Hola! Are you a fan of gyu-tan don? If your answer is yes, you might want to keep reading this post. 😉
I was invited to Negiya last month and the agenda was to taste and give input some of the new menu preview. As a new mild-fan of gyu-tan don, and in the quest of tasting the best gyu-tan don, I went there without hesitation.
The location itself is in the busy heart of Jakarta, inside City Walk Sudirman. I went there in the afternoon and met quite a lot of foodies. The event started soon with the opening introduction by a stand-up comedian, Ragil. After quite some times, we were also being introduced to the owner, Ms. Merry and a short story about their effort in travelling to Australia in order to find the secret to the famous Gyu-Tan Don.
To shorten up the whole story, we were invited to be honest in expressing our impression about their food. During the visit, to tell you the truth, my impression wasn’t all positive. But as a matter of fact, judging by one visit only, things could be quite biased. So, it took me a second visit to sum up the whole impression about Negiya Donburi.
With the summary of both visits, here are my opinions.
# Menya Gyutan Don (IDR 85 k) + Extra Gyutan (IDR 20 k)
I was pretty excited to taste this specific dish, mostly due to its good reputation. Knowing that it has been improved, made me more eager to have a try. The expectation was automatically set quite high and to say the truth, it was pretty good! There was a significant difference about this gyutan from Negiya compared to some others that I’d tried before. While some might appeal more in their saucy character, the gyutan here was more naked. By naked, I actually meant that the gyutan here was more honest and more about the real taste and texture that came from the gyutan without much gimmick. The highlight was actually the crunchy texture and its light and fragrant gyutan. Oh, you can actually ask for extra gyutan with only IDR 20 k! The extra gyutan was generous and I needed that! 😉 The spiciness itself can actually be adjusted. So you should actually ask for more if you like it spicy!
Here are the pictures of the Gyutan Don with extra gyutan.
# La Karubi Don (IDR 89 k)
La Karubi Don was pretty much awesome as well. The sauce used is actually Korean sauce. The taste seemed quite similar to teriyaki, but somehow more complex and lighter at the same time. By marinating it all around the short ribs, the result was pretty great with a very seamless flavour. What I didn’t like was the bone which was disturbing my good time with the meat. ;P
# Japan Steak Don (IDR 119k)
Spoiler alert! This donburi was my favorite amongst all that I had there.
The highlight was obviously the fine steak slices. It was finely seasoned and grilled. I love the additional fried garlic flakes that really enhanced the overall flavour, making it even more addictive. Eating the steak with a good quality steamed rice and soft sunny side up was the best part of the whole dining experience at Negiya. It was a no brainer!
# Chicken Karaage
The Chicken Karaage was gorgeous. The coating was somehow different to the commonly-known karaage. It was more crisp and light. With a touch of chili sauce or chili oil, it was simply lovely.
# Grilled Salmon Miso (IDR 79k/set)
Salmon never fails. And this one did not either. We got to try the salmon without the whole set menu (too full already!) and it was lovely with fragrant savoury miso sauce. You can have this in a set menu with only IDR 79 k.
# Mochi Ice Cream
The mochi ice cream was quite nice! I especially love the coffee mochi ice cream. While the coffee ice cream might be a clear winner, the mango mochi ice cream was surprisingly appealing as well with its tropical refreshing character!
# Infused Water
Well, overall, when it comes to food, the experience was fairly positive. To point out what I loved there, the Japanese Steak and Gyutan Don were real good. One specific input though, is that the service might really need an improvement. Even though coming here under a specific event, the waiter and waitresses seemed quite inactive, lost or confused. During my first visit, I tried to call (and wave my hand to) several waiters like 4 times, and nobody actually responded at the first call. Maybe it’s just the nerve since it was quite crowded. 😉
All in all, the food by Negiya Donburi is really quite exciting. If you’re a die-hard fans of Gyutan Don, you should come here and indulge yourself in the gyutan paradise. And if you don’t like gyutan, no worry, the Japan Steak Don is an even better option! 😉
NEGIYA DONBURI | JAKARTA
Citywalk Sudirman, 1st Floor
Jl. KH Mas Mansyur, Sudirman, Jakarta
Phone: +6221-29704051
Instagram: @NegiyaDonburi