Don Don Donki and its penguin mascot are absolutely unstoppable and have just launched its newest outlet in Jurong Point near Boonlay MRT.
I stopped by to check out this highly anticipated new supermarket outlet, which slotted right into the vacancy Fairprice created months ago.
This new Don Don Donki is in B1 of Jurong Point, fittingly near Japan Street's entrance.
I'm curious to see the effects it may have on the other shops in the street.
Several of their products compete over many similar needs, but DonDonDonki also brings another level of gravity to the mall.
We'll likely see some shakeup in the shops or the product lineups soon, but as a consumer, you got to be happy with the additional choices it presents.
This post is different from the usual review post that I do. I'll take a look and highlight some of the features in this new iteration of Don Don Donki that caught my eye.
Don Don Donki at Jurong Point
Address: 1 Jurong West Central 2, #B1-09 Jurong Point, Singapore 648886
Web: https://www.dondondonki.com/sg/
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/hnMzWXxhY9SLyEbm9
This post required a lot of blurring edits for the pictures!
That's how insanely crowded this outlet was during one of its initial weekends since its launch. Some pictures have so many blurred edits that I thought I might as well have blurred the whole photo!
Jokes aside, you may notice this outlet's most significant feature at the supermarket's entrance.
SENSEN
It's SENSEN, an eat-in sushi restaurant within the premise itself, with a nice variety of sushi on the menu. I've managed to capture part of the MENU and it looks like this.
You can see beautiful cuts of different sushi on display. It was impossible to snap a photo that shows the complete variety of the sushi they carry due to how crowded it was.
Nonetheless, SENSEN looks very exciting.
I'll give it a try and do a review soon.
Here is the overall floor plan of the supermarket.
It is interesting how DonDonDonki doesn't have a fixed formula regarding the sequence of the sections. However, it looks similar to Jem and less like JCube.
It starts with fresh produce and grocery, then segues into the dairy, meat, and seafood section. The liquor and non-food areas are in the back.
Some other features I noticed about this outlet.
Tomita Seimai
They have a dedicated Japanese rice section in Tomita Seimai. Seimai means rice mill. I figure that they do the rice polishing on the spot to generate fresh white Japanese rice.
I like their presentation in this area.
Alcohol Section
I have an impression that Don Don Donki's chilled alcohol sections are much more reserved in JCube and JEM. I guess that this is the most extensive Don Don Donki chilled alcohol section in the west.
That's got to be a value to some people!
Self Check-out
It's about time!
The insane queue that sometimes weaves back to the escalators in the middle of the floor is always an issue at Jem.
Having Self Check-out kiosks is a great move. Even today, with many customers overcrowding, my checkout speed was still rapid.
I like this reduced stress.
Here are some pictures of other sections.
The sashimi section might be a bit small. Are they encouraging eat-ins at SENSEN, the Sushi restaurant?
It could be the strategy.
So that was my quick initial thoughts on Jurong Point's new DonDonDonki supermarket.
Overall, the space felt smaller than the Fairprice that occupied the area before Don Don Donki. I thought it used less than the full extent of the available space, especially toward the back.
It may be eyeing to expand in the future.
While it wasn't as huge as I thought it might be, it's still a full-sized supermarket that's super convenient for those living in the Jurong Point area.
It'll potentially reduce the congestion in JEM as well.