Donburiya Dondon

My mom and I love this place.
now we don’t come here for mind blowing japanese food or amazing ramen, but when we want good reliable japanese choices, we come here.
Usually seating isn’t too crowded inside and it’s much cleaner than the food court. The workers have always been nice, and they even checked if I was okay when I hit my head on the wall art after bending down to grab something. We tend to come at off times, and usually the server chats with us a little.
the service is good, the food isn’t bad.
sometimes you just want to know exactly what you’re getting and this is that place for japanese food.

It’s unfortunate that I can’t leave a 0 star review, as I definitely would, given the option. Horrible service.
My boyfriend and I decided to try this place for dinner. We didn’t wait long to be seated, as the place wasn’t busy and practically empty. A little after we were seated and going through the menu, a group of tourists came and were seated a table away from us. The group had to only wait a couple minutes to peruse the menu before they had their order taken and were brought water. Another woman entered after that and she was quickly seated and barely had to wait before the man took her order.
As for us? While everything else was going on, we were waiting patiently to be even acknowledged. Menus were down, a usual indication of being ready to order. However, I watched everyone after us get waited on while no one stopped to check in with us to take our order or even bring us water. It’s like we were basically invisible.
Can’t review the food as we never stayed long enough to get to that point. Who knows how long that would have taken? We left right after the 5^th person was waited on before us.

The only place in the food court that has it’s own seating. But beware, it’s small and limited. The food is better than food court quality but doesn’t match a really good Japanese restaurant. The donburi dishes looked better than the ramen/​udon soups. Service if fast but usually get ignored after you get your meals. I would come back again, understanding that I’m in a food court and can get something that you won’t find on a mainland foodcourt (unless you’re in a Marukai Mitsuwa)

Our fault for not realizing that Honolulu has a lot of good ramen places. However, by accident after we landed at HNL and found ourselves at the food court in Ala Moana, we chose this corner restaurant which only offered two types of ramen. Ordered both and both were meh ~ too much of a sesame oil in their broth.
As their name implies, best to order the donburi as most customers were ordering that dish with a side of miso soup.

I had the curry chicken combo. I was really hungry so everything tastes a little better. Aside from the curry chicken on rice, it came with udon in soup. I can say that it was satisfying. It was $ 9.41 total and I got my food fast. Based on my experience, I am giving it four stars today. It’s better to sit in that place than in the food court. I probably could have paid less because someone told me to tell them I work at the mall but a Marine should always have integrity.
I can’t speak for other people’s experiences but it looks like I ordered the right thing on the right day!

The donburi itself was very good, I had the tentama don and it was soooo good. I ate that bowl clean! The owner was very nice too! He noticed us tourists taking pictures of the food and offered to take our picture for us. He made sure I never ran out of water either, love that in service!

Cute little restaurant in the Makai Market Food Court at Ala Moana. Food was good, waitstaff was friendly, though our order was wrong. A little on the pricey side, but I guess all Japanese food is on the pricey side!

I ordered the teriyaki chicken don with 2 side shrimp tempura. The shrimp was crispy and pretty good but I wasn’t impressed with the teriyaki chicken don. I prefer the super combo from tsuruya because its tastier, they give more and it costs less. I don’t know if I’d order from here again given all the other choices in the food court.

I have not eaten here and almost passed on writing a review on this horrible horrible place. They managed to make my entire lunch experience terrible and I didn’t even eat there. As a Unilocaler and a human being I find it my responsibility to warn others about the vagrancy of this place.
I have never felt so hated by a single restaurant in my entire life. I have never felt hated by a restaurant period. I felt hate here, plain and simple. My mom, aunt and grandmother decided to eat here and got there food and sat. I bought a burger, I think, and joined them.
Not even being able to sit I was told to go out because I couldn’t bring outside food in. I had bought a burger from I cant even remember where cause i was so upset. Naturally non-​confrontational I sat outside alone on a table. My family was quick to join me but the second they sat down in the food court this flipping bitch comes running out spewing a half English half bitch-​anese torrent of rhetoric that rudely implied my family was not allowed to bring their bowls out of the store.
Refusing to leave my mom continued to eat and that bitch went back and summoned another bitch and they started clearing the bowls which had obviously not been finished by any of our party.
We all sat there gaping with my lone, cold burger and fries. My mom is a force to be reckoned with when she gets pissed and believe you me this made her pissed. What put the match to the powder keg was when my mom turned around and saw those two smug cunts snickering and laughing with delight about our situation. My mom goes over and starts with them. They were down right disrespectful till my mom went over to a customer service desk and started inquiring about who ran that business.
When push came to shove they offered us a refund and told us we could eat what ever we wanted. We obviously refused. We complained officially with no result, no apology, not even any effort of concern.

