Dressed up dogs: Mayday is doing it right

It doesn't take much to dress up a tube steak, yet ask where to go for an award-winning wiener and suddenly people are scratching their heads or were, before Mayday Dogs showed up.

Owner Justin Bensonkept news of his hot dog venture close to his chest throughout 2017, releasing tidbits of information and occasionally appeasing the hungry masses with pop-ups before finally unleashing his dogs from the basement of the Mercer Building on Oct. 27.

The restaurant, if you can call it that, could vie for the most uniquely appointed space in Edmonton.

It is a black-and-yellow room mimicking a basketball court, complete with an oversized artistic rendition of Michael Jordan, arms wide open, palming a yellow basketball.

One orders at a hole-in-the-wall window, picks up a few feet away, then sits on one of the three tall bright yellow chairs, or on the bleachers that take up most of the space.

If it wasn't for the obscene rap lyrics pumping from the sound system, you'd swear you could hear fans cheering in the stands.

So, what does it take for a hot dog these days to stand out in the crowd?

Using quality ingredients is the first step. Mayday currently has their 100 per centpork hot dogs made by Bear and the Flower Farm, a free range producer in rural Alberta. But they're switching to grass-fed beef wieners by Pine Haven as of mid-February.

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The steamed dogs come plump and hot and are cradled by soft, custom-made Popular Bakery buns. But it's the unique combinations of top-shelf toppings that make these dogs really bark.

Plus, the names are pretty catchy, too: Korean Abdul-Jabbar, the Danish Rodman, the Barry Seal.

The Korean Abdul-Jabbar (KAB) pays homage to the L.A. Laker legend and features brie cheese, yali pear, gochujang mayo, scallions, toasted sesame seeds, and a kimchi made specifically for Benson by Thanh Thanh Oriental Noodle House on 101st Street.

The KAB is the most popular hot dog for good reason; those toppings are a perfect blend of sweet, spicy and a whole lot of umami.

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Other basketball fans may gravitate towards the flashy Danish Rodman topped with apple ketchup, grainy mustard, diced onion, crispy fried onion, house sweet pickle, fresh dill and the Danish tartar-style condiment called remoulade. Another solid choice.

For me, the one that impressed was the Barry Seal, so named after the American pilot, drug runner, and DEAinformant who became infamous during Pablo Escobar's Colombian drug wars.

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The combination of crushed kettle chips, cheddar cheese and pineapple relish topped with salsa golf is simply addictive. The salsa golf, is the South American connection here; the ketchup/mayo-based condiment was invented at an Argentinian golf resort in the 1920s, hence the name.

You can order a simple dog, the Bambino, with ketchup and mustard, but with choices like the Korean Abdul-Jabbar and the Barry Seal, why would you?

Same logic applies to the tater tots.

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You could order the bare bones classic tots but when confronted with the other options one that features a house Asian BBQ sauce, toasted sesame seeds, kewpie mayo, and chives, or the more southwestern approach of nacho cheese, pico de gallo, hot sauce, cilantro and sour cream.The choice seems obvious: order both.

Take friends. Share. Order a PBR or a craft brew. Both are good deals at $7 and $8. Or, splurge on a Hennessy milkshake. It's what all the cool kids are drinking.

Mayday Dogs is located at 10359 104th St.and open Tuesday to Saturday noon to 8 p.m.

You can hear Campbell's reviews on Edmonton AM every second Friday. You can also see more of her reviews on her blog,Weird Wild and Wonderful, and can follow her on Twitter at @wanderwoman10.