Don Don Tei

Presentation nice though the tonkatsu looks over cooked due to how small the pieces are. Decent bargains you get soup, pickles, rice, cabbage and tofu appetizer in addition to entrée. Have had bette

They have a great tempura platter which came with 2 shrimps, 2 seafood, and 2 vegetables along with tofu, rice, dashi soy, and miso soup! Their iced green tea was sweetened, definitely yummy. Would come back again!

This place is terrible. Customer service is the worst. Go to Miyabe Tei, so much better!

Don Don Tei is located in the Mitsuwa Market and like all the places in the food court, they are cash only.
I ordered a poke bowl ($ 8.60) which consisted of salmon, tuna, white rice, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, red and green bell pepper. The bowl wasn’t very big or filling and is missing many of the items that are common place in a poke bowl, including: crab meat, avocado, masago, ginger, and garlic chips. There is also no option to choose different fish. I also ordered a miso soup and bowl of salad for $ 1.40 more.
While the fish itself wasn’t bad and had no sinew, the whole bowl itself was lacking many of the items that are now standard in a poke bowl. The miso soup and salad were pedestrian. Overall the food and value were not such a great deal, considering that there are now 3 other really good poke places within a mile of this one.

This place is pretty good for food court food. Its located inside of Mitsuwa market. You get a big portion for the price. The $ 7 katsu don bowl filled me up good. I gave it 3 stars because I’ve definitely had better. The food is decent and definitely does the job when you are craving a katsu bowl. Fast and friendly service. I will be back to try their other bowls

Don Don Tei is my favorite mid-​week Orange County lunch spot. The quality to price ratio is unmatched. I recommend trying the seafood mix don.
I have the best luck here on Thursdays. I am a huge fan and this would be a 5 star review but occasionally the sashimi cuts seem a little rough, maybe a dull knife?

Big guy cashier with glasses… total customer service fail.
He didn’t want to make a half salmon, half spicy tuna bowl for me. He was extremely rude and brushed me off. I’m pretty sure he’s not the owner, but he walks around like he is.
Never again. You just lost a customer.

Located in the Mitsuwa food court, it’s not the most amazing sashimi, but decent and satisfies a craving. I usually get the Salmon Don. The salmon is sliced pretty thin. Rice is tasty — has a mild vinegar taste to it, which complements well, but fish to rice ratio isn’t quite even. I’m usually left full only because there’s a lot of rice. Bowls are priced around $ 9.

If you’re in the food court at the mitsuwa and want a tempura set, this place has the best variety and taste.
If you want lunch sets and bowls which are not seafood based go to MIYABI-​TEI
Where they have consistently decent food. Not awesome like in Japan but close enough at a economical price.
Don Don also has a decent spicy tuna bowl which is colorful and tasty.
Nice hard working crew helps the line move along

Located in the Mistsuwa Marketplace food court, Don Don Tei serves rice bowls with a wide variety of options such as salmon, chicken, chicken katsu, tempura, tuna, and more. There was many dining options but I decided to give them a try.
I got the Mini Katsu Don and Soba Noodles ($ 8.60). Firstly, the portions are plenty, although it’s mostly carbs. The katsu was disappointing, I had higher expectations. I’ve had better and won’t be getting it here again. The soba noodles were cooked al dente but lacked any flavor until you drenched it in the sauce they provided.
Overall, it was a three stars meal. Will probably try the other places in the food court if I come back here.

I went to Don Don Tei for a weekend lunch and it was delicious! It’s located in a food court with Mitsuwa. There’s tons of restaurants inside but their lunch sets really called out to me. I ordered the katsudon set ($ 9) which came with katsudon and soba noodles (choice of hot or cold). The soba noodles were al dente and the dipping sauce was authentic. The katsudon was fresh and I loved the onions and egg. It came with tons of rice on the bottom. I also tried some of the tempura bowl and that was also hot and fresh. Overall, big portions and tasty food for cheap. The only problem is trying to find a table. I suggest finding one before ordering.

This restaurant is located inside Mitsuwa Market in the food court. It’s less busy than the others and you can get your food just a few minutes after ordering. I have been coming here for years and have never had to wait in line for more then 5 minutes.
They serve raw fish a la sushi and sashimi here served over rice among a few other dishes, but the raw fish bowls are definitely their focus here. Don’t be confused. This isn’t poke or sushi. It’s raw slices of salmon or tuna served rice. They also give you soy sauce and wasabi on the side for you to dip your fish in as well.
I usually get the Salmon Don or the Mixed Poki Don. The Salmon Don will get you about 10 slices of fish topped on a bowl of rice with ginger and some greens as garnish. The salmon is quite good! It’s not amazing sushi and it’s sliced quite thin, but it is quite tasty. There are also small bits of chopped salmon in the center as well. It’s a decent value for then price at ~$ 9.
The Mixed Poki Don is the same price, but as its name suggests, you get a mix of tuna and salmon. The major difference here is that the fish will already have a sauce on it so don’t put more soy sauce on it or it will be too salty! I feel like there is a little less fish with the Mixed Poki Don, but it’s still very good.
I’ve been coming here for years, and I will probably still continue to come here for years. It’s not the most amazing food, but definitely a tasty place to check out if you don’t feel like waiting in line for ramen!

