Hot Dogs at Blues Kitchen, Round 2!

To round off July, I though I would do a quick write up about this year’s 4th of July festivities. The Blues Kitchen dropped me a message to come back and have another crack at their annual hot-dog competition, and I was only too happy to oblige.

 

The format was pretty much the same as last year, you have 30 minutes to stuff your face with as many hot dogs as possible or desired. The winner is the one who consumes the most. No puking, no toilet breaks, no crying. All else is free game, they don’t care if you douse them in sauces or dunk them in water. Whatever it takes (this led to some interesting tactics I must say). The prize was a £50 voucher and a bottle of Bourbon for 1st, and a bottle of bubbly for 2nd (these were announced after the competition was underway). The bottle of Bourbon was a nice touch.

 

The hot dogs came in batches of 6, and are actually quite hefty. They definitely fill you up fast. So if you’re thinking of taking part one year, I’d recommend trying to save capacity by keeping water to a minimum. There really is no rush with a 30minute event as most people start dropping off around the 15-20 minute mark when they hit the wall. My approach at first involved a liberal use of water, but I soon realised it wasn’t really needed with the dogs. My pace was good enough to keep up/slightly ahead, so I thought I would keep cruising at that level to the end. I went with dogs first, then buns, as I usually do with my challenges, proteins, then carbs. Although, feel free to do what works for you, since you won’t get the next batch till both are gone, and you have to eat both to make it count.

Now, this year, I had no intent on going all out. I just wanted to win, but not to push myself to the extremes. Last year, truth be told, I learnt that eating 22 hot dogs leaves one feeling less than great, and with my current schedule, did not fancy it. Overall, I went for 13 hot dogs, a baker’s dozen. Not a small amount, but not pushing limits either. The post competition feeling was far better than last year, although I still had an incredible thirst, presumably due to all the sodium.

 

As usual, the crowd and organisers were great. It was great to see some familiar faces. There was a lot of bravado from the competitors…at least until the meat sweats started to kick in and the gap started to widen. I think I might sit out next year, since the gap between the next 3 was pretty close, around 7 hot dogs, so it would help give them more to play (?)/eat for. I also appreciated that all of the leftover hot dogs were offered to attendees and then given to the homeless.

 

Looking forward to visiting Blues Kitchen again for a more casual meal. If you fancy taking part in next year’s event, I recommend signing up to their mailing list and keeping an eye out nearer the date. I believe they now run it at two venues, Shoreditch and Camden. If you fancy going for a more casual meal (their oreo doughnuts are amazing), then be sure to pay a visit at one of their locations:

https://theblueskitchen.com/

134-146 CURTAIN RD, SHOREDITCH

111-113 CAMDEN HIGH ST, CAMDEN

40 ACRE LN, BRIXTON, LONDON

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