Located in the food court of Misuwa, there's so many traditional Japanese dishes to choose from. I felt like fresh fish so I got the spicy tuna bowl. It indeed was a little spicy but not over the top spicy. It comes on top of a bed of salad and rice. The fish was fresh and it was the perfect amount for lunch. Greta place to grab food and then shop after. read more

Don Don Tei - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

This is inside Mitsuwa, one of the only healthier choices from the food court, and quite possibly one of the quicker ones to order from! The sashimi here is just okay, I don't think it's super fresh, but it is not bad either. There are days when their salmon has questionable color, but most days they look okay so, I'm not really sure. The last time I was here, we got a mixed seafood bowl and a salmon bowl. Both were okay. You add $2.50 I think for a set which comes with miso soup and a salad. read more

See all

Cheap eats in the Mitsuwa food court! Although it took some time for our food to come out, it was no biggie. In that time, you can explore the market or look at what the other small shops and kiosks have to offer. Exceptional customer service. We left Mitsuwa with our food, then opened our bowls to realize that we got a tempura don instead of a katsu don, so my bro went back inside, showed them what happened, and they let us keep the tempura don and made us a katsu don on the house. Wonderful. We got the: 1) Tempura don: -Huge crunchy pieces of tempura. Of all sorts and varieties! -Tastes great with the sauce they gave us as well. -The tempura was so good that we kinda got carried away and ate most of it, therefore leaving a huge bed of rice, but if eaten properly this is a hearty portion! -It came with shrimp, kabocha, pepper, carrot, and fish (I usually don't see this!) tempura and much more that I forgot about after we inhaled it. 2) Salmon don: -Plenty slices of fresh salmon. Not bad if you're in the mood for some fish. 3) Katsu don: -it's oyako don style with egg and onions. Lots of sauce and goes great with the rice. -Very filling. Not a bad place to grab some food if you're wanting some nice hearty rice dishes ! read more

See all

Located in the food court of Mitsuwa. Been coming here for years off and on for their Tonkatsu udon and tempura. Spicy Tonkatsu udon is also a favorite. There is usually a line here so I like to get there right when they open. Grab a tray, place your order, move on down through the tempura bar to pick up the tempura you want (or not) and pay at the end. Credit cards accepted. read more

I love katsudon! It's so nostalgic for me and brings back memories of my childhood. The katsudon was delicious and flavorful! They have different variety of donburi if you don't like tonkatsu. read more

Don Don Tei - Katsudon - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I've been to the Mitsuwa food court dozens of times and only decided to try this place out today. Ordered the Soba Noodle & Mini Don Set with hot soba and a chicken katsu don. Overall, it was just alright. It was my first time trying hot soba and I have to say I prefer the cold version. It's a clean and refreshing broth, but it was just lacking something. The katsu don featured pieces of crispy chicken katsu resting on a bed of rice along with onions and egg. The katsu wasn't my favorite. I've had better quality ones. The portions are really generous and I really struggled to finish this set! read more

Don Don Tei - Hot Soba Noodle & Mini Chicken Katsu Don Set - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

No good at all. Pork is hard , saggy , sauce no taste, green onion no wash . I give 3 star cause service is good. read more

Don Don Tei - No good - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Best Katsudon I've had in quite a while! I highly recommend this Don Don Tei restaurant. The food was excellent, and the customer service was outstanding read more

Don Don Tei - Ordering station, - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

For $13, you get exactly what you ask for here. Don Don Tei uses comparable grade sashimi slices you can get at the supermarket (Mitsuwa) itself. Nice variety of fish over a bed of rice, decent quality and freshness, what's to complain? It's good with a bit of soy sauce and wasabi. read more

Don Don Tei - Seafood Mix Don - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Delicious Katsu every time at a solid price. I've also tried their Oyakodon and it's great too. This is my go-to restaurant in Mitsuwa.

This place is hit and miss. A few weeks ago I tried the Katsudon and it was excellent. Half raw egg. Perfectly cooked and delicious. Today I got katsudon for my daughter and Oyakodon for myself. The eggs were so over cooked it was "ok" not excellent. I may try again next time in hopes this was just a one time glitch. Otherwise I'm back at Santouka for ramen. The potential is there for Don Don Tei to become great but they need to stay on top of how it's cooked or else they will fade away. Fingers crossed and I'm rooting for this restaurant. read more

This place is located in the food court in Mitsuwa marketplace. There were a lot of different delicious bowl options! I was craving fresh fish so I got the seafood don. It was about $11 for the bowl, which is an ok price for the amount of food. Plenty of rice, but the fish portion was kind of small. The ginger took up one quarter of the bowl. The fish tasted fresh and had a good texture. The food court gets super busy during weekends, so finding seats can be hard. Just be prepared to keep your eyes peeled for seats if you want to dine in. Overall no major complaints! read more

