Dogs n’ Dough, Manchester

Now that I’m based back in West Yorkshire, Manchester is only a half hour train ride away, rather than a two-hour trek. Exhausting all the restaurant options in York really made me feel like it was time to be moving on and Manchester, with its seemingly endless eatery options really gets me excited. I get the sense that the city cares about its food; Simon Rogan's The French narrowly missed out on a Michelin star this year but has raised the bar pretty high, and there's enough money knocking about to warrant some pretty good cocktail bars. If I had the money I know where I’d spend it. But I don’t have the money. And as for drinks, the 10.30 curfew of the last-train-home doesn’t really give me the option for a night on the tiles, nor am I an afternoon cocktail person.


My default option when I go to Manchester has been to stay in my comfort zone but the options are slim; sure, if I’m in need of a quick bite after an interview I’ll greedily head to the Taco Bell up in the Arndale Centre and risk the food poisoning, or if I’m window shopping with my mum we might go for a ritzy feed at Harvey Nichols. But now that Roger and I have been parted, Manchester is our meet-up point, so each time we see each other we try to go one street further than before, keeping an eye out for anything interesting. At the moment we’re working our way through Chinatown in search of the best cheap lunch-I’ve got a pretty hefty list of hopefuls. But before that, we dropped into Dogs n’ Dough.

As the name might suggest to the more astute reader, Dogs n’ Dough is a hotdog and pizza joint, situated right at the end of Cross Street approaching Albert Square. The alleyway entrance to the left I like; it looks dodgy but is just understated. An uncertain tramp down a flight of stairs brings you to a dark basement room, the kind where people play floating crap games and have knife fights- if you were in 50s New York anyway. In 2014 however, the place is more sports bar in feel, with a pleasing collection of folksy pop covers to greet you, eighties movies playing on repeat and in our case, a room void of people. Lunchtime clearly isn’t the time to visit if you want atmosphere. Go in the evening if you want office workers kicking back with good food and a cocktail but the staff were still relaxed and welcoming, with a good sense of humour so you needn’t feel too worried.

The menu’s got a great selection to choose from, hotdogs all slathered in sauces and unholy toppings, ranging from French fries, to nacho chips and even strawberry jam with peanut butter. Perfect dirty American food, if you ask me! On my first visit I opted for the Ruben; a mess of corned beef, melted Swiss cheese, creamy thousand-island dressing and a healthy, vinegary dose of Sauerkraut. The bun was just a bun but the dog itself was a real beef one, nice and crunchy to bite into and pretty huge too. Visiting with Amy and our friend Paul, we of course went for the “beast option” of onion rings and chilli fries as sides and both were really good; the onion rings were vast, crisp and on the right side of greasy, while the fries were thin, salted and deliciously muddied by the chilli. Of course, anything presented in cutesy little plastic baskets lined with greaseproof paper is also going to melt my heart like the proverbial Swiss.

On a second visit, Roger opted for a “Colonel”; barbecue sauce, fried chicken slices and a substitution of sticky baked beans, while I went for the “Wall Street”, more Sauerkraut, broken pretzels and Swiss cheese. The only criticism I’d have for my choice would be that the combination of Sauerkraut and Coney mustard was a little too sour; a sweeter, more subtle mustard would have done the trick here. Or perhaps the Sauerkraut needed a rinse; some can be a little too strong straight out of the jar. The chipotle mayonnaise with onion rings more than made up for that. I have it on good authority that the “dough” and cocktail components of the bar are as good as the dogs; I’ll be going back to try “The Taco”, which comes in at a perfectly reasonable £8.50 and won’t have the soulless tang of a Pizza Express to it. Pricewise, our bill for two came in at just under £30, which feels a little steep for a lunch but this was down to our drinks; Snapple doesn’t come cheap here but at least it’s authentic, as are all the soft drinks on offer. If you’re a fan of grape soda, authentic, tongue-in-cheek good-tasting food and cheesy music then this is your joint. With a sister “shack” based in Spinningfields serving at lunchtime Monday-Friday, there’s no need to make a long trek to the other side of town either, so if you’re in an American mood I’d really recommend giving it a go, even just to boast you ate something called “The Junkyard”.