DONBURI

I stopped by Donburi for dinner on Halloween with a group of friends and one baby. For being a drama geek and occasional cosplayer, I’ve never loved dressing up for Halloween. Revealing costumes aren’t me and I’m usually not witty enough for any “punny” ones. This year, being the old bores we are, The Hubby and I hung out with friends and spent the night playing One Night Ultimate Werewolf. But first, there was dinner.

Atmosphere: Our group was one of the first diners in the restaurant at 6pm. I find in general, Markham restaurants fill up later (around 7pm) and stay busy till 10-11pm. I found the restaurant homey and relaxed. One area of the wall was dedicated to Donburi inspired drawings from customers. The long and narrow kitchen had a half wall, through which customers could watch orders being prepped.

Service: First note was that bills for parties of more than 5 could not be split. I found this odd as usually, the larger the party the greater need to split a bill. However if splitting posed a challenge to the restaurant, I can understand and there were visible notices with the policy posted. While friendly, service was inconsistent.I found our server was attentive at the beginning of our visit while everyone arrived, sat down and ordered, but as the restaurant became busier, attention to our table declined. It took several tries before we flagged down a server to get the bill.

Food: To share at the table, we ordered the Spicy Gyuu Fries, Chicken Karaage and Nagoya Style Chicken Wings. Of the three, my favourite was the fries. Topped generously with thin slices of marinated beef, seaweed and bonito flakes, the fries were crispy and perfect were sharing. The karaage was also a good portion size and came drizzled with two mayos. I was disappointed the Nagoya style wings didn’t come with the wing tips, my favourite part. The wings were fried without a batter, resulting in an ultra crispy skin and sprinkled with seasoning.

Two dishes our table ordered (pictured below), which I didn’t personally try were the Omurice and Umami bowl. My friend ordered the umami bowl out of pure curiosity with the vague menu description. The rice bowl came topped with a variety of toppings including cucumber, fake crab sticks, mayo, tobiko, green onions and lots more.

For myself, I tried the Tuna Tataki don while The Hubby had the Pork Katsu Curry Rice. With all of the bowls at Donburi, there was lots of rice included and this was a filling meal. The Hubby found his bowl satisfying with a good strong curry flavour. I really enjoyed my tuna tataki bowl. Instead of the pictured slices of tuna in the menu, my bowl was topped with shredded slices of sashimi tuna. This was actually a lot easier to eat in terms of rice to topping ratio. The tuna was fresh, plentiful and accented by hints of mayo and tobiko.

One option on the menu I loved was that you could order the Gyudon over fried tofu instead of rice. This was a great option for anyone with gluten sensitivities or looking for a non rice choice. Japanese cuisine is so much more than just sushi and donburi is one of the most versatile and popular dishes. Donburi does a great job of bringing this dish to Markham, with their own unique flair.