A donburi lunch in Singapore does not have to cost $15 or more. We went through every menu price in our records, kept only the bowls listed under $12.00 and ranked them from cheapest to dearest. Fifteen made the list, from a $3.50 katsu don at a hawker stall to an $11.30 Mega Gyudon at Sukiya.
How this list works
Every price below comes from a chain menu or a shop menu in our data, and each entry says where and when it was recorded. The ranking is simply by price, so a lower number is not a verdict on taste. One bowl per dish is shown even when a shop sells several cheap options, and we picked a mix of toppings so the list is useful if you are not in the mood for beef.
Two pricing notes matter. First, chain prices apply across outlets: a Sukiya gyudon costs the same at Suntec City as at Jurong Point, although some menu items can vary by outlet. Second, "++" means service charge and GST are added on top of the price shown. Sukiya prices already include 9 percent GST and have no service charge. Yoshinoya does not say how it treats GST or service charge. Hatsumi says it adds neither. Hawker and coffeeshop prices are shown as the review listed them. Plan on paying a little more wherever you see ++.
Not every price is from 2026, so here is the spread. Sukiya, Yoshinoya and Tenya prices come from the chains' own menu pages read in October 2026, and Hatsumi and Unatoto from their own sites. TendonGo!, Ten Ten Otoko, Liu Kou Shui, Oiishii Corner, Oh My Don and Ninja Chirashi come from reviews and food guides published in 2026. Konomi Zen and Kinobe come from a November 2025 guide. Treat the older ones as a guide and confirm them before you travel across the island for a $3.50 bowl.
The 15 bowls, cheapest first
1. Katsu Don, $3.50
A pork cutlet bowl from Konomi Zen, a stall in Ang Mo Kio 628 Market and Food Centre in Ang Mo Kio. The same stall sells a $5.00 tendon of seafood and vegetable tempura. Prices are from a November 2025 Eatbook guide, and hours are Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 2pm and 4:30pm to 7pm. Weekends and Monday are assumed closed, so check before you go.
2. Gyudon (Medium), $4.90
The standard bowl at Sukiya: thin sliced beef simmered in sweet savoury shoyu sauce with onions on Japanese rice. It is the cheapest chain bowl in this guide, GST is included and the chain is MUIS certified.
3. Scrambled Egg Don, from $5.90
A customisable egg rice bowl at Hatsumi Donburi and Soba in Raffles Xchange, in Raffles Place. The same menu has an oyakodon at $7.90. Hatsumi is halal certified per its own site and is open Monday to Friday 10:30am to 8pm and Saturday 10:30am to 5pm.
4. Chicken Katsu Curry Don, $6.00
A chicken cutlet with curry over rice at Oiishii Corner, a halal stall in Kim Keat Palm Market and Food Centre in Toa Payoh, listed under Bishan. Its beef don is $6.50. SethLui updated the prices in April 2026, and the stall is open 11am to 6pm and closed on Fridays.
5. Butadon, $6.50
Fatty pork strips with a creamy egg over rice at Kinobe, a stall in S11 Coffeeshop on Clementi West Street 2, in Clementi. The price is from the same November 2025 guide, and the stall is open 11am to 9pm daily. It serves pork.
6. Gyudon (Regular), $6.50
Yoshinoya simmers sliced beef in its house broth with sweet onions. It costs $1.60 more than Sukiya's medium, but every Singapore outlet is MUIS halal certified and the menu has no pork.
7. Korean Glazed Pork Belly Don, $6.90
Glazed pork belly over rice at Oh My Don, a coffeeshop stall on Yishun Avenue 1 that serves its bowls in Japanese stoneware. The Salmon Don with Mentaiko Sauce is $8.90. It opens Monday to Saturday, 11am to 9pm, and SethLui's 2026 Yishun guide still lists it.
8. Mala Char Siew Don, $7.00
Mala flavoured char siew over rice at Liu Kou Shui, a hawker stall at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre. The Beef Sukiyaki Don is $8. SethLui updated these prices in May 2026, and the stall is closed on Wednesdays. It is not halal certified.
9. Melted Cheese Gyudon (Medium), $7.50
Sukiya's triple cheese blend melted over the beef, and the bowl our Sukiya outlet pages feature. The price is the same at every outlet, for example Sukiya AMK Hub, which opens at 8am.
10. Light Tendon, $8.80
A smaller tempura rice bowl at TendonGo! on level 2 of Gleneagles Hospital on Napier Road. The Regular is $9.80 and the Mega is $11.80, all from an August 2026 SethLui round up, and it opens from 7am to 10pm every day.
11. Unadon, $9.80++
Charcoal grilled eel over rice at Unatoto Novena. The chain's own blog quotes unagi don from $9.50 at its other outlet, so $9.80++ is an eel bowl under $10. See the unagi don guide.
12. Gyu Don with Onsen Egg, $9.90
A beef bowl topped with an onsen egg at Ten Ten Otoko, a stall in Kimly Coffeeshop on French Road near Lavender MRT, in Kallang. Eatbook recorded it in May 2026, and the stall's sashimi donburi start at $11.90, which also squeak in under $12.
13. Ninja Chirashi Don, $9.90
A raw fish bowl of sashimi, cucumber, tamago and ebiko at Ninja Chirashi on Tampines Street 81, in Tampines. The Truffle Chirashi Don is $11.90. It opens 11:30am to 2pm and 6pm to 9:30pm and is closed on Thursdays.
14. Tenya Tendon, $10.60++
Tenya glazes tempura prawn, Japanese whiting, squid, pumpkin and French beans with its sweet soy tendon tare. A Vegetables Tendon is $10.00++ if you prefer meat free.
15. Mega Gyudon, $11.30
The largest Sukiya size, with a double portion of beef over rice, recorded by Eatbook in March 2026 at Sukiya AMK Hub.
Quick picks by situation
Need halal? Sukiya, Yoshinoya, Hatsumi and Oiishii Corner account for six of the fifteen entries above, and all four are certified or described as halal in our data. Eating early? TendonGo! opens at 7am daily and the Sukiya AMK Hub outlet at 8am. Want seafood without crossing $12? Choose Ninja Chirashi or the $11.90 sashimi donburi at Ten Ten Otoko. Avoiding pork? Sukiya's published menu has no pork bowls, while Kinobe, Konomi Zen, Oh My Don and Liu Kou Shui all sell pork. Watching the final bill? Skip the ++ bowls, or add about 20 percent to the shown price.
Eating cheaply is also a question of size. The Sukiya medium at $4.90 and the Mega at $11.30 are the same recipe in different portions, and TendonGo! sells three sizes of the same tempura bowl. If you are hungry, the larger size is worth a look before you add a side.
What did not make the list
Most seafood bowls cost well over $12. Kaisen don is mostly above the line: Kei Kaisendon's small signature bowl is $14.90++, and premium bowls cost far more. Beef bowls at the premium end, such as a wagyu don, are also above the line; see gyu don for the full range. A few shops also have older cheap prices in our records, but we left those out because they predate 2025 and may have changed.
Where to go next
If you want to compare the big names, read our donburi chains comparison. If you need halal, see halal donburi in Singapore, where several of the cheapest bowls above are certified. You can also browse tendon and butadon shops, or filter by price on the search page. Prices change, so confirm at the counter before you queue.