DONDON Japanese Rice and Noodle Shop

We had to come in on the last day. I have five punch cards that I completely filled here. This was an intentional destination for so long. The first time we came in the waiter said that the Kitsune tasted like Sierra Mist and I laughed. Turns out that it did have a lovely sweet taste. I went to many meeting smelling of udon. Sad. Very sad.

I have eaten here probably about 10 times.
Pros:
— they have good recipes and all in all the food has good flavor
— the salad dressing is amazing and by far my favorite
— the staff is very friendly
Cons:
— it’s honesty a bit pricy for what it is
— the meat, especially the chicken, is incredibly dry. Every time no matter when I come it is like this. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be overdone, but it literally crumbles into pieces when you eat it and it ruins the rest of the dish. This is the first thing anybody i take here comments on.

a good choice at a winter night.

High quality Japanese fast food. If you want to taste the true Japanese street type food, come to Don Don!

The hubby and I stopped in for a quick bite on the way home from Lawrence and other than the friendly service, I have to say that this was far from a great experience.
First, if you’re a person who is sensitive to MSG, there’s not much here for you. All of their main dishes have MSG, although the person at the counter, who was quite personable and tried to be helpful, attempted to convince me that it would be ok because it really wasn’t a lot. Clearly, they don’t make their food up fresh, because if they did, it would be possible to make something up without MSG.
Being that I’d prefer to avoid a migraine at any cost, I ordered a green tea shake and some seaweed salad to avoid the MSG. Not much of a meal. The green tea shake was clearly from a mix and, while it had a nice flavor, it was really gritty. The seaweed salad was overly salty and lacking in other flavors.
The hubby ordered the Katsu Don and was very disappointed. It looked like it had been microwaved when it came out and he was very disappointed that the egg was mixed throughout instead of having a fried egg on top. He reported it was very bland. He only ate about half of his food which is unusual for him.
The interior of the restaurant is pretty sparse. The seating throughout is backless stools. This is far from a full-​service place.
I really wanted to love DONDON, but I really can’t see any reason why I’d bother to return.

This place impressed me. The lady that helped us was able to tell us what to order since it was our first time. She picked the perfect dishes for us. We got the Beef Udon and the Yakiniku-​don. Both were very good. I liked that the beef was sliced thin and the sauce in the Yakiniku-​don was sweet and very tasty.
This place is a gem and the lady that helped us was very pleasant to everyone and did a great job helping us. I think it speaks volumes when the employees can offer suggestions.

Great authentic homemade Japanese food, nothing too elaborate but does bring me back to my childhood memories, I have a Japanese background but grew up in South America,
I’m so glad I found this place. Japanese food is not all about sushi people!
Underrated place in my opinion.

Best Donburi place in Lawrence owned by Japanese lady.
Just go there and order any kinds of rice menu. You will not regret it.
Ramen is… uncertain (haven’t tried) but I am talking about rice bowls.

I’ve tried sever different rice and udon bowls here and they are all amazing! Everything is cooked to order. And just a regular bowl is so filling! Absolutely delicious.

Delicious and fast udon! The broth is fabulous. I enjoy the udon enough that I’ve yet to try anything else on the menu. The prices are reasonable and the waitstaff is friendly. I’ve eaten in the restaurant a few times but mostly get take out. They’re fast and can’t be beat on a cool day.

Solid. Food is tasty, good portions and prices, restaurant is simple, clean, and friendly. A keeper.

Called in an order for take-​out, arrived to a clean restaurant, and friendly service. Left with a kimchi and pork rice bowl & vegetable curry rice bowl. I think both cost $ 13 & change. The portion was a good size, but honestly, the only thing I want to do is figure out if I can successfully complete the Sumo Challenge.

Stopped in for lunch on a chilly day, and ordered a Japanese Beef Curry Udon. It came out fairly quick, and was huge! Full of lots of delicious udon noodles, a good amount of decent beef, and a delicious curry broth. The flavor was really quite good, the price was fair, and the people were friendly. The space is basic but clean and comfortable. Certianly will return!

I’m a big fan of Dondon. Like several other reviewers have said, it’s not really anything special, but it is really good. Definitely worth a shot.
The food is quite good, and the portions are very reasonable. It’s a quick and quiet shop and the cashier that’s been there all the times I’ve been in is super friendly and is happy to make recommendations.
Dondon is also a really great place for first dates in my opinion. It’s a quiet, low-​stress environment which makes it awesome for conversation.