Don Don Tei - Seafood don - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Located inside the Mitsuwa Marketplace, in the food court. Place your order, find a seat, and wait for the delicious food to be ready. We tried the Katsu Don and the Tempura Bowl. They were both delicious! Its best to enjoy it right away. I shared my bowl with my almost 2 year old toddler and he loves the tempura! Husband also loved the katsu. Definitely recommend it! read more

Don Don Tei - Tempura bowl - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

All the dishes looked delicious, but the reality was a very subpar taste. I went to say Don Don Tei was the second longest line in the Mitsuwa food court, next to the ramen place. The staff was very hard-working and did their best to get through the line of customers but the dish I ordered, the Pork Katsu Don, was just not good! The sauce was pretty decent but the pork was hard. The upside is that it was very affordable. Overall, maybe a consideration if you're in a hurry and want something cheap and filling, but maybe try getting the chicken or a fish dish instead. read more

Don Don Tei - Pork Don - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Located inside the food court of mitsuwa. This place isn't anything super special but great solid spot that fits anyone's budget. Their Katsu don is delicious and very filling. I suggest asking for their extra sauce on the side if you like your rice extra saucy haha. I was so interested to get the seafood items such as tuna or salmon but wasn't sure if it's gonna be a good option given that it's a fast food. Overall I'd recommend their Katsu don as a good lunch or dinner option read more

Don Don Tei - Katsu don - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Lately we've been hitting up the Don Don Tei for its choices of combo meals and the cold matcha green tea. I order the soba noodle set which comes with tempura shrimp, tempura, sweet potato, tempura bell pepper and an extra tempura at the prepare-ers discretion. It changes. It comes out nice and crispy but be careful that first bite is super hot. I like to get the soba noodles hot which comes in a bowl of the soba noodles with a light, savory broth. The dish also comes with rice and I add on the soup and salad for the $2.00. The iced matcha green tea is the kind that is fresh, cold and mildly sweet but enough to satisfy the sweet tooth. Don Don Tei prices are reasonable and the food is good most of the time. Sometimes you could end up with a soggy katsu if ordered with the egg and last time we were here the salad was old and wilted. When I went to show the cashier she apologized and offered another which looked the same. read more

Don Don Tei - #17 with hot soba - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

super filling meal and very reasonably priced. the mini ten don came with shrimp, bell pepper, eggplant and sweet potato tempura with rice. the soba was delicious too. i would definitely come back to try their other bowls! read more

As an enthusiast of affordable eats, Don Don Tei gives you low-cost tasty food. My wife and I have been eating at this restaurant for several years and have always been happy with their food, until today. We ordered the Tempura Plate and a Salad Set (miso soup + salad). When I went to pick up our order I was surprised that they drizzled a teriyaki-style sauce over the rice and tempura. Normally, tempura comes with Tentsuyu (a soy-based dipping sauce). The teriyaki sauce drizzled over the top was odd. I sat down with my wife who found us a table in the always crowded food court. She opened the salad and started picking out pieces of gross black wilted salad greens. The tempura was dry without the dipping sauce. I didn't mind the sauce on the rice. My wife does not like a lot of sauce on her rice. She was very disappointed. We've had the Tempura in the past with the Tentsuyu which was very good. Now with the drizzled teriyaki sauce, not so good! We understand that restaurants need to find ways to save money in this economy, but keep dishes traditional. Hopefully, they haven't changed any of their other dishes. read more

Don Don Tei - Gross black wilted salad greens. - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I got the Salmon Don and it's pretty good. The salmon was buttery and for about $11 it's not too bad. The salmon color does look a bit off though. It's a lot more pale. But if I decide to grab some food at the Mitsuwa food court I might get this again. read more

Don Don Tei - a bowl of food on a table - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Located in the Mitsuwa food court, this food stand has two things going for it: 1. the perky young lady at the register 2. well made white rice and plenty of it On my visit I ordered the tonkatsu set. The four pieces of pork were, at best, average quality, and the panko coating was hard, greasy and very hard & crunchy. No self-respecting Japanese chef would pass this off as tonkatsu. The katsu sauce to accompany the pork was really lousy; far too vinegary. The side salad was fine but the miso soup was not to my liking - too much kelp or bonito or something...it had too much "taste of the ocean" for me. Very disappointing. read more

Don Don Tei - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

Good food and nice ambience. It is located in the Mitsuwa Marketplace food court. I love coming here for a quick lunch. I got the tuna don and oyakudon. The food was very good. Service is a bit slow but I understand they get a lot of orders. read more

Don Don Tei - Tuna don and oyakudon - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Food is gross. Not even Japanese. The grocery store side of mitsuwa is even better than this spot.