This a a review for the restaurant side.
Me and a group of friends came here and three of them got the same thing which was the Tentama Don combos, but oh man that is not what they got. Each of them had to send their order back at least once.
Another member of our party had got a tempura teishoku and she also had issues with the ordering. She sent it back as well…4 out of 5 orders sent back? Was the lady that took our order even listening or what? lol
Aside from that everyone’s meal was decent. I wasn’t thrilled about my meal though. I ordered a Katsu donburi, and I found it to be very bland. Having donburi in the restaurants name you’d think that the donburi’s woud be like their best dish right?
²⁄₅ stars since everyone else enjoined their meals and our server (the one that didn’t take our orders) was very apologetic about the mix up and constantly checked up on us. Apparently it was bring your kid to work day as well, because there was a little girl making a lot of noise with her toys. She would constantly walk in the kitchen and hug one of the ladies that was working there.

In all honesty, I came here to try something new. And I came across this place so I gave it a shot.
I ordered the curry loco moco. To be honest, thididn’t the worse one I’ve had. The curry tasted like it was one of those repackaged curry things. The egg was really dry and thr taste was bland. The beef pattie tasted like the costco beef patties that was overcooked. the rice was really dry too. Also the size for $ 8.50… horrible
I also had the udon with teriyaki chicken bowl. The udon again tasted like prepackaged noodles. The chicken was dry with barely any sauce. Also they threw veggies to compensate for the cost.
This was a hard place to find. In the corner next to coffee bean. one waiter just stared at the menu and didn’t bother helping me. then he proceeds to text and play games as im trying to get his attention to order. so another guy stepped in to take my order.

Donburiya Dondon is a Japanese noodle and donburi (rice bowl) shop in the Ala Moana food court. It’s a place my husband loves to eat at after a long day of shopping at the mall. He likes the teri steak with tempura while I like their combos and my order is either curry or teri chicken don with udon.
Also, when I’m on my own, I order their yummy teri chicken don for take out. It’s $ 3.99 on Tues/​Wed/​Thurs and it’s a good size portion bowl that I can share with my toddler son who is beginning to enjoy eating non-​mushy baby food!

I’ve eaten here several times in the past. The combos are pretty big portions for the price. You get a donburi and a regular-​sized bowl of ramen or udon. I’ve tried the oyako don and the katsu don, both are pretty good and hearty.
The tonkotsu ramen was very average fare. The broth had little flavor and the noodles unimpressive and not al dente. You can find better and more authentic kind elsewhere.
They have a small eating area inside, or you can sit in the food court.
My advice? Get the donburis, because you’re at Don Don! Stay away from anything else.

I have eaten Dondon a few times previously, but it has been awhile. After circling around the Makai Market food court like a Nascar car driver racing around the track. (Yes! I was going counterclockwise). I finally decided on Donburiya to get my grindz on! Not being that hungry (Oh i just can’t believe I said that) I order the Katsu Donburi.
The donburi bowl was amazingly good, shredded nori on top a perfectly cook egg covering a crispy breaded chicken katsu and hot rice.
Not being hungry… I ate the whole thing… Nom Nom!
Going back again to try some of their other dishes.

came here may 31 on their 10^th anniversary. we ordered the teriyaki chicken don and loco moco which were both for a special price of 3.99 $ each. both dishes were pretty good, only the chicken was a little bit dry.