Scott T. and Jeremy C. hit it on the nose — clean restaurant, good quality ingredients served up by nice folks. Every thing is good, nothing is great. My kids love it. I like it a lot. We ordered a lot of dishes and everything was fresh and tasty… without being excellent or truly impressive. I was wishing for something more, but I like what’s there. **Ramen Bowls on 10^th St. is always available if I need something fabulous.** If it were super cheap I’d give it a fourth star.

The best and most real Japanese-​like donburi (something over rice) place I’ve been at US — which is pretty much comparable with Yoshinoya. Even better than Yoshinoya is their «Americanized» portion of the menu! Awesome value for money. Oyakodon and gyudon are my two favorites.

The Beef Curry Udon is fabulous. The Kitsune Udon is awesome. Treat yourself to the green tea shake. Wow. Not a typical shake, but very good. The staff is friendly. My girls like the Teriaki Rice bowl. They have red pepper and sriracha on the table. I’d eat here every day, if it was always on the way.

Every geek and gamer in town loves this place so I figured I’d try it out. I wasn’t sure what all the hype was about at first. I thought «Another Asian place? Right next to another?» But this is different. It’s not Chinese or even «pan-​Asian», it’s Japanese, but not sushi. The closest comparison I can think of is those ramen joints that were trendy in bigger cities a few years ago, but this isn’t all soup and noodles.
I’m on vegan days again, but they accommodated that well. It was an American kid working the counter. I forgot to ask his name, but he was friendly and helpful. He said the owners had taught him how to eat with chop sticks, something I might have to learn myself someday. I ordered the tofu bowl because I want to learn more about the stuff. It turned out to be probably the best I’ve tried yet, and tofu is easy to mess up. There were lots of big chunks (I had to cut them in half) seasoned well– good flavor but not too much of it. The rice was a little sticky and even rich, but not bad. I was offered extra sauce and I should have taken it because that stuff was very tasty and there wasn’t quite enough of it.
The décor is nice too. Tasteful, thematic, and clean. Prices are competitive.
One last note: Do NOT get the large bowl. I’m huge and the regular bowl is big enough for me.

Another of my favorite 3-​star restaurants in Lawrence. Don’t laugh.
Nothing wrong with 3 stars! It’s A-​OK. But don’t get overly excited because it’s not necessarily a destination… it’s an off-​beat (to my knowledge) small chain serving a fairly limited menu out of plastic bowls, plastic forks and styrofoam cups. The staff is friendly, the place is clean, and the food gets to you quick and hot.
Not my idea of a meal out, more of a «I need something fast and filling now.» Cheap, fast, close to the University, it’s a popular destination with the college crowd. However, also a great carry-​out choice for those nights when you’d like to simply collapse in a heap in front of the tube and watch Leave It To Beaver reruns and fall asleep. A belly full of their rice bowl will speed you on your way. Put a beer on top of one of these and you’ve done serious work.
We stick with the hamburger Don, a rice bowl with vegetables or egg (we order with both) and a hamburger patty on top. Mix in with some srichacha sauce and it’s a delightful take home meal. The rice is plump, moist and flavorful (big grain) and the meat has been mixed with (guessing) some flavorful breading to keep it all very tender so it can be broken up and mixed together. We also can go for their noodle bowls on a cold night. Rice bowls come in regular and large, and at around $ 6.50 and $ 8.75 that’s a big meal.
One thing: if you can eat five rice bowls in one sitting it’s on the house, but trust me, Adam Richmond will fail this one, and you’d be stupid to try (did I just call Adam Richmond stupid?) Can’t imagine getting two of these down, but five? Their wall is filled with photos of miserable faces that made it to two and three bowls then had to pay. Dumb trick, this one.
As others have pointed out, good tea as well. We’ll return to Don Don when the circumstance calls for their chow, and it will.

2.5 stars.
I get the niche that Dondon is trying to fill (cheap fast Japanese), and maybe it hits the spot for some people but there is too much MSG in this stuff for it to do more than give me a headache and dry mouth after eating. Seriously if you can’t handle MSG this place isn’t for you (or maybe try a rice bowl, just don’t get anything with broth) — it’s umami-​licious.
Also, why is it that the beef noodle soup advertises thinly sliced beef, yet I was served a broth with only 4 CHUNKS of what looked like beef stew meat?
That being said. The prices are reasonable ($ 6 – 8 for most bowls) and I think the ingredients are fresh. I don’t expect to be back often, though.