DOMU - Dr. Phillips — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

My husband and I tried this location for the first time today. We came for brunch. We were seated right away, but it took awhile for our waiter to come to our table. First off, the music was way too loud. I like to be able to hear the people at my table, and the waiter. The decor of the restaurant is nice, and it doesn’t feel as claustrophobic as their East End Market location. I do wish they had chairs with better backs though. You can’t hang your purse off of the backs of their chairs because they have rounded edges.

We tried the fried chicken sando, tuna don, spicy tonkotsu ramen, uni mazemen, and pure milk soft serve ice cream. Let me begin by saying that the fried chicken sando isn’t actually a sando (big disappointment). A sando is defined as Japanese milk bread filled with pork cutlets, eggs, or fruit. It should be meat inside of two pieces of crust less white bread. The fried chicken sando was just a regular chicken sandwich. To be fair, the description on the menu does say potato bread bun, but I do think they should change the name to sandwich. It wasn’t bad. The fried chicken was very crispy, and it was a nice surprise to see that it was dark meat instead of white meat, but I wouldn’t get it again. It was extremely greasy, and not easy to eat. A “sando” would’ve been very clean and easy to eat. Chibi Domu has real sandos, so I expected this location to have real sandos too.

The tuna don was delicious! I usually don’t like raw tuna that much, but the tuna was good quality. The watermelon radish had an overpowering flavor, so that was best eaten separately, but I would definitely get this dish again.

The spicy tonkotsu ramen was good, although I felt like the spicy flavor overpowered the tonkotsu flavor. Maybe next time I should just get tonkotsu instead. Their chashu is some of the best. It’s juicy and fatty. I was disappointed that they didn’t have the black garlic oil add-on.

The uni mazemen wasn’t what my husband was expecting, but he did end up liking it. There wasn’t much uni, and the ramen was cooked al dente. The butter sauce and al dente noodles made it seem more like an Italian dish than a Japanese dish.

The pure milk soft serve was very strongly flavored and the pretzels really complimented the soft serve. To me, it tasted like butterscotch, and I’m not really a big fan of butterscotch.

Our server Aaron was very good. I originally wanted to order the fried chicken sando and the yuzu citrus pepper domu wings, but he informed me that the fried chicken sando and the wings were both yuzu citrus pepper so I was basically ordering the same thing. I ended up not getting the wings because of that, and I appreciated his honesty.

I have only been to Domu for the dinner menu, but I wanted to try the brunch menu, and honestly don’t think the brunch menu is worth it. They have so many good dishes that are only offered during dinner, so if I do come back, it’ll...

If you are going to Domu, go to the original. This place is just not the same.

The best kept "secret" in Orlando for many years was Domu. Located in a small market, you would have to get there sometimes hours before just to get a table. They didn't do reservations and they made some of the best Ramen, err... Food, in Orlando. But it was all worth the wait.

But they expanded. And after trying Domu in Dr. Phillips twice, I can safely say it is just not the same.

The food is good at this location. However, it isn't great, not like it used to be. The wings are the best they have to offer.

My guest had the Curry bowl and the first thing she noted was the chicken tasting off. She thought it might have been undercooked or quite possibly old, and was considering sending it back, but we couldn't prove this to be the case so her and I switched meat.

I had a stomach ache the next day but I can't say it was due to the meat either. So my rating is not reflective of this, as we could have easily rectified the situation.

But the overall quality of food is just not the same. The noodles are the same, but the broth, one of the best experiences of any ramen, was lacking flavor, especially the pleasant tastes it has originally been known for. I asked for mine to be spicy and found it INCREDIBLY funny they charged me a dollar for a Spice Bomb. I'm still dumbfounded by this charge! And to top it off, it wasn't even spicy! Also, I love garlic, but I'm pretty sure the dumped the entire jar into my soup. (My bet is the garlic was not fresh). It didn't blend well with the broth, overpowering the taste. My food was good, not great, and the pork was delicious and was my favorite part of my soup. (I kept one of the 2 pork belly chunks for myself, as to not contradict my exchange with my partner).

Since we sat at the bar, we were served by the bartender. With 2 bartenders on duty, and at times the bartender talking to the other and checking her phone at times, we waited quite a bit for her service. I personally don't mind what they do (hygienically) as they keep timely tabs on us.

An example of a wasted sale was the fact that my guest wanted a cocktail, but we were already too far done with our food before the bartender checked on us. My guest lost her desire.

Overall, I hold Domu to a high standard due to my several positive experiences at the original and this location is just not the same. They lost their vibe in expansion and I don't plan to be back to this location...

Was doing some shopping at the Outlets today, and decided to finally give this place a try at the recommendation of many friends. For at least a year now I’ve been hearing how the wings here are voted best in Orlando, and honestly, I’ve very surprised.

Got there around 1:30 with plans to sit at the bar. Despite it being more than half empty, I waited 30 mins in line outside to be seated per the request of the kid seating people.

They were clearly understaffed because there was one busboy, one server, a bartender pulling double duty serving the outside seats and a food runner for a very full restaurant. Also, another staff member who seemed to just be standing around talking. The bartender was great, friendly, chatty, and great at his craft, despite being short staffed.

On weekends, they only offer a brunch menu during the day, so I ordered both types of wings, since I wasn’t feeling ramen and everything else I wanted to try was not available.

They came out after about 15 minutes. The Domu wings were not very warm and had too much batter on them. They look like big wings, but when you bite into them, you learn it’s mostly the batter. They kept cutting the roof of my mouth, and it took a lot of work to get to the meat. The flavor was not bad but since the chicken was cold, it wasn’t my favorite.

The seasonal flavor was a Yuzu and Citrus pepper. The flavors did not pair well. They were overly salty, and left a bad taste in my mouth.

I did like how they had a variety of seating options: indoor, outdoor, bar seating and some cool chair and couch options at the front to give it a lounge feel. I also really liked the open kitchen.

Overall, my experience was very disappointing, and I feel this spot if overhyped. As someone who lives north of the city, I would say it’s de finely not work the drive. Lucky I was already...