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Started with the motive of obtaining the Tiger Street Food Fund, Don.档 specialises in Japanese Western cuisine and it is not your average coffee shop Japanese stall. It serves extremely affordable and high quality ingredient Japanese Dons.
Don.档 prepares its salmon, Wagyu beef as well as eggs using the sous vide method. Such a method maintains the freshness of the meat and prevents leakage of the juices produced as the meat are placed in vacuum packs to cook. This method of cooking ensures consistency as the meat will be cooked at specific temperatures for the same period of time.
One of Don.档’s signature would be the Wagyu Beef Don ($12.90). Each bowl of don comes with a perfectly cooked onsen egg. The Japonica rice used was fragrant and is best eaten when coated with the donburi sauce and onsen egg.
The Australian Wagyu Beef was first cooked via the sous vide method, thereafter it gets torched for a while more to get the sides of the beef slightly charred.
However, we felt that the beef were sliced a tad too thin and they were slightly over cooked resulting in a chewy texture. It definitely would have been better if it was cooked just right.
The best out of the three dons we tried was the Mentaiko Salmon Don ($9.90). The Salmon used was fresh, soft and tender.
The sweet taste of the Mentaiko together with the cod roe gave each bite an extra crunch. It was so appealing that we found ourselves unknowingly reaching out for more.
Following the Salted Egg trend, Don.档 serves Salted Egg Tempura Don ($9.90) which we were curious about. The tempura don comes with ebi, golden mushrooms, corn, sweet potato and shiitake mushrooms. They were generous with the toppings and the tempura was cooked till golden brown, crispy on the outside. Unfortunately, we could barely taste the salted egg, which came in the form of powder sprinkled over the tempura.
This dish was carefully curated by the chefs. Afraid that the tempura would become soggy from salted egg sauce, they decided to introduce salted egg in the form of powder. As mentioned by the chef, they might change the salted egg yolk powder to a sauce for dipping. So do keep a look out for their upgraded Salted Egg Tempura Don.
The Kyudai Don ($28.90) features six signature ingredients namely Wagyu Beef, Mentaiko Salmon, Sio Bak, Dak Gang Jeong, Salted Egg Tempura and Garlic Parmesan Chicken. Perfect for those who would like to try a bit of everything. This mega sized bowl of don is good for sharing among two to four people.
Apart from the three dons we tried, Don.档 also offers Sio Bak (Pork Belly) Don ($8.90) and many interesting side dishes such as Dragon Fries. I would definitely be back for the super affordable Mentaiko Salmon Don which left a lasting impression on me as well as their side dishes.
Expected damage: $8.90 – $28.90