Straight to the point: Food court donburi. Cheap and filling? What's more to say? Even the special #5, which is a bigger portion, is still under $10! read more

Don Don Tei - #5 special. - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Don Don Tei is right inside Mitsuwa grocery store in Costa Mesa. I ordered the Chicken Katsu combo special the Chicken Katsu was crispy...and I mean really CRISPY! Hopefully you like that. Also they include rice and soup which helps make the combo special especially filling. The folks at Don Don Tei were kind enough to give me a sample of their green tea. It tasted so nice that I had to order one of those too! And it was only a buck more for the tea! Haven't tried the Katsu at Don Don Tei? Well, I guess you should next time you're at Mitsuwa! read more

Don Don Tei - Katsu Combo Meal...with some special green tea! - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

First time getting a meal here and I already love it. The nice lady at the counter took our order and it was probably less than 5 min that we received our orders. We will be coming back to this restaurant during our next visit. Thank you for your hospitality! -accepts major credit cards read more

Don Don Tei - Chicken katsu don with some sweet green tea. - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Delicious! Always order this one when I'm here. Today my aunt got it. She was in love and said it reminded her of the time (years and years and years ago, back in the 70s/80s) when she used to live in Japan. Comfort food at its finest! Will always stop by here whenever i visit Mitsuwa! Love all the other eateries and get specific favorites from each haha! read more

See all

Mitsuwa is a great place to be in general, and Don Don Tei offers a lot of classic Japanese dishes that are perfect for a quick lunch or dinner! The menu's relatively simple but there are options for whatever you're craving, whether that's fish, pork, or chicken. I got the set with cold soba and tempura. The portions were generous and, even though it was take-out, the tempura stayed crispy the entire ride home. The staff I met were also incredibly kind and handling COVID well! read more

Don Don Tei - Menu - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Any time I visit Mitsuwa, I always love to go their food court, especially Don Don Tei! Their bowls are totally worth price and they're inexpensive, which was about $8-9. My go-to meal is always the Pork Katsu Don! Do know that this place is cash only so make sure to bring cash! The person who took my order was really great. I had 40 quarters and had him calculate to make sure I gave him the correct amount. He took his time and counted to make sure and didn't mind that I had so many quarters since he's used to it. He was super nice that I actually tipped him for the help. The food itself, I feel like the quality of the meat dropped slightly where it's hard to chew the Katsu like it was before, but it still has the perfect taste and I'll still order this one whenever I visit because it's super good! Basically it's rice below, then 4 or 5 pork Katsu and egg and onions around it. Only reason why I gave it a 4 star instead of a 5 star is because it's cash only... I don't carry cash so it's tough for me. They have an Back of America ATM inside Mitsuwa in case you don't have cash. If you don't use Back of America, be aware with the transaction fee. But I recommend trying it out if you haven't already! read more

Don Don Tei - Pork Katsu Don - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I ordered the chicken Katsu don buri -$8.00. What I like about this is the bowl isn't over filled with rice. There's a good ratio of rice to chicken. The onions also helped mellow out the sweet sauce. This place is busy but staff is still friendly. read more

Don Don Tei - Chicken Katsu don - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

While other food joints inside Mitsuwa's food court is cash only. It was Don Don Tei for lunch. Since I don't carry cash on hand, this place appeared to be the option thanks in part of their credit card sign on the counter. Coming in, I see their simple menu of rice, egg, chicken katsu, and ramen offerings under $10. I went for their Eggs over Chicken Bowl. I don't remember the name of it, I believe it was item #6. Anyways, it was a boring choice. I did taste most of the seaweed flavor due to the toppings, and I'm not a fan of its algae flavor. Their was barely any teriyaki sauce on the layers of eggs and onions. Also, there were few charbroiled chicken pieces in the bowl I had to take some of my brother's Katsu Chicken, just so I can finish what's left of my rice for balance. The overall quality was slightly below average, l'd skip this totally. Their Chicken Katsu plate offers more cutlets of meat, however they're thin. So you'll end tasting more of the breaded batter. Make sure you have teriyaki, soy sauce, or curry sauce handy, its not as tasty as they appear. The cabbage and cucumbers that came with it looked pretty sad. Maybe if I'm in for a meal at this food court, I guess it's best to have cash ready and not have to settle for mediocre. read more

I visited Don Don Tei in the Mitsuwa food court on October 12. Prices are relatively great, but I wish portions were a bit bigger. If I hadn't ordered an extra side of miso soup for a dollar extra, my katsu don wouldn't have been enough. For the katsu don that I was given, the katsu seemed more like chops than slices of a whole pork chop, if that makes sense. Not a complaint though, just an observation. I would've loved it if more egg was used for the katsu son though! That would have been awesome. read more

