Japadog Restaurant: Novelty Has Worn Off

I have to admit, when I heard they opened up a Japadog shop, I wasn’t very keen on visiting. I mean, they do serve up really unique Japanese inspired hotdogs, but no more street eating culture. I just find the best part of eating Japadog is just sitting on concrete steps and trying to fend off the rain.

For the others, the Japadog restaurant is great for people who just want to stay indoors and sit on some real chairs. The restaurant isn’t very large, so there is still very limited seating. Most people just do take out.

I came here with MedicalGiraffe and MedicalDog when they came to visit. She wanted to show him the world famous Japanese Hot Dog.

You order at the counter on the left and then you can pick up from the right side.

They have many options to their menu. The main one above the cashier has the usual japadog, sweet japadogs, ice cream japadogs and the shake fries.

Near the door is another menu, where they have additional items and substitutions such as vegetarian options.

Here are all 3 of the Japadogs that we ordered – Oroshi, Terimayo, and Okonomi.

Terimayo ($4.75) has a beef hotdog with mayonaise, teriyaki sauce and shreds of dried seaweed. This is probably the most popular Japadog. The bun is toasted on the outside, and you can tell by the grill marks. MedicalDog thought it was good! He thought it was pretty unique and is nowhere to be found in the States.

If you really want to be cheap, you can also remake it at home. very simple and easy.

Okonomi ($6.25) has Kurobuta Pork Sausage with mayo and bonito flakes. “Okonomi” means “what you want”, which if funny for this Japadog because the toppings are already preset.

MedicalGiraffe thought it was alright, but didn’t taste as good as a few years go. Perhaps the novelty of the Japadog wore off for her.

Since I was doing Meatless Mondays with a few people on Twitter, I really had to try my best to not eat meat. So, I just substituted the normal bratwurst sausage with a veggie sausage.

Oroshi with Veggie Dog ($4.74) has a veggie sausage with radish and some light sauce with green onion on top. The bun for this one was slightly different, it seemed to be oiled and then grilled. The taste was alright, every time I eat this, I do feel a bit healthier since I am eating vegetables.

Butter + Shoyu Shaked Fries ($2.39) is the most popular shake fries, but I was very disappointed. It just tasted like McDonalds fries and looked like them too. The flavour of the butter and Shoyu were very very subtle. I actually didn’t full taste it until, I picked up a large clump of the butter and shoyu in the bottom of the bag.

Shichimi & Garlic Shaked Fries ($2.39) were really good! You coud actually taste the seasoning compared to the Butter + Shoyu!

They also have a curry flavour of shake fries too and that flavour is pretty popular as well!

Overall, I found the Japadogs not as exciting when it comes from the restaurant. The food is pretty average, but people eat it for the novelty of it because it is THE Japadog! My relatives from Hong Kong heard about it on the news and just had to get one when they visited. A lot of people have differing opinions about it, but if you love a good hot dog with crazy toppings, come here to Japadog.

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