Thursday, August 18, 2011

Tornado HDJ Review - Big Bend Golf Course

I used to play a lot of golf. In addition to the joy of pursuing an ever higher level of proficiency chasing a little white ball around a glorified cow pasture, playing a lot of golf also allowed me to dine at great Hot Dog Joints in disparate places. It seems that every golf course in these parts has really good hot dogs, or perhaps they just seem really good because of the context in which they are enjoyed. Since I haven't played regularly in years, I haven't had the opportunity to review many golf course hot dogs.

Yesterday I found myself with an unusually light work schedule and the weather was so nice that I decided to venture to one of my favorite local public courses, Big Bend Golf Course in Tornado. Since my tee time was just before noon I decided to do double duty and piggyback a hot dog review. I am so glad I did.

Many times when I go back for an official review of a HDJ from my past (aka "The Good Old Days") I am let down because the quality has either slipped or can't stand up to my romanticized memories. This time I was not disappointed: The hot dogs were as good as I remembered.

First, let me say right off that this is one of those classic WVHDs that is greater than the sum of its parts. Sampled individually, the chili or the slaw would be just passable. But both chili and slaw seemed to be designed for each other on this hot dog: neither have strong flavors of their own. The sweet onions sitting on top also were perfectly matched and the weenie was basic with no heaviness and cooked just right.

The only negative about this hot dog was that the bun wasn't steamed. I will deduct a half-weenie for that, but this hot dog deserves its 4 1/2 Weenie score.

(I will only add to this review that the hot dog must've had some mystical golf powers because after eating two of them I played very well despite having not set foot on a real golf course in 2-3 years. )

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

M&M Dairy Belle Celebrates 60 Years

Due to the incessant whining passionate advocacy of Huntington Weenie Wonk Chris James, we allowed one - and only one - HDJ from outside the confines of our state borders to be included on our illustrious Five Weenie HDJ list. Deciding that M&M Dairy Belle can't help the fact that they sit on the wrong bank of the Ohio River (in Chesapeake) and coupled with the indisputable fact that they serve the best WVHD in the Huntington Area, we have decided to allow these Buckeyes to crash our party.

This weekend, the HDJ celbrates 60 years of slinging chili and slaw. Congratulations!