5 hotdogs gunning for gourmet supremacy. 4 hungry testers. One lab of deliciousness. But it’s not New York's finest taking the taste test, it's Doha’s Top Dogs.

The Mission: Test 5 of the finest hotdogs in Qatar for quality, craftsmanship, and taste.

The Borders: Hotdog specialists, with word-of-mouth cred, operating in Qatar in 2025

The Ambit: all 5 hotdogs in a comparable price bracket (QR19-25), tasted and rated one-by-one

The Players:

1. The OG Hotdog
2. Johnny Rockets
3. Wazzup Dog
4. Shake Shack
5. Richy’s Burger

The Taste Test

Our team of testers – 4 everyday food lovers – got to grips with each hotdog, evaluating them under a set of criteria, analysing the likes and don’t likes of each dog, and then applying an overall taste score, one-by-one.

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The OG Hotdog

We took on the El Classico Beef Hotdog

Dog Details: Grilled beef hotdog dressed with creamy mayonnaise, ketchup, and tangy mustard on a potato hotdog bun. Crispy onions to top it off.

The Likes:

1. Presentation and packaging is excellent
2. The dog is visually appealing
3. A nice sauce combo

The Don’t Likes:

1. The dog frank was a tad soggy, with a ‘boiled’ texture
2. The dog lacked the smokiness and flavour we were seeking

The Score: 4.5

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Shake Shack

We took on the ShackMeister Hotdog

Dog Details: 100% Beef Hot Dog Topped With Cheese Sauce And Crispy Shallots.

The Likes:

1. Packaging is awesome but a little too bulky for the dog inside.
2. The frank is smoky, subtle and sophisticated. Tasty, very tasty.

The Don’t Likes:

1. The crispy shallots (battered onion rings) are a dominant flavour element sometimes masking how good the frank is.
2. The oil from the shallots corrupts the hot dog sauce.

The Score: 6.5

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Johnny Rockets

We took on their basic Hotdog

Dog Details: A sausage nestled in a soft light bun topped with pickle-relish and mustard.

The Likes:

1. The bread – the bun was light, with good volume

The Don’t Likes:

1. Too much hotdog relish – dominated the dog
2. The frankfurter was watery, bland and uninspiring

The Score: 3.25

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Wazzup Dog

We took on the Chili Wazzup Dog

Dog Details: Beef hotdog, barbeque grilled with chili sauce, placed on a toasted bun, with garnish.

The Likes:

1. The frank was grilled to a super tasty smoky tenderness
2. Crispy toasted bun added to the experience
3. The quality of the ground chilli beef was very good

The Don’t Likes:

1. The Chili beef was a little overwhelmed with ketchup and mayo
2. The wazzup crew could reduce the liberal use of sauce

The Score: 8.00

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Richy’s Burger

We took on the Richy’s Hotdog

Dog Details: Angus beef sausage, cransh onions, american cheese slice and richy’s sauce.

The Likes:

1. Value for money
2. The yummy creamy cheese sauce
3. Smokey frank is flavor-filled

The Don’t Likes:

1. Packaging and presentation was poor
2. Watch out for sauce leaking and squashed dog

The Score: 7.00

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After Taste:

What a hot dog day afternoon we had. Tasting amazing dogs is a tough job but someone’s got to do it. Hold your applause while we smack our lips.

After 5 rounds of consistent deliciousness among all entrants, our team of 4 tasters amalgamated their scores and the application of weighted averages saw a winner emerge.

Wazzup Dog triumphed as TasteLabs top dog for this session. With a brilliant score of 8, it took the honours among very good competition.