Address: Suntec City Mall, Entertainment Centre, Level 1, Tasty Treatz Corner, Singapore
Website: www.1901.com

I have always wondered why Hot Dogs do not belong to the rank of popular fast food fare in Singapore. I blame the demise of Hot Dogs franchises here on the exhorbitant prices they charge. It is very unsatisfying to have the Hot Dog seller prepare your meal in under half a minute (taking the steamed sausage, wedging it into the bun, and squirting the tomato sauce and mustard onto the sausage) and asking you to pay like $3-5 for his handiwork. When I think of the various local food stalls that charge equivalent or lower prices for food prepared with more elaborate and extensive activities, there is a certain feeling of being short-changed. The cook getting all hot and sweaty….smell of grease and smoke in the air making him choke…hot oil splattering on his exposed skin…these are the things that convince me that the money I fork out for his food is well deserved…heh.

There was a period of time when the A&W Restaurant’s Coney Hot Dog was the standard bearer for the Hot Dog in this country. Students would look forward to Tuesdays - it would be Coney Dog day and that comes with reduced prices for the meal. However, the A&W franchise, with their signature dish, has since disappeared.

Thus, a fluttering of excitement in my bosom (add also some girlish giggling) when I spied a new franchise (I understand that the 1901 franchise is from Malaysia) setting up shop in Suntec and promoting Hot Dogs. It was just a small kiosk manned by a single proprietor.

“Corny Dog for me,” I mumbled (my standard way of speaking).

“ok.” Came the reply.

30 seconds later.

“Here you go. That will be S$3.50, thank you.”

“mumble….mumble…mumble…grumble..,” I mumbled and grumbled as I paid.

The Corny Dog is essentially a Hot Dog with the main condiment of Chilli sauce. This Chilli sauce belongs to the variety from the Western Sphere. It is not the Chilli sauce we know and recognise in Asia.

1901’s Corny Dog was on the small side. Five bites later and I had completed my meal. The Chilli sauce itself was acceptable but the sausage tasted very ordinary. Sigh…$3.50.