Donburi 🍚🥢

I can see why this is on every list of Singapore’s top donburis. There’s no overripe fame in this dish. I was riveted by the impossibly soft slices of beef – suffused with a medium-rare flush and gleaming with savoury marinade. This decadent centrepiece was deftly balanced by a healthy touch – brown rice, sharply flavoured, crowned by a small but assertive shaving of black truffle. I’m in love.

🏅 10/10
💭 MUST TRY

It’s a bit of a misnomer to label this “donburi” – I can’t park it squarely in the Japanese cuisine category if it uses brown rice, instead of sushi rice. The collops of beef were gamy (if a bit salty) and gleamed in a nice, medium-well red. The dish was carpeted by a profusion of sesame seeds (black & white) which infused every bite with a burst of fragrance. I enjoyed my meal, but I thought that the flavours were more artificial than innate. The beef, for instance, had a chewiness to its texture which was redolent of a burger patty. I also wish they went easier on the sesame, which pretty much eclipsed all else the dish had to offer – including the sauce on the rice.

🏅 7/10
💭 Can try

The gyu (beef strips) were tender, lightly spiced with chilli flakes, soused generously with Japanese shōyu, and adorned with fried garlic shavings. Every bite culminated in a burst of charred, garlicky aroma, and I particularly enjoyed the sticky sweetness from the coalescence of sauce and onsen egg. Perhaps the sushi rice deserved better marination, but even on its own it was invitingly soft and fragrant.

Kogane Yama is celebrating their first anniversary by pricing all their rice bowls at $11. This has attracted insufferably long queues. But if you can weather the wait, their non-tendon rice bowls make a persuasive case for being, quite literally, worth your while.

🏅 9/10
💭 Must try

A very unpretentious dish, featuring a soft and lightly seared salmon fillet with a drizzle of sweet teriyaki glaze. It’s a real pity that the dish was lacking in moisture (not enough sauce!!!). It got dry towards the end and I was left with plain rice. (I get that excessive teriyaki results in overpowering saltiness so maybe the don could be soused with a less concentrated version?) Nevertheless, few donburi joints strike a good balance in the price-quality dichotomy, and Sushiro certainly mounts a persuasive case. Will be back.

🏅 8/10
💭 Must try

Japanese rice bowls are all the rage now and Donya’s here to tickle your fancy. The salmon was grilled to tender perfection and carpeted with a layer of torched mentaiko sauce. The pollock roe (a tinge of salt, fishiness and the ocean) stands out starkly from the mayo, just enough but not overpowering. If I had any gripe at all, it’s merely that the miso soup and the teriyaki sauce coating the rice are a tad salty.

🏅 8/10
💭 Definitely a donburi staple

If you want atas beef but you’re feeling abstemious I guess this is the place to go! Gyu Nami gives you inexpensive wagyu slices served atop a mound of soft Japanese rice and alongside a sous vide egg. But marination of the beef left something to be desired.

🏅 7/10
💭 Try once? Value for $$$ but overhyped…