Hey Hive!
Now that a lot of people here have already gotten vaccinated, I'm very happy to hear that Singapore is now allowing in-house dining again, but up to 2 people and obviously you have to be vaccinated. But at least this allows us to try out different restaurants again!
This time since I was craving Japanese food, we went to our usual place, Don Don Donki, for sushi! Don Don Donki is actually the Singapore branch of a huge Japanese variety store chain called Don Quijote! Not only is it huge in terms of popularity but their stores are physically huge as well, often spanning a whole building with multiple floors especially in Tokyo and Osaka! We love their stores in Japan and always make it a point to go there and stock up on souvenirs, snacks and cosmetics every time we visit!
And when we heard they were coming to Singapore we got so excited! But understandably, their products in Singapore are more pricey compared to in Japan and their stores aren't as huge here. But one thing that sets Singapore's Donki apart from Japan's Donki is definitely the food courts!
Don Don Donki has their own food courts with many different Japanese stalls and is also where you can sit and enjoy the ready-to-eat food from Donki! It's a very convenient place that Japanese Donkis don't have that I wished they did. Especially since they sell all kinds of bentos and sushi sets, which are definitely my favourite! Donki has one of the freshest and more affordable sushi sets in Singapore and has since become my go-to place for sushi especially since Donki sells all kinds of other stuff too!
They have different types of sushi sets you can get with salmon nigiri prepared in a variety of ways.
But my favourite one to get is definitely this one: the Aburi Salmon Sushi mix! If you're unfamiliar, aburi means flame seared, which is when the sushi is seared with a blowtorch! It's definitely one of my favourite ways to prepare sushi and this set comes with 4 pieces each of Mentaiko Mayo, teriyaki mayo, and original aburi salmon nigiri!
I think they didn't have this particular set last time but they changed their mixes over the past couple of months and I really like this one a lot. Just look at that nice sear on the salmon!
It tasted just like how I remembered and liked it! The salmon was nice and fresh, and while it was still pretty cold from being in the cooler, the sear was still nice and gave it some charcoal flavour.
The teriyaki mayo was just a tad sweet but didn't overpower the savouriness of the salmon and the mentaiko mayo was a little spicy while the roe on top added more saltiness. I think that was is definitely my favourite among the 3 types but I do love them all.
So I got the sushi set from donki while Sean went to check out the stalls in the food court to find something new to try! He's not as much of a sushi fan like me, and prefers more cooked food.
And that day he decided on this okonomiyaki stall called DO:TON!
Here's their menu. They also have some Yakisoba so it was kinda similar to izakaya food.
They were having a special promotion for their pork okonomiyaki which only cost $5.90! They did say the waiting time was 15 minutes but we weren't in a hurry and Sean wasn't too hungry so it was fine.
We enjoyed some sushi together while waiting and about 10-15 minutes later, his order was ready! We thought it'd be quite small given the price but it was actually quite a reasonable size!
And it smelled pretty good too, despite the amount of bonito flakes on top! Sean was ready to devour it, but not before taking some photos!
So the okonomiyaki itself came in different layers, first the wheat flour pancake with vegetables, then the pork cutlet, some pork belly slices and finally topped with bonito flakes and mayo.
It was actually really yummy, and quite savoury! It's definitely unlike other types of okonomiyaki we've had in Japan, where it's a lot more saucy and sweet. This one did have some sauce, but not as much sweet sauce compared to other okonomiyaki we've had. The mayo didn't overpower it either which was nice. You could clearly taste the pancake itself and the pork, which was yummy.
It probably still won't be my favourite Japanese dish, but it was still delicious and for only $5.90 I'd say it's well worth it for the portion size! If you're a fan of okonomiyaki, definitely check out DO:TON!
Thanks so much for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
