MISCHA: NEW YORK CITY’S MOST EXPENSIVE HOT DOG IS THIS RESTAURANT’S SIGNATURE DISH
The Cost - $33 per person
The Atmosphere – Located in Midtown Manhattan on 53rd Street between 3rd Ave. and Lexington, Mischa is a very nicely done, modern and sophisticated space that definitely has a business-y vibe. The restaurant and bar is open for lunch and dinner and takes reservations, which surprisingly weren’t that difficult to make. It’s a dimly lit space that offers comfortable seating and isn’t too noisy, making it a good place to go if you want to be able to have a conversation with your fellow diners. Casual attire is perfectly fine but on a weekend evening you’ll definitely see people dressed up for a night out on the town.
Mischa has not yet been open one year, but its hot dog has already been talked about more than most New York City restaurants have during their entire existences. Chef Alex Stupak’s $29 hot dog is the reason many diners visit, or choose to skip, the new restaurant that serves modern American fare. My curiosity got the best of me and even though I could not remember the last time I ate a hot dog, I had to try it.
The Order – The Hot Dog, Chopped Iceberg, and Long Tots.
The Great – The good news is that The Hot Dog was the best dish of the night. I am not sure that it was worth the $29 price tag, and I’d probably call it more of a sausage than a hot dog, but it was a big piece of meat and came with five different homemade sauces to add on. The meat was probably the best part though since it was comprised of dry aged beef with a pork casing and the whole thing sat inside a homemade potato bun. The five sauces, kimchi, yellow mustard, habanero chili crisp, cucumber relish, and pimento cheese, definitely elevated the dish and made it more fun to eat and they were pretty tasty. But overall, I’m just not sure I loved it enough at that price.
The Good – Long Tots aren’t something you find on every menu and so I decided to order them to see what they were about. Three very long tater tots came out on a plate and were served alongside ketchup and homemade aioli. This was very clearly an elevated tater tot situation but the tots themselves didn’t taste like anything more than a solid tater tot with average dips.
The Okay - As much as the hot dog wasn’t the best value, the worst value of the evening easily went to the Chopped Iceberg salad. Basically a good portion of lettuce with some Russian dressed on it and some fried shoestring potatoes mixed in, this was incredibly plain and incredibly underwhelming, and at $19 it was also a bit offensive.
The Verdict – I came for the hot dog and have mixed feelings about it. If it was less expensive, I don’t think I would have any complaints, but the price really got to me. The rest of the meal wasn’t anything to rave over but I can’t speak for the rest of the menu, which had some tasty sounding dishes and cocktails. Next time, I wouldn’t repeat anything in my order but I would go back and try other items.