I finally got to try this place at Mitsuwa yesterday. You don’t see a restaurant in OC just dedicated to Donburi so I was very excited to see this place open in Mitsuwa.
I ordered Special Katsudon aka «Manpuku» Katsudon. I asked the worker what is the difference between regular Katsudon on the Menu and I was told it uses bigger Pork Cutlet.
My initial impression was it looked smaller than I have imagined and was wondering if it will satisfy my stomach. But I was proved wrong as I started to dig into the Katsu. As you can see in the photo, Katsu is cut in non-​traditional way. Each Katsu was crisp, juicy and thick, coated with egg evenly, and well marinated. Many Katsudon I had in OC they go cheap with sauce for some reason that I always end up with lots of plain rice without any sauce. They didn’t go cheap with the portion, but not to the point of drenching the rice. It was just right amount.
The word «Manpuku» literally means «Filled-​stomach» but it also comes with the notion that you are very satisfied with the meal. Surprisingly I was very satisfied and enjoyed every bite as if I am a judge from the Animé «Shokugeki No Soma»
Also it reminded me of my childhood in Japan, when I often ordered Katsudon for delivery to home when parents are gone for work. It’s that good. Had many Katsudon but there are only few that reminds me of the Katsudon from my childhood.
Haven’t tried other dishes yet but Don Don Tei definitely is underrated on Unilocal.You gotta give their Katsudon a try!
#sundogram

I’ve been to Mitsuwa Market (MM) and making the rounds at every restaurant in the food court and Don Don Tei (DDT) was the last of the two I needed to try and it was their turn. Just like any other spots in MM they are cash only and the only ATM they have on site is near the main entrance. DDT mainly serves rice bowls with varying toppings such as tempura, seafood, pork and some cold noodle dishes. Checking out the prices and they range from $ 6-​$ 9 so pretty much the norm for anything at the MM food court. I ended up getting the Seafood mix don bowl and since if I’m gonna spend $ 8.40 I might as well get some fish. This came with tuna, ground tuna, and salmon over rice. I enjoyed the tuna and salmon but I didn’t like was the ground tuna, not a fan of that texture.
I’m giving this place 5 stars because the service here is amazing. Before it was my turn to order there was a deaf couple who was trying to order but the cashier was very patient with them and handled it well. For that I say they deserve 5 stars.

Friendly service, but mediocre seafood mix bowl. The bowl is about $ 8.50 and came with a few pieces each of tuna and salmon as well as ground tuna. As other reviewers have said, the sashimi doesn’t taste fresh, but it’s not bad or anything. It’s just a little bit limp looking. The bowl also comes with green onion, a shiso leaf, ginger, and some sprouts. I like it better when bowls have some more seaweed and sesame seeds, so it resembles the taste of a sushi roll more. Sushi rice was good though.
All of the items offered here are rice bowls– katsu, poke, salmon, seafood mix.
Inside the Mitsuwa food court. There are better options than this place. Cash only.

This is a mediocre place for salmon don. This fish itself tastes somewhat fresh, but I was only given handful of slices. The bowl itself was filled with plain rice. It feels like a small portion for $ 8. It didn’t come with any sides or greens. Boring… Try somewhere else!

I liked my salmon-​don here. This might be one of the safer picks here. My only complaint is that the slices were ultra thin, like see-​through thin… haha.
I have to make a complaint about the zaru soba here. Why do I not get free grated daikon? It’s honestly mind-​boggling that this is an add-​on that I have to pay for… I’ve never eaten zaru soba without grated daikon but at this place, you not only have to pay for it (75 cents I think), they make you go next door at the udon place to get it. I really don’t understand why they sell zaru soba here and not have their own grated daikon provided for free. When I first asked for it, they acted like why would they carry such a thing… ARGGHHHH…

I was reluctant to try this place because it only has three stars but I got tired of eating Santouka all the time so wanted to try something else at the Mitsuwa food court.
As the name suggests, this place just serves rice bowls with various toppings of meat or fish. I tried salmon (raw) bowl on my first visit and I thought it was pretty decent. It wasn’t the best but at least the salmon tasted clean without any fishy smell or taste. It did require little bit of soy sauce and wasabi to give it a taste but I thought it was definitely acceptable.
The Mix Poki-​Don was much better. It’s really more like a sashimi bowl than a traditional poke bowl but it really didn’t matter to me. The fish was a combination of thinly sliced salmon and ahi with little bit of soy sauce added. it had shredded lettuce, sliced cucumbers, green onions, and some shiso leaves. The shiso leaves were somewhat overpowering at times so you may want to take these out if you don’t like the fragrance. The fish tasted fresh and I liked the overall taste. The rice was firm, slightly cool, and had little touch of vinegar (I think).
This will definitely be my second choice at this food court if I’m not in the mood for Santouka ramen.

Ordered the salmon don and it was not good. The salmon itself was ok but the slices were so thin and comes with about 6 slices and a heaping amount of rice. What am I suppose to do with the remaining rice? Not worth $ 8.

I decided to give this place a try since every line in the food court is long. This is not your ramen or udon bowl kind of shop. They serve rice bowls. It makes me wonder why their line is so short when everything on display is so deliciously good looking. Well, my friend got their salmon bowl, and I got their chicken katsu with egg. I think my bowl has some kind of special going on because it is currently only $ 6. Original price is $ 7?
Well, the salmon bowl is not as special. They slather on a bunch of salmon on top, and decorated the ginger nicely on the side and ta-​da! They should have used sushi rice to make the whole bowl complete. The salmon is not fresh and it doesn’t have that buttery taste to it. Not only is that, for $ 10, the bowl so small. My chicken katsu was bigger and it was good! I didn’t know mine came with caramelized onions, which compliments my rice bowl pretty well. The chicken katsu was well deep fried and the egg went pretty well together. This is cheaper than and as delicious as Curry House. If I had that curry pack, I would have microwaved that and pour it all over that rice. You will need to add a little soy sauce over your rice because it does get bland after a while. Heck, pour some hot sauce for some extra kick.
I will come back because the food is cheap. The line is not as long. And it’s nice to stray away from the $ 10 ramen next door.