Fishtown is getting a rice-bowl counter. Nomu Nomu Don, a Japanese donburi restaurant and BYOB at 2026 Frankford Avenue, is targeting a mid-November opening, and it comes from Sarah Qi, the owner of Cake & Joe. The bowls are built in front of you, rice first, with raw or grilled fish and meat on top.
Qi opened Cake & Joe in South Philadelphia in December 2020, and the cake and coffee shop now has three locations, one of them in Fishtown. Nomu Nomu Don sits close by on Frankford Avenue. Qi says the neighborhood has been good to Cake & Joe, and putting a second business near the first was an easy decision.
Inside the Nomu Nomu Don Counter
The 750-square-foot room seats 18, with ten spots at the counter and four two-top tables. The counter is modeled on a sushi restaurant, so the chef prepares each bowl where guests can watch. Nomu Nomu Don will be open daily for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with takeout and delivery alongside dine-in.
Donburi, often shortened to don, is the Japanese word for bowl, and it names a comfort food of steamed short-grain rice, fluffy and a little sticky, topped with meat, seafood, eggs or vegetables. Garnishes run from green onions and toasted sesame seeds to shredded nori, pickled ginger and a soft egg yolk. The menu also nods to teishoku, a complete meal served with sides and soup.
What Nomu Nomu Don Will Serve
Everything at Nomu Nomu Don is raw or grilled, and the kitchen has no hood or fryer. The house signature is the Negitoro, built on raw bluefin tuna. Others include Salmon Five Ways, an Aburi Salmon with torched ikura and a signature sauce, a Jeweled Chirashi with seasonal sashimi and ikura, a Cloud Butter Steak, and an Unagi & Tamago of grilled, glazed eel.
The Velvet Toro & Scallop pairs marbled toro with Hokkaido scallop and crisp nori. Premium additions such as uni and caviar will appear when they are in season, and a vegetable donburi is planned. Preset meals add chef-made pickles, chef’s choice sashimi and dashi, so a meal can be a single bowl or a full set.
Appetizers include Black Truffle Edamame, a One-Bite Foie Gras Sushi, a Mentaiko Zucchini Skewer and Grilled Shishito Peppers. Dessert is a Matcha Panna Cotta with red bean and oat milk ice cream, or a Melon Parfait with fresh melon, cream and a seasonal garnish. Cake & Joe cakes stay at Cake & Joe.
Tea runs most of the drinks list. There is a Yuzu Shiso Sparkler, an Uji Matcha Tonic, a White Peach Jasmine Fizz, a Hojicha Milk Tea, Genmaicha Tea and Jasmine Green Tea, plus bottled and canned tea, water and sodas. Because it is a BYOB, guests who want something stronger bring their own.
Chef Kyle and the Idea Behind Nomu Nomu Don
Chef Kyle runs the kitchen with ten years of experience behind him, including a stint as head chef at New York’s Shogun Omakase. His approach starts with each ingredient, the texture of the rice, the preparation of the fish and the balance of the sauce. The goal is simple: make a familiar rice bowl one that brings people back.
Fishtown already has the Hiroki omakase for serious raw fish, and Nomu Nomu Don brings a casual version to the same neighborhood. Qi describes the concept as very approachable and very casual, with premium cuts of beef and fish for guests who want a higher-end bowl.
The name is the pitch. Qi says Nomu Nomu is about “big bites, real enjoyment,” and that is a fair promise for a bowl of rice and fish made at the counter.
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