Newcastle, Australia Hot Dog Joint: Harry's Cafe de Wheels

A little known fact about WVhotdogs.com is that our corporate charter was originally drafted to closely resemble the Texas State Constitution (i.e. we copied it to a word file and used the "find & replace" function). As our Long Horned friends know, there is a quirk in the document that states that whenever the Governor leaves the state, the Lieutenant Governor takes over until his or her honor returns. Well, as Executive Vice President of the Huntington Region for WVhotdogs.com, I took advantage of the loophole to hire a foreign correspondent, cash in all of Stanton's frequent flier miles, and send her to Newcastle, Australia so that she could check out this one hot dog stand, Harry's Cafe de Wheels, that I've heard about from a couple of friends that studied abroad at a university in the suburb of Sydney.

Here is what our correspondent, Ellie Linger, had to say:

Ellie's first comment was on the eclectic nature of the toppings. While Americans are used to some dramatic weenie variations in their weenies (heck, even WVians can't agree from county to county about how to properly season sauce and slaw), I ain't ne'er heard of nothing like this before. When she ordered a hot dog with everything, here is what she got: mushy peas, garlic, onions, chili con carne (with beans, but when in Rome...), white cheese sauce, and a Thai chili hot sauce.

As for the weenie, Ellie reported that the sausage had a different taste from any that she has had stateside. This is likely due to lamb meat being used in place of beef and regionally popular spices

The overall taste of the dog, due to the Thai sauce and the seasonings in the weenie, was very very very spicy. While it was a bit spicier than she liked, she did note that it would be a great taste treat before, during, and/or after consumption of a Australian lager (or six) and the heat would have the effect of rushing sobriety-inducing endorphins into the bloodstream.

As for the cost, Ellie shelled out AUS$4.95 (about US$4), but she got her money's worth, as the weenie was the about the size of a baby's arm (likely to appeal to the dingo market). It was waaaay more food than a petite American could scarf in one sitting.

Ellie gives Harry's an honorary 4 weenie rating. She says that the first few bites were 5 weenie-caliber, but by the end it was down to 3 weenies. Hence, the law of averages comes into play.

As for Stanton, don't worry too much for him and his depleted frequent flier miles account. My guess is that by the time that he builds his miles back up to the previous level, Cuba will be once again open to tourists and space flight might even be an option, so he will have numerous options rather than that boring trip to Disney World that he had been planning for years.