Daikaya Reviews

Good service, but the ramen was mediocre and overpriced. The pork was dry and the broth had poor flavor.

The food is definitely worth the wait here and the staff is just amazing. My friends and I are a pack of allergies (dairy, nuts, and mushrooms), so eating out can be a disaster. But the staff was beyond friendly helping us keep cross contamination to a minimum.
Be careful though with some allergies though, there are some that the employees say are unavoidable due to how they cook their food so it's important to ask what they are.

Good service, but their top 2 ramens were not as good as some reviews made it seem. It was decent at most. I ve had better ramens around the country.

Be prepared to wait on a Saturday night, but the food is worth it. Broth had fantastic flavor, noodles we're fresh, and the open kitchen fun to watch.

very small and very long wait time. But the food is AMAZING. Sometimes the pork belly isn't well flavored, but when they are, it adds a lot to the ramen.

Strictly a ramen and dumpling review. Located next door to Graffiato behind the Verizon Center is this little noodle shop slinging the 2nd best ramen in town behind Toki. The downstairs can be a little cramped but there's enough elbow room to slurp some noodles. The broth isn't as robust or flavorful as some others I've had but in a pinch, it does the trick. The alkaline noodles have that perfect bite and keep their integrity in the steaming bowl of soup to warm you up on a cold DC day.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were not greeted by the female Asian host nor given instructions on a menu as it was our first time at the restaurant. We waited a bit and noticed a sign on the table where you can use a QR code to view the menu. The waitress and server greeted us and took their time with us. The restaurant was spaced nicely enough for customers due to COVID. The food were presented nicely and we enjoyed our food. To pay, we received our check and told we can pay via contactless or by card. Upon leaving, the female Asian host was rude by looking at us leave and ignoring us as if she had a grudge against us.

Very fun experience and great tasting food!

Place is very small and was hard to get a seat, so plan ahead! Also, this is a casual place, very loud and fun. Come in relaxed and ready to enjoy some great food. I don't blame them either for timing either considering the size and time of night (especially after a game just let out!). But the staff was fantastic and was willing to work with me to find a seat even though they were so near closing. I would come back here in a heartbeat and bring more friends next time (probably with a reservation and more time though!). It probably is not the most "authentic" ramen shop this side of Pacific, but it captures very well the ideals of one of them and the ramen is still great! Make sure to thank your staff and tip your servers!

Great staff, great food but the wait takes a really long time in the evening.

Very enjoyable experience. Ramen is a little pricey but top notch in quality and speed of service. Flavors mix very well with the various ingredients. Noodle texture is great. Some of the best I've had!

Tried brunch here based on the menu which include Asian Chicken and Waffles. It was some kind of sweet pastry filled with bean paste inside and a leg of chicken on top? Drinks were overpriced and the food quality didn't justfiy the price. Pretty unique interior though, but no reason to spend any money here. Reviews say the ramen bar downstairs is great.

Very much worth the wait! Love the Spicy & Shio Ramen

The base broth of the soup was some of the most savory I have ever had. Definitely stop by to try it at least once.

Just visited izakaya 2f. Slightly overpriced with mediocre food, not worth the type.

Make reservations! Food is delicious but make reservations or you will wait!

One of the best restaurants in all the city. Complete addiction to the spicy miso and dumplings. If on the menu, be sure to add pork belly - worth venturing a try if you have never had. This place is usually very busy so expect a wait for parties larger than 2, however enjoy a cocktail upstairs or at a bar nearby. A must try for any local or tourist. Easily 5 star quality for ramen lovers.

I had the Shio ramen. Broth is great, magnificent actually. Ramen is alright; I ve had better in my high school cafeteria... too many bean sprouts, outnumbering the ramen. The slice of pork tasted like Lunchmeat to be honest. Good thing is, if you are solo dining, it s likely you don t even have to wait at peak hours. Waitress was just trying to get people in and out quickly, at least that was what she made people in my corner feel like.

Super Delicious. Very amazing food. I think it ruined cup-o-noodles for me, which is a good thing. I've been here twice, and both times it was great. Expect to spend ~ 15-20 however it's worth it!

Ramen tastes great. The noodle is cooked just right, and the toppings are appropriate, and most importantly the broth tastes clean and has a ton of flavor. The only criticism about the food is how salty it is.
The service isnt too great, however. I like how fast and efficient everything is. But some of the servers are not friendly at all.
The decor and seatings are appropriate for a ramen place. During prime meal times, expect 20-40 minute wait time.

Very good Kyushu (Southern Japan island)style ramen restaurant. While most of ramen restaurants in the States are customized for Americans(not real), Daikaya follows very traditional Japanese style. It reminds me of my days in Japan.

Loved the grilled avocado and the Purin dessert was amazing!!!

Great little snacks and drinks while you wait for a seat downstairs at the ramen spot. A little overpriced though. I always get the grilled avocado. So simple yet so good. I tried the chicken butt skewers. Surprisingly, pretty okay.

