Stray Dogs

The other day I received a text that made me very happy. My cousin Beth, who is on her year abroad in France (clever little lady), was making a fleeting appearance in Bristol the very next day and asked whether I would like to grab some lunch. Our family is one of the foodiest fams I know, so the combination of the two in my favourite city was an exciting prospect indeed. Not only did it give me the opportunity to catch up on all her exotic French exploits, but also an excuse to eat in one of Bristol’s many amazing lunch spots. My fast-dwindling student loan has denied me the luxury of eating out of late, however this gave me the perfect excuse. Stray Dogs is somewhere I have been meaning to visit for awhile so I grabbed the chance with two greedy hands and headed on down to Stokes Croft. 

Stray Dogs’ residence of choice is The Bank, which incidentally transforms into a buzzing plethora of musical activity at night. The high ceilings and quirky interior give it the unusual vibe of grandiose and down to earth. The staff are friendly and chilled, and I got the feeling that you could walk in any time of the day and order whatever you wanted without regard to whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner. They specialize in two American classics: the hot dog and the waffle. However, these are hot dogs and waffles with a difference. The ‘haute’ dogs, as they call them, are mouthwateringly varied and piled high with goodies, ranging from the ‘Chilli Cheese Dog’ (beef sausage, chilli, melted cheese and hot sauce) to the ‘Pizza Dog’ (sausage, mozzarella, slow roasted tomato sauce, charred bell peppers, pepperoni and oregano). Drool. 

I was drawn to literally all of them, but my love of spice overwhelmed me and I opted for the ‘Mexican Dog’, a paprika sausage topped with the most ridiculously dreamy combination of  guacamole, sour cream, smokey tomato salsa, melted cheese and nachos. Need I say more. 

As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words, so here are a few snaps just to prove my point. 

(sorry they're slightly blurry- I was almost literally shaking with excitement at the thought of eating such a glorious specimen)

We were slightly greedy and decided to have a side of ‘4 cheese fries’, which we mopped up with lashings of ketchup and mayo and were simply heavenly. We were full to pop by the end so couldn’t bring ourselves to try their other speciality, which was fairly upsetting as they looked divine. Waffles piled high with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch, peanut butter and strawberry jam, or if you were feeling nostalgic, even Angel Delight. At least this gives me another utterly justified excuse to go back. 

The service was, admittedly, slightly sluggish. However the dog more than made up for it, plus Beth and I had much to catch up on anyway so I can overlook this. 

Stray Dogs have recently incorporated another iconic American dish into their menu: the burger. You can rest assured that I will also be giving these a try in the near future. You can find their full menu on their website, here.

As an added bonus, prices are very good, the dogs ranging from £3.95-£6.50 and the waffles from £2.50-£3.50. Tasty and kind to a lowly student’s budget. This place is a must.

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