Discover the mainstream world of Quickmart’s hotdogs in this comprehensive review. From taste to options and textures, everything you need to know is broken down and covered in depth.
There is no delivery service for Quickmart hotdogs yet, so the only way you can have them is by visiting their outlets.
As of 2024, the hotdogs are priced at KSh 118 a piece.
Well, they’ve got an interesting hotdog assembly line going on here. They start by slicing the bun into hinges. Then come the caramelized onions, followed by a sauce application, and finally, the hotdog sausage itself.
It’s not exactly how I build my hotdogs, (or how I see hotdogs being built)—I prefer to keep the saucy drama for the grand closing on top. But hey, to each their own, and it seems to do the trick for them.
Hotdog Presentation
Presentation: ★★★☆☆(3 stars: Average)
Appearance might be a bit disheveled, but it’s forgivable since it’s a takeout order. The bread seems to be roughly sliced, resulting in varying amounts of bread in each bite when you look at the cross-section.
As for the hotdogs themselves, their browning seems to be playing a game of hide and seek, but that’s not a big issue since they are cooked through anyway; improving it could enhance the overall appeal.
Portion Size & Value
Value Score: ★★★★★ (5 stars: Excellent)
What’s truly impressive is that the hotdog sausage stretches the length of the bun, ensuring you get a sausagey surprise in every single bite.
Having a hotdog longer than its bun might sound like a hotdog fashion statement, but hey, this one’s doing just fine. The size is large and totally worth the money
For the price it goes for around KSh 110 or 115, this is a good deal and an impressive value. It can act as a good snack to suppress any hunger pangs you might have, and two of them are enough to make a full meal for some.
Taste & Flavor
Taste Rating: ★★★★☆(4 stars: Good)
Before we talk about the overall taste, we need to taste individual constituents in order to see how it all adds up together.
Starting with the bun or the bread, it was underwhelming for my expectations. The bread was dry both on the crust and the interior wasn’t the softest. The bread choice also could be better. They literally use their own in-store bread from the bakery, so they should have better control over this.
A hotdog bun is generally supposed to be sweet and soft, but Quickmart’s bread of choice is none of that. The bread on itself is so bland.
The onions were a mixed bag, some were done and caramelized to perfection, and others were crunchy. I don’t seem to mind that….I just wonder if that is intentional.
The worst part about the onions was the presence of dry layers of onion skin that were cooked together thus ruining it as you have to pull them out as they are un-chewable.
The sauces were okay, nothing outstanding or underwhelming. I optioned to have all the sauces possible to see how they marry, but for some reason, I didn’t see yellow mustard. Like that is the signature sauce of any hotdog. The sauce amount is however on the stingy side
The hotdog sausage was probably the best thing about the entire snack. It was rich, crusty, soft insides, and had a semi-crunchy texture. It was the best hotdog sausage I have ever had.
After some detective work, I saw they were using a specific type of hotdog by Farmer’s Choice, Deli Beef Boerewors, a special type of standard hotdog originating from South Africa popularized by Dutch settlers.
So, believe it or not, those Quickmart “hotdogs” are actually not your run-of-the-mill hotdogs. Apologies if I just shattered your perception of reality with that revelation.
The overall taste was commendable, not the best overall hotdog I have ever had but it would be among the best ones, so yeah it is kind of worth the hype, but I remember Tusky’s ones were on another level, probably the best in my opinion.
Texture, Consistency, and Doneness
Rating: ★★★☆☆(3 stars: Average)
As said before bread was dry, maybe this was an isolated incident but it should be better. Texture-wise the bread was airy and that made it soak up sauces really well
The hotdog, or should we call it a boerewor at this point? But since I can’t pronounce boerewors either, well just call them hotdogs.
Whatever, it was good and had a crunchy texture which is probably better than the soft Danish hotdogs you may be used to.
Onions were average, just mid not caramelized the right way. I would have loved them better if they had a textural consistency
Sauces are well balanced, out of the three used; tomato sauce, mayonnaise, and chili and sauce. Everything was harmonious and creamy, I am still disappointed about the yellow mustard situation
Service
Service Rating: ★★★☆☆(3 stars: Average)
The service you will receive will be dependent on the personality of your cook, so yeah there is no universal statement for that
Service is just average not good or excellent but not the worst either. (For my case)
First, there is always a line, especially at peak hours for shoppers waiting in line for these puppies. So yeah, there is always wait time involved.
Now the complicated part is the ordering phase, this specific branch requires you to go to line at the till and pay before bringing your receipt, is then they can begin cooking your hotdogs.
This is so inconvenient and it doesn’t make sense, there should be a till next to the hotdog place or at least a dedicated cashier.
The packaging is however good and decent, everything is wrapped leakproof and you are provided with a bunch of serviettes to clean up after the messy eating.
Thoughts?
Overall Score: ★★★★☆ ( 4 stars: Good)
The Quickmart hotdogs actually live up to the hype, delivering a satisfying experience; from affordability, value for money, good taste and texture, and balanced flavors.
The fact that they are available at every Quickmart branch makes accessibility to them easier, thus mass adoption and the mainstream attention they get.
While there are areas of improvement, I personally would say they are okay and they well deserve the praise they get.
A summary of the good:
- Good portion sizes
- Affordable and good value
- Unique taste and texture of the hotdog sausage
- Sauces are well-balanced
- Good leak-proof packaging
A summary of the ugly:
- Consistency issues in the caramelized onions
- Absence of yellow mustard, a classic hotdog sauce.
- Stingy sauce application.
- Bland and dry bread choice.
- Ambiguous ordering process
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