🇯🇵 dondons

2 chicken thigh sticks, 1 porkbelly stick, 1 onsen egg

Freaking yummy indeed! The yaki sticks were grilled over charcoal upon order and therefore, the order took some time to be served on the table. It was lunch at the time of my visit and the place was understandably packed with the CBD crowd. At a colleague’s recommendation, I ordered the yaki mono don (there’s the option of Yaki Tori Don with an additional yaki stick - great for the ravenous stomach but not if you’d like to avoid food coma in the office!). As part of the lunch set, this was served along with a side of salad (drizzled with sesame sauce) and miso soup. The sweet & umami aroma from the grills hit me the moment this was served up on the table. I kinda expect lunch to be great at this point in time! I particularly like how the yakis were served on a huge piece of seaweed which added a touch of grandness to it. This was accompanied with small sides - pickled radish and kimchi, a lil’ bit of fusion element here.

My, both sticks of chicken thigh meat were succulent, tender and juicy. Both the chicken and pork belly yaki had a touch of burnt bits here and there, adding some charred aroma to the taste profile. I liked how the belly yaki was lean overall, nothing like excessive fatty, unchewable bits that you’ve to spit out in an unglamorous fashion (in front of your colleagues). Also, not forgetting the Japanese pearly rice underneath - each grain was well marinated with sweet & savoury Japanese marinade that added much umami-ness to the overall taste!

Priced at $17.80++, this was a very satisfying and value-for-money deal!

Pork loin and grilled eel on rice
At $22.00++

The meats were tender and satisfying - specifically, the pork loin took me by surprise with its tenderness and juiciness! It was flavourful. I was half expecting it to be tough and chewy, given how thinly sliced it was. It does take skills to have it cooked to such tenderness! I was very much looking forward to the unagi, which was served with a light char. The tender unagi was fresh too - my spoon could easily slice through its skin! This combo jyu was a worthy combination of the best of both worlds and in a way, value for money. Particularly so given that there aren’t many places that offers combi dons. It’d have been better with an onsen egg thrown into the mix (comes at additional price point of $1.50), especially when the rice was a tad plain and bland due to the lack of glaze.

Grilled Australian Wagyu on rice
$23.50++

Overall, I’d think the dons at Aburi-en are priced more steeply that other Japanese restaurant counterparts. At this price point, one could easily get a little more greens and an onsen egg too! Here, onsen egg comes at an additional cost of $1.50. The Wagyu was grilled to tenderness and tasted decent - meeting expectations in overall. The amount of glaze over the rice could be a lot more generous tho!

Reasonably priced don for a quick lunch fix (option for less price at the same price tho). Love how it’s generous with the sukiyaki pork slices, ginger bits and onset egg! It’s what you would expect from another Japanese place - quality promised. While it says on the menu, Gyu don, don’t expect the thick-cuts as you would from Waacow or higher end Japanese restaurants. For the price of $15.90, you’re getting a pretty decent portion of sliced guy cooked in soy marinade. It’s tender, smooth and … fresh! Nothing like indigestible beef fats nor oiliness that leaves an unpleasant meat-breath in your mouth. You’re not seeing any onions in the mix cos I’ve asked for onion-free version (yours truly dislike onions!) The standard bowl is served with onions!

Seasonal special - Iberico pork don! Well, this is the cheaper alternative to the rather steeply priced (but worth spending) gyu dons. I liked how they’re generously marinated with the house special (shoyu?) sauce that’s really… sweet! It’s served with huge shrooms as you can tell from the pic, half a ramen egg and some japanese cucumber (that I’m happy to do without). Portion wise, you could ask for less rice (no discount!). It’s a rather small-ish sized bowl and definitely would not feed one with an average appetite. But it you’re a small eater, I think the standard portion size is good. Happy to share that Waacow’s sides are pretty good - truffle fries, scallops etc. They’re definitely good sharing sides for those who aren’t filled from the dons!

MUST-TRY! We ordered this as part of Burpple Beyond’s 1-1 main deal, with the other being unagi don. This impressed a notch more than the unagi don. The unagi was great!!! But I feel salmon mentaiko was harder to execute and achieve ‘perfection’. Here; the salmon were nicely seared. Not at all flaky from being overcooked but remained slightly slimey (yay!) The mentaiko was very creamy (not for those who dislike cream textured food, like cream cakes!), rich and nicely seared too! The tinge of chao-tah mentaiko added another layer of rich fragrance to the entire don. It’s so so so easy to devour this in 10mins? Way faster than the incredibly long wait time (approx 45mins) for this! Worth the wait? Yes!

Luscious gravy with pickles and fresh eel! Nothing can go wrong with unagi - when it’s grilled to perfection and drizzled with some house special sweet sauce. Love how the recipe for the marinate differs slightly from restaurants to restaurants. Here, the marinate was great! The unassuming small bowl was actually pretty feeling. As part of their lunch set, there’s miso and tea I think! I had this as part of the Burpple Beyond deal (saved a great deal of money!) The only gripe was the incredibly looooong waiting time (approx 45mins during dinner peak!)

Artistically messy bowl of seared beef, caviar, truffle flakes, garlic chips, onsen egg and some secret sauce! AMAZINGLY fragrant bowl of everything delish 😋
Extremely value-for-money with Burpple 1-1!

Freshness is the key to a good Salmon don cos any fishyness would kill it all. I'm proud to announce that it's all freshness within this bowl! Lightly seared and topped with mentaiko, the salmon was really silky smooth - felt like it could glide down my throat without any serious chewing. 'Topped with bright orangey roe for the slight 'poppy' texture.... SO GOOD.

The truffle aroma wafted across the table as soon as the staff brought it over. woahhhh!! The wagyu slices were incredibly tender - drizzled with truffle shoyu and showered with teeny garlic chips. Each bite with runny onsen -soaked pearly Japanese rice brought great satisfaction to the tummy. For the price point, it's pretty decent. Tho I wished there were truffle sprinkles - like how Kabuke served it!

Nicely glazed with a glossy layer of sweet sauce, incredibly slime-y and smooth. Served over a bed of pearly Japanese rice, lightly marinated and mixed with seaweed bits and sesame seeds. Came with 2 tamago triangles on the side - decent in taste, nothing much to shout about but hey! the highlight really is on the unagi and rice!

“Wagyu(y you) choose this” - immediate question that comes to mind each time someone orders tempura, katsu beef, chicken or pork because I feel beef, when fully cooked (& fried!) are gone to waste. After all, how could beef be...fully cooked 😕😕😕 Here, I’ve confirmed with the waiter that the beef is “fried to medium” before I apprehensively confirmed my order. -And was thereafter surprised by it! While looks wise, it isn’t very apparent that the interior is pinkish, taste wise, it’s crispy, juicy and not at all tough. Definitely closer to the texture of a beef patty (served medium) than a fully cooked beef. So 👏🏻 for serving this well! This comes with 1 juicy prawn tempura, and a side of greens. While the rice was plain, there’s a side of sesame dip (meant for the tempura) which you can glaze over your rice with! 😋