Donkai - The Exchange TRX — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

The kind of restaurant that is fun if you want to try at least once in your life - if you’re a fan of Japanese food :)

Most of the staffs are generally friendly. The waiter kindly explained to us the menu and how to order when we were waiting for our turn, and was greeted with ‘Welcome to Donkai’ from the other staffs when it was our turn to go in. We went on a Saturday around 12 pm during the Keretapi Sarong weekend - hence huge crowd around trx but there was surprisingly a short queue at the restaurant, waited for less than 10 mins (for two people).

Food was okay - there are many complimentary sauces and condiments so it’s okay if you take the original flavour. The waiter at the front recommended us to take the truffle and the black sauce. Truffle sauce was delicious for us - tasted a bit like mushroom soup. We personally didn’t like the black sauce. But so many extras of both sauces - if I ever come again I will opt for the original flavour as the complimentary sauces at the counter tastes good as well - just forgot the name. Or just opt for one people to buy sauce then to share between two people.

SHOUTOUT TO THE STAFF NAMED ZIYU. Our original cook just put the beef at our plate and didn’t say anything (maybe because he’s a guys so he’s shy? 🤣) but Ziyu came over later and explain on all the complimentary sauces / kimchi / seasonings and recommended us which one to try… she also asked us many time if we want ro refill our soups / rice / veggies.

Unlimited refills of rice / soup / veggies. The size of the hamburg is okay to eat with half the portion of rice so if you’re a big eater can order two / three hamburgs. One was enough for someone like me but at that point in time I had too many snacks so I wasn’t that hungry.

Price i think is on the higher side, but as it is located inside TRX I think it’s understandable. I am not dying to go here again but it’s not like I wouldn’t repeat it ever again - it’s fun...

overhyped and overrated.

First of all, we noticed the sour wet cloth smell upon being seated. I thought it was just the floor cleaning tools but then my partner noticed the same smell on the sauce bottles too. Disgusting smell to be eating around the entire time. The rice, soup and other dishes we ordered while queueing were already there as we were seated, which was fine but since the patty took a while the rice and soup became cold. The miso soup, had almost zero taste of miso. It was literally boiled mushroom water at best. I then noticed the server who put the vegetables on our hot plate were also the same person cleaning up the tables and WITH THE SAME COOKING GLOVE THREW TRASH INTO THE BIN AND PRESSED IT DOWN. Golden! Just what I needed to see before I ate. Nobody informed us how the food would be served, where the chopsticks were etc so we cut into the uncooked patty since it took forever and another server only halfway through came with scissors to cut the patties into smaller chunks.my hotplate was too hot so my patty overcooked while my partner’s hotplate barely cooked his patty until we had to call someone else to crank it up. Btw there’s little to no difference in taste between the angus and wagyu and it’s similar to the ones u get at supermarkets like Ben’s. Having FOC in house tea could’ve helped a little but of course everything has a price here. In short, we paid RM140 for a meal that’s not worth the price at all. Not a fan of any of the sauces on the table but maybe that’s just my tastebuds. They were underwhelming with no “depth” nor was any of them special....

So my friend told me about this trendy eatery joints at TRX. That few times we passed by, it's crazy jam packed but this week we decided to give it a try, joining in the queue at around 6-ish in the evening.

The menu are like leaflets available at the entrance on a stand. Just grab one as you wait in the queue, giving you ample of time to choose what you like to have.

The design of the shop gives the vibe of an ordinary eatery in Japan. It's not entirely spacious. The crew was warm, friendly and accommodating to all questions asked.

We ordered: One set double patty of chicken and Angus beef with truffle sauce One set double patty of Angus beef with black sauce. Wagyu meat skewer (They were out of drinks that day so they allow us to get out drinks from outside.) The combo set comes with a bowl of rice, miso soup and one pasteurised egg. The rice, miso, vegetables are bottomless but we only top up vegetables and one bowl of rice since we ordered double patties.

The servicing crew serves and guides you what to do as they serve you with the intention that you will enjoy the meal. The person-in-charge was very friendly and we had a good chat while he supervised all that was happening. The person who grilled our meat was always with a smile and serves our plate very well.

The price maybe a little high for the size of the patty but it's TRX, so that was expected. Overall our experience was great. Despite the queue, the crew tries to sit everyone accordingly. Keep up the good service and...