The Dogfather Hot Dogs
The Dogfather Hot Dogs
700 Nelson Street
Vancouver, BC
So, here we go again. On one night, I was in the Downtown area and was looking for street-like food. In its own way, it sucks that Vancouver does not have the likes I found in NYC, hell, even Panama City has its good share of street food! You can blame the Canadian winter, you can blame the culture (which is odd considering the amount of immigrants), you can blame the politicians. The fact the experiment in Toronto failed does not bode well. That leaves the only hot dog. Yeah, regular hot dog stands vs. Japadog vs other ethnic hot dogs. And, just to check, I went to the location of the new Japadog restaurant but, alas, not open yet. So, I remembered one other hot dog shop not far away: The Dogfather Hot Dogs – obviously a pun of The Godfather…
When I arrived, the owner (I will make the assumption) was just starting to make some prep work for the day. It just happens they have some wacky hours: open at 6:00 p.m. and close at 5:00/6:00 a.m. (on weekdays/weekends), which explains why I never noticed it on my lunch/afternoon walks. After quickly looking around, I noticed something missing: no grill. Well, given it is a really cramped space, it would be somewhat unsafe for a gas grill. Instead, there was sort of convection grill in the front. The question is whether it would grill the sausage/wurst/bread the same way as the usual gas grills…
I started off with a Doggy Dog, their signature hot dog – cream cheese, pickle, cucumber, tomato, onion and relish. All that for… $5. I was not given the option of white or whole wheat bread but, otherwise, the usual assortment suspects are there. As for what was served, I will have to admit that the fresh sliced vegetables (did I mention he was still doing prep work?) are a good departure from the unusual condiments. While the tomatoes could have been ripper, I will give him some slack as it is winter. The cucumber and the pickle gave an interesting crunch and, in the case of the pickle, some slight acidity. And the spices on top (which happens to be store bought) worked OK but I am not sure if it did that much of a difference.
The one ingredient that might be controversial might be the cream cheese. You must wonder how it will work considering that it is really soft and not that much of a taste. I will have to say it worked quite well because it provided something different to all the other ingredients: a soft texture. The one part that went sideways, oddly, was the sausage. Since it wasn’t grilled in the same way it is grilled in carts, it did not have charring so, from that perspective, it was average. It is odd considering it did toast the broad fine.
Me being me, I went for round 2! In this case, I went for their Zen dog, aka, their “with everything” version – chili, cheese, tomato, onion, cucumber, cream cheese and hot sauce, again, for $5. While it says it has hot sauce, it wasn’t a bit spicy. And remember I am quite sensitive to spicy food! As for the tomato, cucumber and cream cheese, it had the same effect here. As for the regular (cheddar?) cheese, it disappeared behind the chili, as they were layered next to each other. And that brings the chili itself. Unfortunately, it did not work very well in the hot dog. Don’t get me wrong, by itself it was good, just that it did not work in this case. That is because the beans gave it a chalky texture, which contradicts the rest of the ingredients.
Despite the Zen went sideways, I found out that is not necessarily their best selling ones, which happens to be the Doggy Dog and Chicago Dog. OK, 1 out of 2 isn’t that bad. 
While eating my hot dogs, the owner was curious as to why I was taking pictures. Of course, I used up my usual wacky answers. Dont’ get me wrong, he was quite friendly and showed some passion. As for the end result, it is a nice change from all the ethnic hot dogs we have had all these time and shows you can take the basic hot dog and make twists to it without going ethnic. As for me, I will certainly be back when I want to go back to basics.
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Hot Dog. No matter how you dress the dog, it’s still a dog.
Now that you mentioned it, streetfood is indeed rare in Calgary as well.
Nothing like those sausage stands in Vienna.
Peter, yeah, you are right, in the end, it is a hot dog. It is the twists that sort of make it different from the rest.
I always walk past this place late in the evenings but have never tried it because I am usually full from dinner when I’m in the area.
It seems to be fairly popular though so I guess I will need to give it a try!
As for H.Peter’s comment about the sausage stands in Vienna, I totally agree…they are SO good!
What! You mean you didn’t break out in sweat? :p
I’ve never seen this either, I’m sure the knowledge will come in quite handy if we’re looking for some quick late night eats in the area!
Gigi, for the late crowd, sometimes it might not be an issue of popularity or good but what is available… (But, then again, I am not a late crowd person so what do I know!)
Jessica, on a funny note, yesterday, a large hot dog only place opened on the Granville side. That place closes at 4:00 a.m. I guess the hot dog battle is up!
Hot dogs! Love the post Kim. I don’t know if I’d be down with the cream cheese though.
Cream cheese on dogs is big in Seattle for some reason.
Raidar, until you don’t give it a try…
Gatronomydomine, Hmmmmmm…. I wasn’t aware of that one! I guess next time I am down in Seattle, I will check one of their hot dog stands (if I can find one). Thanks!
OOOHH hot dogs! Have you tried the new place that has opened up on Granville yet? I might go by there after CKB. I’ll see how I feel.
Anita, yup, I went to Dougie Dog yesterday. Had their Dougiedog and the Seoul Dog. I will be trying their Tokyo Dog soon and make a comparison with, you guessed it, JapaDog!