03 December 2013

Dog Dog Japon ~ Japanese Hot Dogs [CLOSED]

Are they Japanese? Are they American? Or neither? Dog Dog Japon mixes up its cultural references and throws back some fine snackages.

[CLOSED AROUND MARCH 2014]




We spotted this hotdog stall in a food court beneath Tokyo station some years ago. The menu had some crazy looking dogs, we were keen but we didn't have the spare stomach space for them. We've always regretted not forcing one down.



So we were giggily-girly excited to see a Japanese hotdog joint appear in the city (somehow we managed to miss the hoopla about Chanoma Cafe). Dog Dog Japon is owned by the clever and successful Menya people. Like their super popular Menya Mappen restaurants, Dog Dog Japon is cheap, fast and fun.

We recently shelled out twelve dollars for a hot dawg at a dudefood joint, just to see what a twelve dollar hotdog tasted like. It was no five dollar shake. Hence we were chuffed to pay less than twelve bucks for two dogs and chips at Dog Dog Japon. Tasted better too. At least too our Japan-o-phile tastes buds anyway.

But it's not really Japanese food, or even Japanese-Western food. Or is it? Google tells us Japanese hotdogs are like California sushi rolls, a western imitation of Japanese food. Only Japanese hotdogs are a western imitation of a Japanese imitation of western food. Thanks for the headache, Globalisation.



Plain hot dog - $3.90 (or $4.90 large). A regular hotdog with a kransky sausage and the added goodness of curry flavoured cabbage. Mr Shawn likes this one the best, good and simple.



Okonomi hot dog - $3.90 (or $5.50 large). There's a kransky sausage hiding under all that coleslaw, bonito flakes, seaweed, shallots, tempura flakes, pickled ginger and tonkotsu sauce.



Wagyu sukiyaki - $3.90 (or large $5.50). No sausage, just stuff. This is like a gyu-don, except the stewed beef is in a roll instead of on rice.



Chicken kara-age - $3.90 (or large $5.90). Deep fried chicken with coleslaw, mustard, tartar sauce and teriyaki sauce.



Egg salad - $2.90 (or large $4.50). Smooshed boiled egg with mayo, mustard and parsley.



The 'wow' moment came from the chips with mentaiko butter - $4.50. Regular thick cut chips with a dipping sauce of fish roe mixed with butter. Oh my. The butter melted as you dipped the hot chips into it.



And just to tease you some more, here's dogs Japan-style at the baseball in Tokyo...

Dog Dog Japon is in the Skyview Plaza, 537-551 George St, Sydney. Next to Menya Mappen and Menya Oiden.

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2 comments:

  1. I want to try one of those Okonomi numbers. To mix my cultural metaphors, "looks so shiok, lah".

    Trev in Canberra

    ReplyDelete
  2. What??!! They've closed down already??!! Noooo!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).