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Japa Dog, Vancouver's hotdog institution

by cynthia yoo | March 30, 2008 at 03:50 pm

1804 views | 2 Recommendations | 2 comments

Having grown up in an immigrant culture, I heard many stories of immigrants unable to practice their profession in Canada. The common story is of the taxi driver with a Ph.D. or the doctor that sells insurance.

That's why the story of "Japa Dog" a popular hotdog stand in downtown Vancouver is an example of a most atypical immigrant success story. Here, a Japanese immigrant, Noriki Tamura, gave up his profession in sales when he immigrated to Canada. He picked up a street push-cart job and made it his own, making it a local institution.

The genius behind Japa Dog is smiling sensation Noriki Tamura, who used to be an ad salesman in Tokyo up until 3 years ago when he immigrated to Vancouver with his wife. He knows his hotdogs, after apprenticing at a traditional hot dog stand for a few months upon arrival. His red "Japadog" chef's hat? Rocks.

What makes Japa Dog hotdogs special are its Japanese fusion creations. Check out the "Japastyle Menu": Terimayo; Misomayo; and Oroshi ("grated"). The Terimayo satiates a craving with its all-beef hot dog smothered in Japanese soy mayo, thick teriyaki sauce, sauteed onions, and a generous sprinkling of nori (seaweed flakes). The Misomayo features a turkey hot dog dressed with miso-mayo, sesame sauce, and kaiware (bitter daikon sprouts that have a wasabi-hot "kick"). The Oroshi is a bratwurst frank loaded with special soy sauce, green onions, and grated daikon. Oh, shut up! It's all so gooood.