As I walked into«Don Don,» I scanned the room and the menu for any sign of ramen. Their menu was a short page that was missing the very dish I cam here for. The lady at the counter informed me that ramen was only served during dinner. Alas, what was I to do?! Spontaneity was hoisted upon me, so I opted for the next best thing on rainy day, the udon! I chose the beef udon and went into the next room to find a table. The restaurant was not crowded but there were many tables and chairs shoved into the modest space. I sat at a triangle shaped table facing the window and within a few minutes, my lunch had arrived. The generous portion surprised me for a dish that cost $ 7.70. What a bargain! Nestled within a large bowl was a heaping pile of sliced, tender beef, grilled onions, tofu, seaweed, and mixed greens atop a bed of udon noodles swimming in a flavourful broth. The broth tasted like sukiyaki especially with the beef and onions to complement it. The mixed green salad in the noodle bowl was surprising, generally that is reserved for cabbage or spinach. The whole meal was very satisfying and I walked away(quite slowly) from a deliciously comforting experience. I’m sure to return to sample their ramen at dinner and will let you know if the rating holds true! :)
Eric H.
Place rating: 4 Melbourne, Australia
Solid relatively cheap ramen and other Japanese comfort food dishes. Price is cheap and the quality is good ‘for the price’. Come in for quick service and fill your belly with warm Japanese comfort food.
Stephen B.
Place rating: 4 Melbourne, Australia
Dontoo is a Japanese rice and ramen café in Little Lonsdale Street. Orders are fast and arrive at your table even faster, but in a courteous and efficient manner and being a small venue it’s likely you’ll be sharing a table. I had the soba noddles which were great and came complete with a garnish of sorrel. Dootoo is more than you would expect for a $ 7 lunch venue.
Noko M.
Place rating: 4 Melbourne, Australia
I’m a big fan of Don Don, and has been since 2009 Their foods serve fast, are cheap and better than those junk burgers. I’m not going to complain about serving size since I knew most of complaints can be countered by «what do you expect when you pay 6 – 7 $» But, what I’m going say is only a suggestion, it seems the quality of foods seem to have dropped. The first time when I had Don Don’s curry rice was sooo fantastic, you can even smell curry from a mile away. but nowadays the curry rice seems to be only rice with curry spirit, or rather a brown gravy with a hint of curry(haha). I know they didn’t increase their price for a very long time, but honestly I wouldn’t mind to pay a little more so that they can keep up the same quality standard as it was :)
Tresna L.
Place rating: 5 Melbourne, Australia
It’s simple. Come here at night, order Ramen with double cha sui. Just as much delicious pork brothy goodness, but DOUBLE pork. Yeah baby. You can even order two sizes of noodle… «regular»(loosen your pants) or «large»(good god you won’t eat for a week). I stick to the regular and still struggle to eat it all. This is serious Ramen business kids. You’ll go «ooooo» when you eat the squidgy centred egg, «ahhh» when you slurp the pork broth and you’ll start stamping your feet in delight when you get your chops around those noodles. This place won’t win any awards for décor, but for a quick dinner that is going to bring you pleasant dreams for weeks to come, this is the place to be.
Ricky C.
Place rating: 3 Sydney, Australia
This is faster than even fast-food but is actually not fast-food. It has exactly the same menu as its sister store Don Don on Swanston St but has more seating, which makes it quite popular for workers going for a quick and cheap lunch. Menu is limited(just the single page) and very cheap(all dishes are less than $ 10) but the food is definitely better and healthier McDonalds or Hungry Jacks. Their rice bowls are of a decent size and it all tastes quite good, I particularly like the curry rice. It’s obviously not the best Japanese food you’ll have, but for the price and the convenience it’s hard to match.
Toby N.
Place rating: 4 Fairfield, Australia
A great place for a quick, cheap lunch — it’s usually ready before you’re finished paying. My favourite is the curry chicken don — a big bowl of rice, chicken and curry sauce with some pickled ginger on the side — very tasty. There’s a small selection of soft drinks and beers available.
Miriam S.
Place rating: 3 Melbourne, Australia
This is the younger brother of Don Don, for those who don’t know. The gyoza was nice but lacked a bit of that charred crispy bottom I like. Again I had to go for the Charshu Ramen because to me it’s the true test of whether they’ve got the ramen recipe right. The broth was more flavoursome than I thought it would be but not as milky and deep as I would like. Something you’ll hardly every find in Melbourne is a perfectly cooked ramen egg. They should me infused with flavour and left gooey in the middle. It’s a masterful technique, but Melbourne ramens mostly just come with boring old hardboiled eggs. So very impressed they went for an authentic egg here. Well done. Call me old fashioned or narrow minded, but I just don’t like broccoli in my ramen. You also get a ball of hot chilli paste on the side, which I didn’t dare to touch. Chilli and I aren’t best of friends. So I don’t know whether this paste would’ve elevated the ramen to the next level, and I wasn’t willing to put my life on the line to find out. Overall though, it was pretty good.