Going out on the search for good street food has become a Saturday morning tradition in the past year or so. It is the perfect tonic for the malaise resulting from the overindulgence of the night before. We are lucky to have several good markets in south east London that have an abundance of food trucks ready to feed and invigorate the weary – I always feel that if I can make it from my bed to one of these markets, all will eventually be right with the world. One of these markets, North Cross Road, is less than a five minute walk from my front door – perfect for when driving or dealing with public transport is simply not an option.
I have been visiting this market for some time, and even wrote an article on it for Londonist back in 2011. Even since then, it has changed enormously – some of the old sellers are still there, but it has grown in size and a few new stalls have started popping up, including a truck selling burgers and burritos, which I am very excited to try.
The signature dog from The Dogfather
One of the oldest stalls on the market is a hot dog stand called The Dogfather, which sells 100% beef hotdogs with a variety of different, and sometimes enormous, toppings. They also make a rather good vegetarian hotdog, which was great news to me as for a long time I did not believe there were any good vegetarian hotdogs in London. It was previously run by Cooper, who I made friends with when writing the Londonist piece, however he has since moved back to his native Australia and the stall has been taken over. There have been a few changes, it seems that my favourite dog – the Mexican Elvis (best hangover cure ever) – has been removed from the menu, but on the whole the basis is more or less the same as before. I must confess that I prefer the dogs of the old days, but am still glad to have this so close to my flat. I had the signature dog, The Dogfather, topped with chorizo, jalapenos, onions and cheese, and it certainly did the trick.
The Dogfather, North Cross Road Market (Saturdays Only), East Dulwich.
The Boozy Rouge 