Eating, in general, is not a competitive sport, although it would seem that some consider it so. Put a bunch of guys together, and how much they can eat will always be a point of discussion. As is fitting for a sports bar, the Dog House in Grand Harbour has laid down two food challenges for those who think they can stomach it.
 
The first is a gigantic burger which challenges even the most extreme eater. The second is six chicken wings. “Six chicken wings – I can eat that,” I heard you say. Yet the challenge in the wings does not lie in quantity, but in quality. These wings are hot – so hot you have to sign a waiver before you will even be served. They are not called suicide wings for nothing.
 
Clean your plate of either of these two dishes and the meal is on the house.
 
“The last person to successfully finish our burger at a pre-cooked weight of 3,5lbs was Jason ‘Fat Magic’ Moir. It is now called the ‘Fat Magic Burger’ until the next champ comes in,” says John Mack of the Dog House.
 
The idea for the burger came with the launch of a new fun and slightly quirky menu at the Dog House.
 
“I borrowed the idea from a restaurant in Windsor, Ontario in Canada which ran a similar competition. I heard of the competition while I was attending the University of Windsor,” says John.
 
“Some of the offensive linemen who played football for the U were going to try and finish the burger, which was around 6lbs at the time. The idea always stuck with me as a great marketing tool. The naming competition has since been retired at Bubi’s (after reaching 8lbs) and named after the last person to finish it. They now offer $1000 for anyone who can finish it.”
 
The local burger now stands at a massive 4lbs uncooked.
 
“Our chef, Nelson Daniels, uses our half pound patties and combines them to reach the desired weight. He custom bakes the buns to fit the giant burger,” says John.
 
This was something to be experienced, so a couple of colleagues and I got together to see whether the burger could really be as big as we were led to imagine.
 
It has to be ordered an hour in advance in order to allow the chef time to cook it, so we sent an intrepid soul on ahead to order the burgers and build up his courage at the bar.
 
Seeing the scale of the burger is an eye-opener. It is not often that an order of three burgers requires three servers to haul the order to the table.
 
Describing the scale of the burger can be somewhat of a challenge. Suffice to say that saying it is a burger as big as your head is not an exaggeration.
 
“The burger is a real attention grabber and everyone in the bar usually ends up asking about it,” says John.
 
In spite of what one might expect of a burger of such massive proportions, it is actually very tasty. Of course, there is more than enough to feed four big eaters, never mind one person on their own.
 
As for our challenge, suffice to say it was a humbling experience. We stared the beast in the eye, struggled (some more valiantly than others) but ultimately failed miserably. It will take someone with a big commitment to their eating to usurp Fat Magic’s spot on the menu.   WH

To take up the challenge, give the Dog House a call on 947-3456.