San Diego Reader January 5, 2017 39
No-joke dog
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More dog than biergarten Dog Haus Biergarten, 969 Ninth Avenue, East Village. A new restaurant concept opened in East Village a couple months back called Dog Haus Biergarten. The Biergarten distinction is dubious — aside from a small amount of sidewalk seating, most of the place is indoors. But the “dog” part is accurate enough — the menu is built around 100% beef hot dogs and burgers. The concrete space does benefit from tall
windows fronting both sides of the corner storefront, letting in loads of sunlight. Oth- erwise, it’s got a fairly sterile industrial vibe fixed around a bar and meat counter. You may build your own dog, beginning with
a hot dog, bacon-wrapped hot dog, or house- made sausage. Dozens of topping options range from the universal standards (chili, sauer- kraut, or caramelized onions) to California standards (avocado, cotija cheese, or aru- gula). Nearly as many sauces are available, too, with the most exotic being Sriracha and peanut sauce. If you want to
forgo toppings alto- gether, you can have any hot dog or sau- sage made into a root-beer-battered corndog. But before you do, take note that the standard dogs here are served on the famously soft and sweet Hawaiian bread. I went with one of the chef-designed Haus Dogs, specifically one topped with smoked
FEAST!
bacon, white American cheese, caramelized onions, and garlic aioli. The name? The Scott Baioli. Hilarious, right? I chose it thinking I would come up with some joke about the infamous celebrity Trump supporter, but in retrospect I think we’ve wrung all the joy we’re ever going to get out of Chachi. The hot dog tasted…very hot dog–like. The Hawaiian bun offered a nice twist, but otherwise I didn’t get anything to justify the res-
taurant’s self-attributed “craft casual” label. Turns out Dog Haus is a rapidly expanding
franchise that came out of Pasadena in 2010. The thinking seems to be that hot dogs are enough to drive a fast-casual concept, particularly if you add craft beer. I’m not convinced, but the beer selection helps a lot — I noticed a solid assort- ment of local breweries on tap. And the quality of the food is about three times better than der Wienerschnitzel at only about twice the price. Actually, the problem might be that I’m com- paring it to Wienerschnitzel. If you want to, you
Bite-size portions of beef, ready to grill at the table
“Konichiwa!” Gyu-Kaku, 9844 Hibert Street, Scripps Ranch. A chorus of “konichiwas” greeted me as I walked into the Gyu-Kaku dining room for lunch. I’ve been a fan of the Japanese tabletop-BBQ chain since visiting one in Honolulu more than a decade back, but it’s taken me almost three years to realize that a location opened in Scripps Ranch. I have fond memo-
This is called the “Scott Baioli.” You may not get the joke.
can chalk this one up as a place young parents can take their kids to eat and still be able to drink beer. by Ian Anderson
ries of searing fresh basil-marinaded ahi one piece at a time, and I was initially bummed not to find it at this location. My disappointment quickly faded, though, when I realized that the menu has expanded to include items such as bacon- wrapped scallops, pork belly, and duck breast. But the best reason to visit is the beef. If you’ve studied up on backyard-grilling technique you
The meat cooks a minute per side. The broccoli in foil goes for twice as long.
know that it’s advised to let the steak rest when it first comes off the grill so that it retains its juices when you cut into it. But that also means the steak has cooled a bit by the time you start eating. That’s not the case when you’re cooking meat on a hot grill in the cen- ter of your table. Unlike the West- ern grilling tra- dition, here you enjoy the steak while it’s hot. You must resist the urge to grill a lot of meat at once. Instead, cook the bite- sized portions a couple pieces at a time. Each piece takes only a minute on each side, so it’s
not like you’ll get bored waiting for it to cook, and the reward is piping-hot umami joy. I grabbed a one-person lunch special called the
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