When I received the egg sandwich from Bark Hot Dogs, I couldn’t help but think of all those early morning fast food breakfasts I had on family road trips. This thing looks like it could have come from a McDonald’s microwave. Did Time Out really send me to taste this?
But knowing that this casual eatery in Park Slope focuses on local and farm fresh ingredients (if you didn’t know, just check out their resource list), I imagined that looks could and would be deceiving. I’d be surprised if there was actually a microwave in house.
Bark feels just like a local fast food joint. It had the bar stools, the walk-up counter, and the greasy food to make you feel at home (if home were Burger King). So it was no wonder that the sandwich brought back those memories of eating on the run. But, of course, this is gourmet Brooklyn so even the fastest food is still cooked to order (and no longer qualifies as being fast).
We ordered our egg sandwich with all fancy fix-in’s: the house sausage (a ginger-flavored meat patty) and sharp Grafton cheddar cheese. The cheese was sadly a bit sparse on the sandwich, but we got to experience its rich, creamy sharpness on our cheese fries.
And really it was all these extra things that made the sandwich anything other than what you would find at your local fast food establishment (and I mean one that doesn’t convert its kitchen grease into diesel fuel). The buttery, crunchy English muffin was a perfect complement to the egg, which looked as if it had been scrambled in a mold (the menu says it’s slow-cooked). It was flawlessly formed, but rather bland and underseasoned. The sausage was the most interesting item between the bread. It had a dark pink hue and was rich, meaty, spicy, and even a bit sweet. The ginger flavor was a pleasant surprise.
The ingredients were all fresh and well-prepared, but the sandwich itself was really only exciting for one reason: It proved that you can make those classic fast food dishes with good ingredients, unique flavors, and you probably couldn’t tell the difference. Except of course, you’d have to double the wait time.
Would Bark Hot Dogs’ Egg Sandwich make my Top 100 of the year? It wasn’t much different than an Egg McMuffin, except it had freshness and flavor behind it and so earns a 7 out of 10.
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