Papaya King or Gray's Papaya?

[tattud_gurl]

If you had to choose which has the better dog....which one would you pick?

[thew]

i tried papya dog on 14th street.

their papaya is VILE

[guttergourmet]

I actually prefer mango juice to papaya which Grey's doesn't offer.

[hotdoglover]

And their dogs are skinless.

[mike3son]

Well there both good but Mike's PAPAYA beats both of them

[foodwhisperer]

mike3 i think you just like mike;s better because of the name ,,, haha
Mikes is good on Reade St

[Cheese Cheesely]

it's pretty close from first to last, but in my limited experience:

clinton papaya > katz's > papaya king > gray's papaya > criff dog

[thew]

i only go to criff dog to use the phone booth. the sweet sweet phone booth.

[foodwhisperer]

Papya King is better IMHO> Grays is about same as Mike;s,,, Papaya king gets there hot dogs made by Marathon Meats, so does Nathan;s and Katz's

[hotdoglover]

Papaya King, Gray's, Katz's, and probably the other Papaya knockoffs get their dogs from Marathon (Sabrett). Nathan's did for awhile, but no longer. They get theirs from SMG Meats out of Chicago. Crif's gets theirs from Thumann's.

[guttergourmet]

HDL- I'm always glad when you emerge. Had the knobelwurst a/k/a stukel a/k/a knoblauch at Katz's last weekend. The skin was a little tough but otherwise a hot dog on steroids. Any opinion?

[hotdoglover]

Never had the knobelwurst.

[foodwhisperer]

The Knoblewurst aka knockwurst i find to be way more tasty than a hot dog. Knoble means garlic and there is lots of it in knoblewurst. The skin ( casing) is supposed to be much thicker than a hot dog. LOL yep its a hot dog on steroids,,, and more satisfying to eat than a hotdog, and katz's has good ones

[guttergourmet]

I had the knobelwurst (which I believe is distinct from a knockwurst which is not as garlicky) on a hot dog bun (actually two separate hot dog buns as it is too thick and had to be sliced in half). The casing is so thick that the bun disintegrated as I tried to bite into the wurst. Suggest you have it on rye.

[foodwhisperer]

I think knockwurst and knoblewurst are the same. Knockwurst is german for heavy garlic sausage, knoblewurst is yiddish for the same. (knoble means garlic in yiddish) Germans mix the beef with pork, Katz's doesnt use pork. Knacken means "crack " in German, which refers to the thick casings used, that make a cracking sound when you bite into them. Perhaps Katz's differentiates between the two. I will find out if they do. And yes, they always cut them in half and rye bread is the way to go with them , and mustard.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-knock...

[guttergourmet]

Guess that makes me a "crack" addict.

[thew]

Knoblauch is the word in german (a fact i learned watching yankee games with my european family)

[guttergourmet]

see my original post above.

[foodwhisperer]

i guess we are a bunch of crack addicts....By the way , Katz;s says they used to have knockwurst aka "specials": which basically are fat hot dogs. I believe they no longer have those.. and what they have now iknublewurst, garlic wurst with the thick casing for crack addicts. So in Germany knublewurst means garlic wurst too ,,, knockwurst might possibley be the same thing in germany ,,but not in Katzs,,, "keep on crackin":

[guttergourmet]

That's what I thought as they list knockwurst on the menu separately from the knoblewurst.

[foodwhisperer]

thanks for the update on Nathan;s.

[hotdoglover]

First time I went years ago I favored Papaya King by a slim margin. I've since found out that they use the same dog, a 10 to a lb natural casing Sabrett. I've gone into detail in the past on here as to how I found out and I won't go into it now. Papaya King is one of the 10% of accounts that get their dogs delivered fresh rather than frozen. I don't think Gray's does.

Katz's deli also uses the same recipe Sabrett though it is slightly larger and more expensive. I've since gone back to both. It's hard to say which is better since both use the same exact frank and prepare it the same way. Depends on how your dog is that particular day; maybe at one place the dog is dried out, undercooked, etc. I have gone to Papaya King and gotten a stale bun. I would say go to whichever place is closer to you.

Boulevard Drinks in Jersey City uses the same dogs and they are always hot and fresh. I went to 87 places with a panel from a newspaper to sample hot dogs all over New Jersey. One day we went to New York. We ate hot dogs at Crif's, Katz's, Nathan's, Papaya King, and Gray's Papaya. In my opinion, the dogs were best at Papaya King, Gray's, and Katz's with very little difference except that I got a bun that fell apart at Papaya King. All 8 members agreed that the dogs at Boulevard Drinks in Jersey City were fresher and better prepared than at Papaya King or Gray's.

[Hinterlander]

I wish every poster was as thorough as hotdoglover is. I always learn something from his posts.

[a_and_w]

Me too -- thanks for all the great info hotdoglover!

[trixareforkids]

papaya biotch.....obviously

[davisready]

I prefer Papaya King solely based on the fact that they have a wider variety of toppings. Although, I find myself eating at Grays more often due to its proximity.

[Cpalms]

they are so close...but I think gray's has better/fresher buns...

[bigmackdaddy]

Gray's!

[a_and_w]

Papaya King. I like their slaw dog.

[tattud_gurl]

Papaya King it is...........

thanx guys!

[thew]

papaya king

[phantomdoc]

1 vote for Papaya King.

[guttergourmet]

hotdoglover would tell you they're the same dog (though perhaps Papaya's are not frozen) but I still favor the original Papaya King.