THIS IS A RESTAURANT BLOG

THIS IS A REVIEW:
Japadog isn't bad, it's just suffering from a case of terminal overrateditis. It's the #1 restaurant on Urbanspoon, it was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations", and the line-up is always long.

But for all that, it's just hot dogs and sausages, with some Asian toppings. The quality of the meat is comparable to other hot dog stands. You won't be rolling around on the sidewalk in orgasmic delight after biting into one.



The Betrothed and I both had the okonomi, which is a kurobota (fatty pork) sausage with bonito flakes, fried cabbage, okonomiyaki sauce and mayo. The toppings on most of their items are likely to be carried away on a windy day, so you might want to wait for a calm one to try it out.

It was good, but it was hard for it to match the expectations we had built up for this place. The bun, for example, is just a bun you can get at the supermarket. The sausage was tasty, but nothing like as good as the ones at Aree's Dawg House. There was not enough fried cabbage and too much bonito. The sauces were really good and well matched, I will give them that.

I'd recommend this for a hot dog if you're going to be in Downtown, but I wouldn't make a special trip here.

THIS IS A SUMMARY:
Name: Japadog
Location: Burrard St between Smithe and Robson; three other locations
Prices: $5 or so per hot dog
Service: Efficient and smiling.
Food: Tasty tube meat with Asian toppings.
Recommended?: The food is good but the trendiness is out of proportion. However, the low price means that this is an easy way to do something that many celebrities have done, lol. Check out what some of them have ordered. Does your favorite star take the turkey terimayo or a plain and boring dog with nothing? Only one way to see!

THIS IS A REVIEW:
Okay, confession time: I've been here twice, but I never noted the name of the stand. I figured "I'll just google 'hot dog stand vancouver broadway pine' and it'll be no problem." But while I found many people talking about the hot dog stand, nobody mentioned its name. I'll have to find it out later. Anyway, as you can see it's located outside the Future Shop on W. Broadway near the intersection with Pine. Can't miss it.

I thought the prices were a little expensive for street food... $4 for a regular hot dog, $4.75 for jumbo and $5.50 for, um, extra-jumbo, and $6.50~$8 for European-style sausages with different kinds of meats such as pork, lamb and turkey. However they claim to make all their own stuff and I can believe it after tasting it.


They've got about a bajillion different kinds of toppings... the requisite mustard comes in 3 or 4 varieties, they have sauerkraut, sliced black olives, corn relish, pomegranate bbq (? don't ask me, my boyfriend liked it), garlic mayo, on and on. This picture is from my second time stopping by the stand, a spur of the moment decision. Both times I was there I noticed everyone putting mayo on their sausages or hot dogs, which perplexed me. Last minute I decided to give it a tentative try, hence the thin line of mayo across the top of the sauerkraut, lol.

Underneath the piles of sauerkraut (yep, I'm a German-American) is black olives, dijon mustard, grilled onions, and finally the turkey sausage ($6.50 tax incl.). Delicious!

My previous go, I had gotten a pork sausage with just yellow mustard and sauerkraut, and my boyfriend had, I think, a spicy sausage with all kinds of crazy toppings like aforementioned pomegranate bbq, the corn relish, and I don't know what else.

The stand also sells cold drinks but the prices are even more outrageous. Just go into the nearby Shoppers Drug Mart and buy a drink there.

Service was prompt and friendly, even though the second time the guy who made my sausage was apparently a trainee. The stand had a steady flow of customers both times, but neither time was there a long line or anything like that.

THIS IS A SUMMARY:
Name: Aree's Dawg House
Location: 1700 block of W. Broadway near Pine, in front of Future Shop
Prices: <$10
Service: Friendly and prompt.
Food: Tasty grilled meat in tube form and plenty of toppings.
Recommended?: Yes :D

Edit: When I first made this post, I didn't know the name of the place, so here it is. :)