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Recognise the address? That’s right, it’s where the iconic Pitt Cue used to be, before it got all grown-up and moved to the City. Those are some big shoes to fill.
Now it’s Rockadollar, a ‘gourmet’ hot dog joint popular on the street food trail. The dogs themselves are brilliant – enormous beasts that mean business, made with springy, top-notch meat (pork, beef) or three kinds of cheese for veggies who dare to cross the threshold. My ‘Smoked Marrow’ beef dog (£8), served in a steamed bun, came slathered in a full-flavoured chilli, finely shredded coriander and a melted cheese sauce. It was absolutely delicious, but left little room for side dishes.
Which is probably just as well: they’re solid, rather than sensational. A portion of pig’s head and beef cheeks nuggets was generous but greasy, the extra cheese sauce and pork scratchings unnecessarily adding more fat. Triple-cooked ‘chips’ were again massive (wedges, really), but failed to excite – I’d asked for the house ‘smoked’ vinegar to go with these, but it never arrived. Service was a bit absent-minded, too.
This is still a cute, cosy site and there’s no doubt that the dogs are delish, but if Rockadollar wants queues going all the way down Newburgh Street, it’ll need to work a bit harder.