style pizza, New York cheesecake, New York bagels, halal truck food and hot dogs.

Watch any movie or show based on New York City, and chances are you’ll see the protagonists getting a hot dog from a hot dog cart. These “dirty water” hot dogs – called that as they are boiled and rest in water before being moved into the bun – are famous, not only because they serve as a good prop for movies, but because they are supposed to have a special flavor due to being boiled in NYC’s superior water (maybe it’s all those tiny shrimp). But are they as good as the claims go? On our next-to-last day in NYC we set out to find out.

Finding a hot dog cart in Manhattan proved harder than we thought. There were plenty of halal trucks serving hot dogs – but then, that’s not exactly the same concept. It took us walking several blocks from our hotel to find a hot dog cart per se. And then, in Mike’s words, we had the whole New York experience by being charged $5 for the smallest hot dog ever. To add insult to injury, it just wasn’t that great.

Don’t get me wrong, the hot dog was fine. But then again, most hot dogs are fine. The $1.50 hot dog that you get at Costco was probably better, three times as large and comes with a soda. Of course, that’s a loss leader and you have to deal with the inconvenience of going to Costco, but that’s pretty much the only time I get hot dogs anyway.

The hot dog we got was from a cart labeled Sabrett – which is the same brand of hotdogs that seems to be for sale at most halal trucks. Maybe a Nathan’s hot dog would have been better. Or maybe, the allure of NYC hotdogs was the same than their 99-cents pizza slices: they were cheap. Now that they aren’t, it’s time to move on.

Sabrett branded hot dog stand
Corner of 7th Ave. & West 53rd
New York City

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