Top Dogs: Yonge Piggies

After well and truly falling off the wagon at my Birthday celebrations last weekend (and truth be told the weekend before that in Shanghai too...), when this weekend Hong Kong music festival, Clockenflap, pitched up in town with a stellar line-up and a bar serving jugs of vodka and tonic, I decided that the no-alcohol ban was being lifted at weekends for the remainder of my Bikini Fit program... What can I say? I'm weak and I need to behave at least a little badly in December, so that by January I have some decent bad habits to resolve to break...

Which meant that on Sunday morning, after an evening of great music, lots of dancing and several potent jugs of booze, I was feeling less than spritely and craving some distinctly non-Bikini Fit food to go with my non-Bikini Fit hangover...cue a trip to new Hot Dog joint on the block, Yonge Piggies.

Perched on the corner of Bonham Strand and Jervois Street, you can't miss the red neon sign and the waft of sizzling hot dogs - the siren song of the hungover and hungry... This all-Canadian import is a small, no-frills shop, open-fronted with a few high stools either side of the window come scoffing station. The menu's short and to the point, three varieties of sausage (hickory smoked, honey garlic or picante pepper), two toppings (chili or cheesy sauce) and as many free condiments as you can cram into the bun...

If you're not digging dogs, there's a beef chili bowl and regular or sweet potato fries that you can pimp up with chili or cheese should you so desire... or you could go for Canadian fav, poutine, essentially chips doused in gravy and sprinkled with cheese curds - we have it on good authority that it tastes much better than it sounds...

We ordered a picante pepper dog with extra jalapeno lots of ketchup and randomly some corn...The bun was soft, squidgy and thankfully not of the Chinese over-sweetened variety. The sausage was barbeque flavoursome and just the right side of spicy (I'm a wimp and I devoured my half in minutes despite the menu proclaiming "she's crazy hot"). This isn't gourmet food but if you want haute cuisine, you shouldn't be in a hot dog shop...  



We skipped the chips in a pathetic attempt to keep the meal a little more calorie controlled but that gives us an excuse to go back next time a killer hangover hits - all in the name of full and thorough research you understand...

We did have a bit of a sugar craving though and everyone knows that you can't have a hot dog without something sweet to balance things out. Step up the awesome milkshake list. Yonge Piggies has all your classic milkshake bases covered (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry) but if you want to get a little experimental, these devilish Canadians have a concoction or two to tempt you. Feeling a little delicate, I wasn't sure I could handle the Chocolate Bacon but the Earl Grey was super scrumptious - delicate, perfumed and not too sickly sweet, absolute yum in a cup!

Would I head here for a meal out with a bunch of friends? No. This is no Bubble Dogs. But if you're in Sheung Wan and fancy a quick, naughty munch, this is an excellent pitstop and next time you're feeling a little alcoholically fatigued, this is the perfect place for a post-cocktail pig out (just don't tell your trainer...)!