Vancouver’s Japadog opens in New York

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      Vancouver’s iconic Japadog business has opened its first international outpost in New York. While Japadogs still aren't found in Japan, the hotdog sensation, which has five locations across Vancouver including a store at 530 Robson Street (the other four are food carts), has opened at 30 St. Mark’s Place in the East Village.

      Japadog began in 2005 when a young Japanese couple moved to Vancouver and decided to open a food stand at the corner of Burrard and Smithe Streets. They offered several Japanese-inspired flavours of hotdogs, including Terimayo, a beef sausage topped with Teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, and seaweed; Okonomi, a pork sausage topped with Bonito flakes, fried cabbage, Japanese mayonnaise, and a special sauce; Oroshi, a bratwurst topped with radish; and Negimiso, a chicken sausage topped with a special miso sauce.

      Eventually, their original food cart attracted so much local attention and celebrity interest (a poster hanging against the Japadog stand at Burrard and Smithe shows rapper Ice Cube, actor Steven Segal, and author and TV personality Anthony Bourdain eating Japadogs) that the little-hotdog-stand-that-could expanded to locations at Waterfront Station, Richmond, and the financial district.

      Vancouver’s Japadog store opened in 2010 and offers an expanded menu, including Tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet and fresh cabbage) and Meat Lovers on the hotdog fronts; Shaked Fries, which are French fries “shaken” with a variety of flavours, such as curry, wasabi, or butter; and Sweet Dogs, which are fried hotdog buns stuffed with ice-cream.

      The New York store will offer even more Japadog flavours, including Croquette, an Arabiki pork sausage topped with fried cabbage and mashed potatoes; Okra, a Bratwurst with okra; and The Kobe, a Kobe beef sausage topped with caviar, miso sauce, and wasabi mayonnaise. New Yorkers will also get a taste of the Shaked Fries and the Sweet Dogs.

      You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

      Comments

      5 Comments

      DavidH

      Jan 6, 2012 at 12:45pm

      Yep, there's one born every minute. At least.

      yesdothis

      Jan 6, 2012 at 2:42pm

      There's gotta be a better name for this product.

      greggron

      Jan 6, 2012 at 6:07pm

      Yuck. I'm respect Japanese food, but there are only three things that belong on a hot dog - mustard, relish and onions. New Yorkers won't buy this nonsense.

      cyclist on Burrard 2007

      Jan 7, 2012 at 12:08am

      I use to cycle down Burrard after work in 2007 and would stop for a hotdog after work on Fridays. The thing I most remember was how polite they were and how cute their little girl was. She use to have a harness aound her to keep her off the road near the cart. Anyhow, it wasn't the food that made me stop as much as wanting to give them the business for working so hard.

      Pollo

      Jan 12, 2012 at 11:58am

      Japadog is all hipe....the actual hotdogs/sausages are your regural/nothing special variety...