This is probably one of the best, if not, best ramen I've ever had. My cousin and I waited almost two hours to enjoy this delicious soup. The restaurant was a great environment, small but cozy. I loved seeing the cooks preparing our soups, one by one. Everything tasted and looked fresh. The wait was totally worth it!

2020 November update: 2 stars
I have been going often to Daikaya but never ordered online. The soup and noodles come seperately and need heating when reserved.

However, I am docking the review down to 2 stars because the chasu slices that comes was WAY TOO smelly. The "old pork" smell that you get after freezing and thawing pork was so strong that I did not want to finish my ramen. I would blame COVID19 for the freshness of food, but.. it wasn't a pleasant meal. I hope they really focus on their meat quality again like other reviews said, the soup was WAY too salty and just not worth the money when ordering delivery.

2019 Fall review: 4 stars
Spicy miso and the soy sauce one (forgot name) my friend is allergic to peanuts and couldnt have half of the menu :(

The spicy miso was really good but the soy sauce one was slightly too salty for my friend. Would come back if in the area

Enjoyed the spicy miso ramen (added eggs) and the gyoza. Service was great!

Literally the best Japanese restaurant in the city. Cool staff, great drinks, and amazing food. Do NOT skip the pork onigiri, it's literally the best bite of food I've ever had.

Really good ramen. Good for first timers who have never had real ramen before. Small wait times even during lunches. Great location really close to the metro. Nice staff.

so good! I was so proud to this, when I come Washington DC again, I will come here one more time.

1 thin slide of meat! and that all I got beside the noodles. I rather eat somewhere else.

Nothing but deliciousness, if I was drunk and could stumble into any restaurant and satisfy my need to eat some food. This is place!!!

Nice little ramen shop that serves pretty good ramen. Expect a long wait during peak hours but quick service. An everyday type ramen shop but nothing special. The amount served per bowl is very large but quite pricey. Average price is $13-15 if you want extras.

This ramen beats all others. Not only in this area but my wife and I recently visited Japan and tried a lot of ramen and Daikaya is still champion.

I love the spicy miso while my wife loves the shoyu. The broth and noodles are just perfect but the real winner above all else is their nitamago (marinated medium boiled egg). Seriously, these eggs are to die for and no one else comes close to making them this delicious.

Other than trying new shops, I pretty much refuse to go anywhere else for ramen.

Excellent ramen! They don t take reservations for their ramen on the first floor so I recommend to come early, put your name in, then go grab a drink at a bar next door. They use the no wait app so you can keep track where you are in line. I got the miso ramen and added the spice bomb with pork belly. Super flavorful! Ate every bite! Not to miss.

Good ramen. Quick service but popular place so wait for seating was necessary.

Sadly, the restaurant is closed until further notice due to some health code!

It s a great place, delicious ramen. Sad it was closed

The food was tasty and the service was great. The decor lends me to recommend the place for a date, unless either of you are foodies. It's not very adventurous.

It's a popular place so show up early. I went for a winter lunch and it was bodywarming and wholesome.

Great ramen at a good price. The waits can get pretty long now that people know it as a go-to spot. Make sure to save some broth and order an extra helping of noodles to go - get a second meal out of it!

Only downside is the seating is tight and the chairs are small so it can feel very cramped.

Great ramen place. Probably the best ramen I have ever eaten. Food was served quick. The overall atmosphere of the restaurant is also fantastic. Highly recommend eating here!

Daikaya is the best ramen place in DC. While Daikaya offers a handful of unqiue ramen styles, the spicy miso ramen is my hands-down favorite. The Shio ramen is a close second, especially if you have a hard time with spice. Get an extra flavor-infused soft-boiled egg or two to add some real decadence to this hip but humble Japanese dish. All of Daikaya's non-vegetarian dishes had ground pork included, but ask to see if you can add some pork belly to notch it up to 11.

Note that you will probably wait up to an hour unless you go alone. There is virtually no waiting area and prospective diners are often congregating outside the door. That being said, do not be discouraged! You are in for an intense ramen experience that is best topped off with Daikaya's vanilla soft-serve with an eclectic assortment of toppings (think: Calpico syrup and Wasabi peas). All-in-all, you will not be disappointed!

Quick service with delicious food. Definitely worth the wait it takes to get a seat (30 minutes to an hour after being added to waitlist -no reservations for downstairs). Will be returning one day to eat upstairs

Good prices during Happy hour. Service could be a lot better. Very expensive at other times.

This spot is definitely worth a visit! We dined at the upstairs Izakaya this weekend only able to get in for a 5:15 PM reservation (early for us), but well worth adjusting for. Our server was very friendly and explained the menu and each dish thoroughly. We tried a variety of dishes from both sides of the menu to include the grilled avocado, grilled octopus, tuna poke, fried garlic, special udon noodle dish, pork and brussels sprout skewers, and the panna cotta dessert. We ordered a total of seven dishes plus dessert for two of us and that seem to be perfect. We did not try any alcoholic beverages on this visit, but did order a pot of tea that was perfect for sharing. I'm very excited to come back during another visit to DC and hope to be able to slip into the Ramen shop downstairs sometime soon. #agirlinfoodland

Two words. Absolutely fantastic! I always go to the downstairs section with the gourmet ramen noodles. So flavorful and always hits the spot. It's a small restaurant and they don't take reservations, so it's best to go with a small group of people.

