One of the glorious things about Vancouver is that it’s a port town. Therefore we’re a seething melting pot, a cross section of humanity as diverse as anything else out there. But unlike our east coast brethren, we’re not re-fracted by our proximity to Europe; instead, we are stirred by our closeness to Asia. This is turn has a deep effect on the most basic of things in the city, including our hot dogs.
Most cities around the world have their own specific street food specialty. Montreal shops pimp the poutine, New York runs the pizza, and Vancouver does its hot dogs. But ever since JapaDog first dropped a cart at the corner of Burrard and Smithe, they’ve re-opened peoples eyes to the contextual applications of the hotdog. The bun and the sausage are still there but onions have been replaced by nori (seaweed) and mustard by Teriyaki mayonnaise to create a whole new array of taste sensations.
It’s trad, but it’s not and JapaDog have done well enough for themselves to go from one cart to two and from two carts to a store-front due to open up in May on Robson Street. The Japanese hot-dog fusions were so popular during the Olympics that not only were the lineups at least two blocks deep and 45 mins long, but you could see the Olympic garb of athletes, coaches and officials from a round the world all bonding together in their quest for a TeriMayo, a MisoMayo or the legendary Okonomi dog.
Japadog is now very much a Vancity institution; head to its cart n the business district and you’ll see business lined up fifteen deep. The food is top-quality and the flavour variations tremendous, taking the Japanese culinary palette and meshing it with the god old bratwurst. You’ve not lived until you’ve had shredded daikon radish, edamame, bonito flakes or plum sauce on your hot dog, not to mention the possibility of kurobuta pork or even Kobe beef as opposed to your usual mystery meat hot dog.
A truly tasty microcosm for our city, JapaDog maintains it’s place in city lore, dishing out the good stuff in sun, rain and lord knows even snow. Even Jin from Lost loves it.