East Dulwich

　　I’ve got a new Saturday lunchtime habit and it’s called The Dogfather. Nothing sorts a hangover quite like a ‘Mexican Elvis’, which is a chilli dog of extreme tastiness.
The man dishing up the dogs is Cooper who, like all maverick street food traders, wouldn’t tell me where he buys his ingredients, revealing only that the dogs are made by “a Jewish guy.” What I do know however is that they’re 100% beef, kosher, halal and contain no mechanically reclaimed meat, sulphates and something else I can’t remember the name of; whatever nastiness it is though you can rest assured it isn’t in there.

The taste of that juicy dog is to die for and I wonder if he uses the same supplier as Yianni from The Meatwagon. Yianni and Cooper’s chilli dogs are totally different in the dressing though. Yianni uses much more chilli and cheese while Cooper keeps it a bit lighter. I love them both.
The dog is packing: fried onions, 100% beef sausage, a glorious chilli with meltingly tender beans and shreds of meat, cheese sauce, tangy jalapenos and a cheese slice. The bun, as ever, is key and it’s perfect; soft but with enough stamina to finish the race. Hot sauce, French’s and extra fat jalapeno slices are optional.

It’s all about the show with street food and as I watch Cooper (dressed like Elvis) flip, squeeze and fry we chat about the dogs and how he got started; he tells me he used to work in a diner and just got the bug for the style of food. It’s as good a reason as any.
There are 4 dogs on the menu at The Dogfather: The Mexican Elvis (chilli dog, my favourite); The Snoop Dog (pictured above, beef dog, bacon, BBQ sauce and creamed corn mayo); The Slum Dog (a curry based dog with saag aloo and onion bhaji flakes) and a 4th dog I can’t remember. It’s okay though as Cooper’s just signed up to Twitter, so I’ll find out soon enough. Let’s face it, I’ll be back there on Saturday anyway, inhaling my weekly treat.