Yes, the comments are true, the food is great...but is it worth the wait when you can go to Bantam King around the corner? Thats for you to decide...but if you go during peak hours, expect to wait for 1.5-2 hours. Thai Chili is a great back-up plan!

Good enough, but the shoyu ramen had a burnt taste to it and was mostly bean sprouts. The gyoza was good and the atmosphere was nice but did a ramen shop, I've had much better for less.

It tastes like ...
The staff are busy and they don't care about the customers. They only bring water and don't have a cup of water.
The service is completely poor .. But I have to ask for a tip .. .
I have to wait to order ...

Had the vegan Ramen which is absolutely delicious. Beware the line can be quite long.

Amazing. The broth base is one of the best around.

Best spot in town to post up for a dependably dynamite bowl of ramen. Always worth the wait to show your out of town guests a good time.

Been here dozens of times. Ramen is amazing every time. Wait can be long, but often worth it.

My first time visiting Daikaya did not disappoint. I'm a big fan of spicy food, and the spicy ramen hit the spot. Not only were the portion sizes generous, the staff was incredibly helpful to this novice. If you love ramen, you'll love this place!

I'm slowly getting into Asian noodle dishes, and Daikaya's raman is currently the top of my list. I had the Spicy Miso Raman, while my wife had the Vegetable Raman. Both were incredible (at least the Vegitable Raman's broth and grilled brussels sprouts were good, I didn't eat more of my wife's than that). The noodles alone were great, as well as the broth. I liked the addition of the bean sprouts as well.

Showing up on a Sunday night turned out to be a good option, as we only had to wait about a minute. We were seated at the bar in front of the kitchen, and it was interesting to watch our food being made.

We will definitely be returning to try the other raman dishes.

Small menu of funky dishes to try. Interesting spin on class Japanese izakaya, the chicken and fish are deep fried and different then original but are still good - the chicken is dark meat so its a bit fattier then expected. The liver is amazing and drinks are really good.

What a great, authentic Ramen Shop. Visiting DC for two days, ate here twice. Check it out!

The ramen looked good but its too salty! I got original Ramen, it tasted smoked, I am not sure is it supposed to like that, but I really don t like this taste. Btw, where is my half boil egg ??? My boyfriend got soy sauce Ramen, he said tasted nothing special, it doesn t worth 4.5 stars Lol. Hopefully can improve it.

Our family enjoyed an excellent ramen dinner with fair prices and fabulous service! This is a small, local restaurant you have to visit. It's about a 10-minute walk from the National Mall close to the Capitol Building. If taking the metro, go on the red or green line and get off at Gallery Place in Chinatown. We highly recommend this place!

Atmosphere was good, gyoza was good as well. Ramen noodles were the right consistency, but chashu was very different from the norm. Would recommend other toppings.

Delicious ramen, but not very many vegetarian options (only one, in fact).

Daikaya is hands down the best Ramen I've had on the East Coast. Great flavors mixed with dinner truly great noodles.

Always an incredibly long wait as the seating is very small inside. The servers and food are both great once you get inside though. I enjoy the communal ramen bars which give it a more authentic feeling.

Definitely willing to come again if I can catch one of the less busier times, unsure if I would wait 90 min again for this ramen if I'm really hungry though.

Great "Japas" style small plates (Japanese tapas, see?). Really enjoyed the spicy garlic edamame and the pork belly in black bean with anise

Usually I never order ramen for carry out because I find that the taste and quality of the food is generally significantly lower than the dine in option. However, when I saw that this restaurant acknowledged that issue and delivered ramen with separate ingredients and the option to cook the noodles yourself, I was very intrigued. The ramen ended up being so delicious! It came with very easy instructions and it was the closest you can come to eating ramen in a restaurant. Highly recommend!!

Salmon was excellent the rest od my dishes were decent. Service was good.

The ramen is pretty much as advertised and quite good, but it is a very, very noisy place. The service ranged from indifferent to good, leaning closer to the former. For eaters with certain preferences, be aware that the soup stock contains both pork and beef.

Great ramen, rich tonkutsu broth, lovely touch with the charred bean sprouts. I just happen to prefer Pho over Ramen...

Love this ramen place. One of my favorite ramen places! Recommend the spicy miso ramen

My favorite ramen place in town! Try the spicy miso with a spice bomb!!

How many people there ... Wait for an hour ... After that, the waiters are guided by the waiting time for more than two hours ... It is very similar to the taste of Japan, but I am surprised that this taste is very popular in the United States.

Everything you want in ramen! There was a bit of a wait, but not much they can do about that. Staff was polite and helpful.

No gloves while handling noodles and food prep.. sweaty cook... okay ramen, good spot in the city, nice waitress...