Foodie Friday: Don Japanese Kitchen

Walk into Don Japanese Kitchen and you enter an eclectic atmosphere.

The small restaurant is warm and welcoming with neon lighting, Japanese-themed art adorning the walls, cherry blossom stickers on the windows and a mural of a Japanese town filling a portion of the space.

Step up to the counter and the friendly staff greets you and helps you pick from Don’s menu. Once you make your selection, you’re given an oversized playing card — which the person behind the counter said was larger because of inflation — and welcomed to sit at one of the eatery’s communal style tables.

What to get:

During my visit to Don Japanese Kitchen, I admitted to the waiter that it was my first time. Thankfully, he gave me a list of his favorite dishes.

He highly recommended a new item on the menu — the Nan-Bomb ($10), which comes with large, popcorn chicken tossed with a pineapple habanero infused sweet and sour glaze. This new selection came served on a bed of white rice with cabbage, ginger and topped with nori. For first timers — like myself — I got to try the meal with onsen egg, which was an excellent addition.

This was a tasty dinner selection. The marinade had just the right amount of heat. The white rice, ginger and nori paired well together. The egg was a much welcomed part of the meal.

The Don Mac Katsu ($6) was also highly recommended. These mac and cheese bites come panko breaded and served with a side of Don’s lemon garlic aioli. This was a great starter to my meal.

The Don Fries were also recommended — one pound of waffle cut fries topped with Don’s house-made teriyaki sauce and spicy mayo. But one pound of fries was just too much for me.

If these items don’t interest you, consider the Don Chicken ($8.50), which comes with hand cut chicken dredged in seasoned flour, egg wash and panko bread crumbs, lightly fried and topped with Katsu sauce — a savory barbecue sauce). The box also comes served on a bed of white rice with cabbage and ginger. You can also get the Don Pork ($8.50), which is similar to the Don Chicken just with pork.

You can also try the teriyaki chicken ($9), which comes with sliced, marinated teriyaki chicken topped with house-made teriyaki sauce, crispy onions and seaweed. This meal also comes on a bed of rice, cabbage and ginger.

Don also has veggie you, which is medium-firm, non-GMO tofu, lightly fried in potato starch topped with house-made teriyaki sauce, crispy onions and seaweed topped on a bed of rice, cabbage and ginger.

There’s also pork belly ($11) simmered for six hours in Don’s teriyaki marinade on top of house-made teriyaki sauce and seaweed topped on a bed of white rice, cabbage and ginger.

If you’re looking for other options to start your meal, you can try the onion rings ($7) — a half-pound of thick battered onion rings topped with spicy mayo and teriyaki sauce. There's also the lion’s mane fritters ($3), which are lightly fried mushrooms topped with Don’s lemon garlic aioli. Don also has takoyaki — lightly fried octopus balls served with fish flakes, shredded seaweed topped with QP mayo and sweet and tangy tako sauce.

To view the full menu visit: https://don-japanese-kitchen.square.site.

If you go:

Don Japanese Kitchen is located at 829 N. LBJ Dr.

The restaurant is open Monday-Saturday between 4-11 p.m. Don is closed on Sundays.

Phone: 281-725-3686