Donya Japanese Cuisine Review: Cheap And Delicious Donburi And Maki At A Kopitiam

The restaurant was known for being the cheapest in town with student rates. I remember always ordering their chicken katsudon for lunch, and we’d get gyoza or chicken karaage as well because students get a free plate of sides on weekdays. It was a bit of a detour from our long trip home, but it was a sumptuous meal to recharge with.

I distinctly remember the satisfaction of the freshly prepared chicken on a soft omelette over a bed of warm rice that was soaked with sauce. Just like that restaurant, Donya Japanese Cuisine is located in a residential area and it offers affordable and enjoyable donburi. Cheap And Delicious Donburi And Maki At A Kopitiam - Donya Japanese Cuisine Food at Donya Japanese Cuisine Salmon Mentai Don ($8.80) is one of their signature dishes.

A generous amount of house-made mentaiko sauce was squeezed over a slab of fried salmon, before it crackled loudly while it was torched at the counter. I liked that the distinct grains of Japanese rice were cooked just right, but in general, I would have preferred more of their house-made donburi sauce over it so that the bottom of the bowl could be flavoured too. Their Unagi Tama Don ($8.80) was our favourite donburi out of those we tried.

Even if there were only a few pieces of unagi, the unagi don’s relatively high price felt like a reasonable trade-off for the eel’s premium taste, as it’s imported from Taiwan and Japan. The meat was tender, as they used chicken thigh, but tasted slightly too salty from the batter. Nevertheless, this was of little concern to me as their rice bowls were already good as they were.

For those who crave a curry dish, their Chicken Karaage Curry Don ($6.80) and Chicken Katsu Curry Don ($6.80) are popular. Crunchy tobiko popped in my mouth as I chewed on a delicious mix of torched salmon and mentaiko sauce, with mayo that coated the core of crabstick and cucumber. Donya Maki ($5.80) was similar to the Mentai Maki, but topped with donya sauce before being torched and decorated with bonito flakes.

Compared to the mentaiko, the donya sauce was less savoury and the bonito, while adding some salty flavour, was not as impressionable as the tobiko. Perhaps some tweaks to the sauce would improve the taste of this dish.

Ambience at Donya Japanese Cuisine This place is a 10-minute walk from Toa Payoh MRT Station and it’s located opposite Toa Payoh West Hawker Centre. A kopitiam is not the poshest of places but Toa Payoh 126 Food House is well-ventilated and clean.

The verdict Donya Japanese Cuisine is definitely a place to go to for cheap and good Japanese food. For more cheap and good Japanese food, check out these ramen bowls below $10.50 , or Konomi Zen , which is a Japanese stall that offers nothing above $6!