Japadog

Came by for a late night meal after arriving in Vancouver at midnight. It was only a block away from the hotel and the menu sounded very interesting. So many items sounded good, but decided on the Okonomi hot dog, Curry Poutine, and Takoyaki. There was only 1 other person in line and service was very fast. Received my order within 15 minutes. The inside was closed and it was too cold to eat outside, so took it back to the hotel. Everything was packed nicely and was still hot. Most important thing to remember is this is casual street food and not traditional Japanese food, traditional hot dog, or traditional french fries. With that, food was fun and interesting. The takoyaki was the most traditional item. The hot dog had a nice covering of bonito flakes and the hot dog was good. The Curry Poutine is basically curry over french fries, don't expect actual Poutine, but is good if you like curry and french fries. If you want traditional Poutine, then I'd recommend somewhere else. Overall, good street food with a nice twist of Japanese food and flavors over hot dogs and french fries.

Japadog is quite nostalgic to me as a staple eccentric Vancouver Japanese eats. A little more geared towards tourists. However, I stopped by with a friend to grab a snack and it was pretty yummy! It was a little smaller than I remembered from before though. The hot dog itself was still very tasty and grilled well.

I was in need of a quick bite and stopped by Japadog before heading to Stanley Park for the afternoon. Upon arrival you can really tell that the focus of this place is the food, and the food only. I’d probably treat this place as a grab and go kind of spot as there is a bit of seating, but the interior isn’t anything special or well kept. The service isn’t that great either, but that could have been because they were pretty busy and didn’t seem to have much workers. We ordered the Yakiniku Rice, Tonkatsu, and Wagyu Termiayo hot dogs, and paired them with some Ramune (one my recent favourite drinks). The Yakiniku had tasty meat, but the rice was extremely soft and mushy. Also, watch out when eating this because it’s a messy one! The Tonkatsu was my favourite. Everything about this ‘hot dog’ tasted really great together, but the pork Katsu was kind of small. The Wagyu was yummy as well, but in my opinion, it didn’t taste super different from the regular hot dog in the Yakinikuo. If I’m being honest, I kind of feel like this place is a bit overhyped. I was expecting amazing tasting and unique hot dogs, but I think their quality of ingredients kind of takes everything down a notch. That, alongside a poorly looked after seating area and decent service.. all made for not the best experience.

Food: Tastes great, and prepared moderately quickly. Since this a tourist spot and a local foodie spot it's pretty busy. My wife and I ended waiting roughly 15 to 20 minutes while the staff were hustling on a bigger order. Environment: The restaurant is small and the tables serve mostly as a waiting room to get away from the exhaust fumes and trash stacked outside. Eating outside is basically two busted up benches and covering your food from getting smoked out by the exhaust passing down the road. Overall rating: I would visit again if it was en route elsewhere but will unlikely go out of way to eat there again. I would recommend it to others. It wasn't memorable enough of a place to have me waiting outside of the door or inside with my family for as long as we did.