I like this place. My friend works there. Anyway, my favorite dish is Udon + Tempra Domburi. I like their tempura. It’s crispy and fresh.
Udon is good too. I’m thinking of trying Unaju (Eel rice) next time.
The only complaint is that all the menu are a bit pricey.

Donburiya Dondon is located in the corner of the food court near Cinnabon and is probably the fanciest looking place at the Ala Moana food court.
So I’ve been here three times. My first two times were ages ago and as I recalled, it wasn’t that great. But on my third time it was surprisingly good! I got the loco moco don
which was $ 7.39. I also decided to pay $ 0.75 more to get their seaweed miso soup and tsukemono just because I wanted some soup. The hamburger was pretty flavorful but what made it stand out was the sauce! And I think it was just a simple brown gravy sauce… That sauce would fix anything! I also like how they put the mushrooms and the onions on the side, that way you can easily pick them out (for those people who don’t like onions or mushrooms). But rest assured I ate everything down to the last grain of rice! I guess it’s just the Asian in me to not waste food.
Donburiya has a few tables on the inside but it’s normally always packed with people. If you can get a table inside then great, but if you can’t, you can always take out and eat in the food court.
Overall it’s not that bad and I wouldn’t mind coming again. Service is great and the staff is very friendly. Donburiya will certainly be the place to go to when I’m looking for a moderately sized meal (for when I’m not that hungry). Plus the prices are equivalent to the donburi’s at Shirokiya. except when Shirokiya marks down their food at the end of the night. Oh and I almost forgot, they also have a stamp card program where you get a stamp for every donburi you purchase and when you complete the card I think you get a donburi for free! But I’m not 100% sure… so you may want to check that out for yourself if you’re ever down there!
Unilocal 365 Challenge: Review ¹⁰⁄₃₆₅

Okay Unilocalers, I’ll let you in on one of the food court’s best kept secrets. If you work at Ala Moana, ask them for the employee special. You can get a teriyaki chicken bowl or ahi bowl plus miso soup, plus tsukemono, plus a small drink for under $ 7.
Yeah, that’s right. All that food for under $ 7 in Ala Moana? Does it really get any better than this? Let me answer that for you: no. It doesn’t. While the quality of the food is kind of hit or miss it’s usually pretty good. And like I said, it’s under $ 7. You can’t really go wrong here…

3.5 stars.
I love wandering around the Ala Moana food court, and ended up stopping here in hopes of finding something hot and soupy for lunch. The kare-​udon (curry udon) was really good but a little salty. I did love the chewiness of the noodles and that they were generous with the meat.
Not bad but not amazing. I missed it the first time I walked around. It’s hidden away in the far corner. Oh, and they charge 30-​something cents for a cup of water. Sadness.

Like the orchestrated soundtrack introduction to movie «2001: A Space Odyssey», first the horns «duhnn…Duhnn…Duhnnnn. Duh-​DUN!» then in comes the drums «DON-​DON DON-​DON DON-​DON DON-​DON!!!». That’s what I think of every time I look at the wall outside of Donburiya «DON-​DON», as seen here:
Why the 4 stars today as opposed the the «A-​OK» I gave them last time? Though I already tried their katsu curry bowl, I never tried the undrenched version of their breaded bird. As a side order, it’s $ 3.99. It’s probably my new favorite place for chicken katsu. What I like about their’s is that it’s not too moist and oily. Rather, nicely grease blotted and with a very crispy, delicious outer layer. The breading they use tastes like their’s crushed pieces of Ritz crackers in it, due to it’s slightly buttery, flakey cracker flavor.
Chicken katsu is my favorite food of all time by the way:
That aside, I was actually here to give their donburi a second try. Since I liked the tempura from last time, I tried their shrimp tempura don for $ 7.50. Garnished with fried egg, vegetables, a sunny side egg and broth, I STILL found it too salty. No excuse for catching them on an «off day» TWICE in one week, as I had to drink a lot of water post meal both times. Hey, you gotta give me some credit for going back and giving them a second chance, right?
4 stars for their chicken katsu.
Would like to *high 5* them but even if their donburi tastes okay, it’s still too salty: