Right on the highway through Duncan, BC, is a family restaurant known as the DOGHOUSE. It originally was a drive thru kiosk with a limited menu which included Hot Dogs and more importantly FOOT LONG HOT DOGS.

Over the years as Duncan grew and the volume of traffic on the Island Highway increased, the kiosk morphed into a full blown family restaurant. It’s a pretty sizeable one too. The menu is vast with Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner items.

However, my visit today returning from Victoria was to check out the FOOT LONG. More than 20 years has passed since my last encounter with a foot long and although I have driven by many times I have not stopped until today. Usually I’m with my favourite girl who is not a fan of hot dogs. It seems she is interested something more sophisticated when we reach Victoria. The Oak Bay Marina perhaps, or the Bengal Lounge at the Empress. So we bypass the Doghouse.

Today I was alone as she is hospitalized right now, so I pulled in and parked in front. No need to peruse  the extensive menu. I told the server I had come with a Foot Long  craving. She laughed and said that was pretty common phobia there.

The Footlong arrived with a side of pretty good fries and the dog was pre dressed with mustard, relish, and onions. I was hoping for fried onions but these were chopped sweet ones which were quite acceptable. Unfortunately, my appetite was compromised since a Dutch Bakery meat pie had already been consumed while cruising over the Malahat. In any event, I did a pretty good job on the dog, leaving on about a quarter of it on the plate. Was it good? Well, it’s possible that my palette as become more refined over the past 25 years so I did not enjoy it as much as I anticipated. My BBQ back yard dogs are better for sure.

Apart from that I saw a lot of food being distributed around me. Great looking sandwiches, wraps, Fish & Chips and soups. Good service too.

If you are going through Duncan and find yourself a bit peckish, try the DOGHOUSE. Good fare and reasonable prices. Footlong and Fries were $9.00.

As a side note, the Duncan White Spot, that burned down a year or so ago,  has been rebuilt, and is open once again.

Just saying…