The Place Located at level three of the newest mall in the east, Donburi King is a one week old concept in Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) which specialises in various types of donburi bowls. The causal Japanese restaurant is not big, with a few tables and seats around the counter where you get to watch the chefs in action.

The Food The ordering process is self-service where you enter your order on a screen at the entrance before you are being seated. There are more than ten types of donburi to choose from, with prices from S$16.80. The most over the top option is the Donburi King Signature Kaisen Don (S$58.80) where you get Hiroshima oysters, salmon, scallop, king prawns, uni and squid. The flavours are fresh in general, with my favourite being the salmon and scallop. The rice here uses vinegared sushi rice.

This dish is quite pricey, and I do feel that it would be better to offer a more affordable luxe version of this.

For tuna lovers, the Ootoro Don (S$35.50) is the option to go for where you can expect very fresh flavours of the tuna belly. Another noteworthy mention at Donburi King is that it uses a 100 years old soy sauce specially imported from Miyazaki, which is sweeter than usual and goes well with the sashimi.

One relatively more affordable option on the menu is the Iberico Pork Slice Yakiniku Don (S$23.80), which comes in a mountain of the sliced pork. This dish surprises me most, as the pork slices are very tender and have a balanced proportion of lean and fat meat.

For side dishes, the options are quite varied with the likes of Marinated Japanese Sweet Potato (S$5) and Saba Misoni (S$5).

Rants The small is quite small, and you can pretty much expect a queue during peak hours.

Will I Return Again? A good option to consider if you are in PLQ for a casual Japanese meal. The idea of Donburi King is to create overflowing rice bowls, though I feel that prices could be even more competitive for some of the dishes.

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 3.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 3.5/5
Ambience: 3/5
Overall Experience: 3.5/5

Donburi King 爆爆王
10 Paya Lebar Road
Paya Lebar Quarter, #03-26
Singapore 409057
Tel: +65 6611 6657

Opening Hours
Monday to Thursday: 11:30 to 3pm; 5pm to 10pm
Friday to Sunday: 11:30am to 10pm

Ranted by The Ranter