Japadog Food Truck
We knew we were going to have very limited time in Vancouver. 3 full days, most of which would be taken up by family gatherings (Chinese Banquets, a wedding, a wedding-related cocktail and hors’d’ouevres afternoon)… DD had mapped out a strategy of how to make the most of our time in Vancouver/ Richmond, food-wise, and that was to target the best items or dishes that specifically typified “Vancouver” — that which we may not be able to get anywhere else. Needless to say, Japadog was in our sights.
As luck would have it, we happened upon a Japadog in Richmond, just off of No. 3 Road. We had just gotten off our plane and we were driving from the airport to our hotel.
Stopped at a light on I spied fluttering banners, caught sight of some lettering that looked like “…dog…” “It’s a Japadog!” I cried out, as we started moving from the intersection of No. 3 and Capstan. Quickly DD turned into the Canadian Tire parking lot, and we thanked our stars that we didn’t have any immediate obligations on that Friday afternoon.
Japadog Menu
The Japanese know the value of foodporn, and their larger-than-life menu more than enticed with photos and descriptions.
Japadog Negimiso
A tasty offering, made of turkey with miso sauce, green onion (negi) and fried cabbage. The bun was nicely toasted, and crisply soft, and the miso sauce trended on the sweet side. The ‘dog had a nice bite, and could have used a bit more negi and cabbage.
The Oroshi and Okonomi
The Okonomi is more of a play on Okonomiyaki – the Japanese pizza – a pancake-style melange of various meats and vegetables, bound by a batter and topped with Japanese BBQ sauce and katsuoboshi (bonito flakes). This same sauce tops Takoyaki – the griddled octopus balls that’s an Osakan specialty. When we visited Osaka in late March, I mentioned that DD had ventured to try different kinds of takoyaki 3 of the 4 days we were there, so much so that I never wanted to look at another squid ball for the rest of our time in Japan. I was drawn to the kurobuta pork pedigree of this hotdog, not thinking that the flavours would so remind of those takoyaki days. Sweet, fish-funky with the bonito flake… I couldn’t finish and focused on the Oroshi instead.
Japadog Hotdogs and Fries
The Oroshi (lower right corner) was by far a favourite, composed of a bratwurst pork sausage, and topped with finely grated daikon radish, special soy sauce, and negi. There was an earthy funkiness to the daikon that was initially, a tad off-putting, but it combined well with the soy and fine, porky white sausage.
The fries are fantastic, double-fired and uber crisp. We chose butter shoyu as flavouring and also squeezed some of the wasabi mayonnaise on top. That wasabi mayo may have been nothing more than horseradish, green food colouring and mayo, but it was a great addition to the fries and my Okonomi hotdog.
The Japadog folks also accepted American dollars. As we had just come from the airport, we hadn’t had a chance to withdraw any Canadian dollars yet. I can’t remember the conversion rate, but at that point, we just didn’t care. 🙂
We stumbled upon the Japadog food truck in the Richmond Canadian Tire parking lot – it seemed they had just opened that week of July 15th, as my Canadian cousins were more astonished than we were to hear of a Japadog in their city. Also, it seems that as of August 1st, the Japadog stint at that Richmond location is no longer. Hopefully they’ll find a new location soon.
