Cheap Eats 2017: Donburi

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Salmon sashimi bowls at Donburi. Photo by Scott Suchman

About Donburi

Cost:

cuisines
Japanese
Location(s)
2438 18th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
1134 19th St NW
Washington, DC 20036

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Most of the menu at this quick-serve Adams Morgan spot—hardly wider than a foyer, with just 14 stools around the open kitchen—is devoted to the donburi rice bowls that make a robust meal (or two). They’re terrific, whether topped with shavings of brisket, caramelized onion, and an onsen egg or a lighter, brighter array of salmon sashimi, ginger, and wasabi. The quality of frying is just as much of a draw. Nuggets of chicken kara-age, marinated in miso and soy, pop with flavor and crunch. And you’ll dig into some of the city’s best fried shrimp, coated in panko and served with a tangy pink riff on tartar sauce. Also good: Unagidon, a rice bowl with eel; katusdon, a rice bowl with fried pork.