First thing you see when you alight from the subway at Coney Island – the end of the line, the very bottom of Brooklyn – is a huge greasy food chain called Nathan’s. (not pictured – this burger boy is cuter than the actual yellow and green facade). Nathan’s apparently invented the hotdog, and this place is the site of an annual 4th of July hotdog eating contest. Naturally, I had to try it. I got a cheese dog and, in case that wasn’t bad enough for me, some chilli cheese fries.
Isn’t this the most awesomely repulsive thing you’ve ever seen? The cheese is luke-warm liquid, pumped out of a plastic dispenser. The chili looks radioactive. By the time I got my haul down to the boardwalk so I could sit and eat, the fries had all but disintegrated under this mushy mash. It bore not even a passing resemblance to any actual food group and yet the only way it could have been more delicious is if I were in Kings Cross at about 4am. Oh and PS, I’m pretty sure I could have had bacon added to both the fries and the dog, had I so desired.
Clare Fletcher 