Surprised that this place isn't rated higher. I find Don Don to be one of the more fun Isakaya's in town, and actually better in some respects that Kinka/Guu. They have a HUGE selection of sake with a breakdown of flavour types. Some of the dishes are edging on weird. It's awesome to come in groups. This has become a regular spot for me and my friends.
The Torched Mackerel was actually torched table-side. We watched the torch action happen. This was a substantial dish where there were a lot of slices of mackerel on the plate! The mackerel was quite good. I especially liked the daikon that was on the side.
If you're in the neighbourhood and hungry this isn't a bad choice - but it is not a place we would go out of my way to visit. Food is tasty, but not remarkable in anyway.
The Gyudon didn't have a lot of meat, no glass noodles and no egg. The sauce was a solid "okay".
The tonkatsu spicy ramen had a nice broth, just not enough of it. There were lots of noodles, but they were just OK - nothing to make it stand out. In fairness, though, the generous pieces of pork belly were delicious - seared nicely and just the right proportion of tender meat and melt in your mouth fat.
The ginger chicken appetizer has no discernible ginger, but the crunchy batter was great and the chicken was moist.
The beef tataki was nicely done and probably the best part of our meal.
This place is quieter than a previous izakaya place I've been to previously called Guu. My only problem with the noise was my family and I (4 people) were seated at a table in a private area for a larger group. The larger group (11 people) was louder and being in a smaller space made it even louder. If they had reservations for a larger group, they shouldn't seat another table in the same confined space. Being in a private space also made ordering harder. One of us would have to exit the space and find a server if we wanted to order more food or drinks. As for the food, it was delicious and easy to get carried away ordering the small dishes. I recommend the ginger fried chicken, torched salmon sushi and beef tataki. I would definitely return but will make sure next time to be seated somewhere else.
I recently went to Don Don Izakaya near Yonge and Dundas. It is a place with sharing plates and there were tons of things on the menu, including tons of drinks. The first thing I got was Jaja Beef. There was a mini grill where you cooked your own beef, asparagus, oyster mushroom, and zuchini that you could dip in a bbq sauce with miso and ponzu vinegar. The sauce was really good though you had to watch it because if there wasn’t enough butter or got to hot it would stick easily!
Nice place to grab some Japanese snacks. recommended the udon noodle there. The waitresses there are super welcomed. If you don't want to wait in a long queue, should get there at the right time they open
I came to Don Don Izakaya with my boyfriend for lunch on a weekday.
Service was excellent - they offer a lunch special which comes as a set meal.
We both ordered the GRILLED MACKEREL lunch set. We were going to order an appetizer with it but the waiter was so honest and told us that our lunch portion is more than enough. And he's right! We appreciate your tidbit!! :D
GRILLED MACKEREL lunch set (4/5)
It came with a huge bowl of rice, gyoza, 3 different dishes of veggies, miso soup and salad. The portions were huge and worth the price of the lunch set! The grilled mackerel was delicious.
We will revisit for lunch another time :)
Conveniently located by eaton centre. The food is alright, nothing very spectacular. I would recommend the salmon/tuna cooker over some hay. Also, the skewers lightly salted. One thing I found really repulsive was the hanpen as well as the frois groi.. might be spelling it wrong. Had their bao, you can tell it is not fresh and they have a generic sauce that they use for their noodles and dipping sauce for their cheese stick. They also use the sauce for their takoyaki. Their beer is always nice and fizzy though.
Really recommend the salmon and don't forget to eat it with salt, onion and garlic. (I am not a fan of onion, but it's worth trying! :) The staff is friendly. Love the food. Yummay! 😋 5/5
We entered the 2nd floor Izakaya and immediately were greeted by a guy beating a giant drum, and people yelling welcome in Japanese.
We ordered the hay smoked butterfish which was good, very interesting Smokey flavour. My favourite was the flame+torched mackerel, which our waitress torched in front of us. The flavour was intense and the meat perfectly cooked, not dry at all! I would come back just for this dish. We also had the 5 combo skewers, which were good, the dish with potato + chicken + otafuku sauce, which was very different and delicious 😋.
Overall, the food is very different, not overly pretentious, and we'll made. Nothing is overly seasoned, and just right. Would definitely come back when I am in the area.
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