Don Don Tei - Katsu don - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Good food but a little on the expensive side. The $10 spicy tuna bowl I bought was pretty much all rice. The fish was very fresh and tasted great but there was very little of it. Maybe this is for all the restaurants but it was also annoying to not be able to pay with a credit card. We will see if this is an everyday thing or we just hit a day when the cc machines weren't working very well. There was a special to add a small salad and small Miso Soup to the meal for $1.40 and I was debating doing it but after I was still hungry after the bowl, I realized I should have bought the side soup and salad. The food did come out rather quickly, so that was nice. I may try the salmon bowl next time and I will definitely be purchasing the soup and salad if that is still an option! read more

Don Don Tei - Spicy tuna bowl. Looks so good!! - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

We had previously tried out two different places on our first visit to the food court in Mitsuwa and wanted to go try another two new places this time. We already ordered a full meal at Gyutan Tsukasa, so we went to Don Don Tei next. We were debating between the special katsu-don ($8.90) and the katsu-don and couldn't figure out the difference between the two. According to the cashier, they are the same thing, except the special katsu-don is the larger size! It wasn't obvious from the picture menu, which is why we were asking, so we were a little surprised at how abrupt and snarky the cashier was to our question, as if it was a silly question to ask. Nevertheless, we still ordered the special katsu-don and it was pretty good, though it was a little too liquidy for my taste. A good spot for lunch, but not one of my current top favorites out of all the food court options. read more

Stopped by Don Don Tei to try out their salmon Don and it was pretty good! The food court at mitsuwa is always packed so be sure to scope out a place to sit while you're in line. Don Don Tei was super quick and efficient in taking my order and call my number once it was ready. Overall, the salmon don (~$10.50) was good and hit the spot. Parking can be a bit tricky as the marketplace is busy and there's only a small lot. read more

It is located in the food court in the Japanese market. A place for Poke and Ramen: Don't expect too much when you grab a quick lunch. I find decent quality with a good price below $10. I go with number #13 or #8 (picture) This place is close to the airport (3 miles). Free parking in the Japanese market read more

See all

Don't know what everyone else is referring to, but I love their salmon don. Perhaps they improved over time, but their mixed seafood don is also a good choice. Compared to other places, this will always be my go to when I'm craving nigiri in a bowl. read more

Don Don Tei - Love their salmon don! - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Loved this place. The cashier was so helpful. I ordered the 3 different types of fish bowl. Very fresh very yummy. Added the miso soup and salad very good made it a wonderful meal. Also the green tea was great. Will definitely be back. So wonderful and such friendly cashier. Really enjoyed it read more

Don Don Tei is located in the Mitsuwa Market and like all the places in the food court, they are cash only. I ordered a poke bowl ($8.60) which consisted of salmon, tuna, white rice, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, red and green bell pepper. The bowl wasn't very big or filling and is missing many of the items that are common place in a poke bowl, including: crab meat, avocado, masago, ginger, and garlic chips. There is also no option to choose different fish. I also ordered a miso soup and bowl of salad for $1.40 more. While the fish itself wasn't bad and had no sinew, the whole bowl itself was lacking many of the items that are now standard in a poke bowl. The miso soup and salad were pedestrian. Overall the food and value were not such a great deal, considering that there are now 3 other really good poke places within a mile of this one. read more

Don Don Tei - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

I was reluctant to try this place because it only has three stars but I got tired of eating Santouka all the time so wanted to try something else at the Mitsuwa food court. As the name suggests, this place just serves rice bowls with various toppings of meat or fish. I tried salmon (raw) bowl on my first visit and I thought it was pretty decent. It wasn't the best but at least the salmon tasted clean without any fishy smell or taste. It did require little bit of soy sauce and wasabi to give it a taste but I thought it was definitely acceptable. The Mix Poki-Don was much better. It's really more like a sashimi bowl than a traditional poke bowl but it really didn't matter to me. The fish was a combination of thinly sliced salmon and ahi with little bit of soy sauce added. it had shredded lettuce, sliced cucumbers, green onions, and some shiso leaves. The shiso leaves were somewhat overpowering at times so you may want to take these out if you don't like the fragrance. The fish tasted fresh and I liked the overall taste. The rice was firm, slightly cool, and had little touch of vinegar (I think). This will definitely be my second choice at this food court if I'm not in the mood for Santouka ramen. read more

Don Don Tei - Mix Poki-Don - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

It's hard to decide what to order here since everything looks amahzing! I finally decided on the dish labeled as #1: Ten-don. When my order was up I enjoyed a generous portion of panko breaded tempura shrimp and veggies over rice. The order was up within 10 minutes and my friend and I enjoyed our meal in the bright food court of the Mitsuwa. Prices here are very fair for lunch and you'd be hard pressed to find this quality of lunch outside these four walls for this price and this quality! I know where I'm voting on having lunch next time i'm in town! read more

Don Don Tei - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California