Hot Combo

Confession, I have been here all this time and I had never had a Philly hot combo until yesterday...


I have been around to a number of places that have the combo on the menu, but was never sold.

I mean, seriously, who puts fishcakes on hot dogs?


Anyway, I was at a neighborhood joint, Johnny Hots yesterday.  It is a place that opens and closes early.  The parking lot was filled with contractor vans, tow trucks and most of the Philly mounted police unit, to paint a picture - it is that kinda place.


Johnny Hots has a hot combo, the standard fishcake laden deal but with a spicy sausage.  I figured I should cross this off the Philly to-do list and ordered one up.
When asked what I wanted on it, I realized I had no real idea what I was getting into.  I said "everything" figuring if I am having a fishcake/sausage sandwich there is not a whole lot more that could be done to make it any worse.

I will come right out and say the first few bites just didn't make any sense to me.  It was like two separate sandwiches living in the same bun, fishcake and sausage.  After mashing things together while trying to not spill shit all over myself, the disparate flavors sorta come together.
I won't bother trying to explain it, or apply flowering adjectives to what a Philly hot combo is.  There is spicy, hot sausage with a sorta salty, mushy fishcake on it.  All that was smeared with a kinda grainy, hot mustard.  Mine had the diced onions like the picture, but instead had a sweet pickle relish, no Greek sauce or pepper hash.  All that is stuffed into a bun more akin to a chewy, mini Italian loaf, not a standard hot dog bun.
Like I said, it doesn't make sense until all that stuff starts getting mashed together, then the flavors really start to work in harmony.  It is good.  I will recommend you try one though, if you have a chance.


After wrestling that thing down my gullet and toweling myself off, I said to myself, out loud - "Hot damn."

I think that is a pretty fine testimony, right there...