Bubbledogs || London

As you may have seen from my May updates post, I recently visited Bubbledogs in London. If you aren’t familiar with the concept of this restaurant, I’ll break it down for you in two simple words: 

Hotdogs & Champagne 

I know, I know, ladies. Calm yourselves.

As it was my sisters birthday (and because she loves hotdogs and I love champagne) I decided to bring her to this wonderful little gem just off Tottenham Court Road.

Throughout the week, Bubbledogs has two opening times. From Monday – Thursday the restaurant is open from 12pm – 4pm and then again at 5:30pm – 11pm, whilst from Friday – Saturday the restaurant is open all day from 11:30am – 11pm.

As we were heading off into London during the evening, we decided to head over at 5:30pm on a Thursday afternoon to ensure we had plenty of time for our plans later on. Let me tell you, this place gets packed up fast! We arrived at around 5:35pm and the place was almost completely full!

Environment

When you first enter Bubbledogs, you are met with a smallish sized room with exposed brickwork and iron beams, workbench like tables and funny dachshund artwork dotted all over the walls. It’s a very intriguing ‘industrial’ space, but perfect for intimate conversations over a glass of champagne or two.

Intimate, now that’s a great word to describe Bubbledogs; once filled to capacity it’s a hub of wonderful smells, chortled conversations and closeness with strangers (whether you like it or not). It is a tight space and watching the waiters and waitresses maneuver around each other and customers was like watching a intensely choreographed ballet. 

As it was so busy, my sister and myself were sat on a 4 seater table along with two other young ladies. I personally don't mind sitting with strangers, so we carried on our chitchat whilst secretly eavesdropping on the conversations around us.

Service

As previously mentioned, the place was packed so I can completely appreciate why the service was lacking. This was my first time at Bubbledogs, so I was unsure how to place our orders; do I go to the bar? Do they come to us? Goodness knows as no one told us or even really addressed us after we were seated.

I would have appreciated it if we were acknowledged by a waiter or waitress, even if we were told 'I'll be over in five minutes’, but alas, we sat waiting for nearly 10 minutes without even a drinks order being taken. Thankfully we weren’t in a hurry and we had many topics to gossip over, I just hope this isn't a reflection of their usually service.

Food

My sister ordered the Mac Daddy hot dog which consisted of macaroni & cheese, crispy onions and bacon bits coated all over a pork hot dog (you get a choice of either pork or beef). I went for the José hot dog which had fresh tomato salsa, avocado, sour cream and pickled jalapeños dolloped on top of a pork hotdog. We also got a side of Tots to share.

Even though their customer service was in short supply that day, we thankfully didn’t have to wait too long for our food and once is arrived it was piping hot and looked delicious.

One thing I should mention is that cutlery did not seem to be the done thing at Bubblebdogs. As I looked around the room, I could see everyone eating with their hands and not one knife or fork in sight. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no princess, I’m usually fine with eating with my hands but our hotdogs were covered in a lot of messy ingredients which hindered our chowing down. It's my own fault I didn't ask for some, in hindsight I probably should have and not been so embarrassed.

Out of the two, the Mac Daddy won (with a name like that, of course it did). Don’t get me wrong, the José was tasty as heck and seemed very popular that day with other customers as well, but common, bacon and crispy onions with macaroni & cheese?! Of course it was the best out of the two!

Drinks

We opted for two glasses of the Gaston Chiquet, Sélection Cuvée which was around £6.50 (I think, don’t quote me on that) and it was delicious! Light, very bubbly and went down a treat. I'm no champagne expert (REALLY?!) but all I know is that this was good, why? Because it tasted good. Simple.

Overall

I have wanted to visit Bubbledogs for some time now and I’m glad I finally got to see what all the fuss was about. Would I go again? Yes indeed I would. Though it initially took us a while to get seen to, our food came out very quickly and both hotdogs were tasty little numbers. I would only recommend going to Bubbledogs if you have a bit of time of your hands, as it may take you a while to be seated or seen to if you go during their peak times. The prices were quite reasonable as two meals, one side and two glasses of champagne came to around £36. If you haven’t been and you love champagne and hot dogs (who doesn't?) make sure scoot your little butt over there and try it for yourself, I don’t think you’ll be disappointment. 

Have you ever been to Bubbledogs? If so, what did you think? If you haven't, is this a place you would like to visit?


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