Daikaya Reviews

Lines are huge, you should put yourself in the wait line over Yelp or Google, to Dave some time. Ramen is average, nothing special.

I went there on a Friday night, there was a 1h30 waiting for a table, it's a very small place but beautiful and the food is delicious. The sound/music was super loud that day that we could even talk and the waitress couldn't hear us.

This food is the best ramen I have ever had! The Shoyu Ramen was extremely delicious and the staff are enthusiastic and helpful. You have the option of adding ingredients to the bowl for an additional charge like Porkbelly and seaweed to name a few but there were plenty more. Daikaya offers 2 traditional ramen bowls and there were 2 others that seemed more contemporary. Seating is from small tables to a countertop right in front of the kitchen (which is the way to do it)! Reservations are recommended. If you can call ahead, do so. However, the longest I have waited to set down was 20 minutes.

Small place and a bit of a wait to get it. Wait was worth it. Staff and food we're amazing! Would eat here again when back on DC.

This is the best ramen in the city.

Toki Underground has a more casual vibe, but overall Daikaya has better food and more convenient location.

If you don't mind waiting an hour and a half for a booth or table, go for it. I will never try to eat here again.

The taste of miso-ramen is good. If in Japan, it can be upper middle class.

An amazing authentic delicious Ramen restaurant! Service is always great and quick! Place is nice!

Great ramen, best in DC in my opinion. Authentically Japanese but has a few new twists that work (read: stir fried onions and beansprouts)

Outstanding food..coupled with a great dining experience. Daikiya is the ramen noodle shop while izakaya is upstairs. The only negative with the place, they don't take call in reservations at the Daikiya, so if you are craving ramen.. expect a wait time. While you wait you can always grab something at the izakaya upstairs.

Good ramen & decent izakaya bites. Try the pork & brussels sprout yakitori with okenomeyaki sauce. Ramen is also good downstairs. But the shochu cocktails, chicken yakitori, & edamame aren t quite as Tokyo-tasty as the rest of the menu.

Friend told us about this place as we were in DC for the weekend. So glad we stopped by Izakaya (second level). Everything we had was incredible! The pork belly and brussel sprouts kabob and the pork rice ball were amazing!!! A must if you are in DC.

So this was hands down THE best ramen I've had. My bf and I had it for dinner and I'm still thinking about it. The noodles were on point, the broth was delicious and full of flavor. We had the vegetarian ramen. The bowl was more than filling, my bf had to finish my bowl. Definitely planning our next trip to dc now for another bowl

Great food!!! Wonderful Sake!!! Highly recommended!

Solid authentic ramen. I always lean towards the spicy miso ramen. Veggie ramen is also surprisingly good. Chasu is also on point and better than the pork belly imo.

It was okay. I had the spicy miso. Soup & noodles were decent, toppings were a bit lacking (except egg & menma which were good).

Best ramen I've found in DC. If you like ramen go here.

Really nice place. Cool dishes, lots of fusion between Japanese street foods and Italian / French flavors.

Nice cocktails and good sake selection.

Expensive. Easy to spend $50 a head, before drinks.

Present location is very small, and if there isn't a table or you don't have a reservation, you'll be waiting a while.

Chawanmushi was delightful.

The service was extraordinary. My wife has a severe mushroom and pork allergy and they were extra attentive. Josh was very nice and even took the time to walk us to a nearby resatuarant (Bantam King) that didn't have the pork broths. He even went to the kitchen and informed the staff at Bantam King.
THANK YOU!

This review is for the ramen shop. The ramen is excellent! Daikaya is one of the best ramen places in the district. I highly recommend the soft-boiled egg and the pork belly.

Portions are terribly small and the food is absolutely bland and inauthentic. DO NOT waste your time here

Labeled "Japanese", the high quality food that Daikaya produces verges on the side of fusion. This modern and hip restaurant is fit for anyone looking for a playful, contemporary dining experience. I recommend the pork and Brussels sprouts skewers, crab croquettes, and edamame.

The inside is small and the wait is going to be long but don't fret it's totally worth it. The Shoyu ramen with a side of Chashu was finger licking good. Their marinated eggs are some of the best I've had. The atmosphere inside is lively and the music selection will get you in the perfect mood to slurp down some noodles. Hands down as good as some of the west coast shops I've had the pleasure of eating at.

Great ramen but I'd skip on the pork belly topping.

Delicous ramen freshly prepared and served nice and hot. The portions are very generous. Service was very prompt and friendly. The wait to get seated ended up being 1.5 hours, but are some shops nearby so it wasn't bad.

Great food and atmosphere...small plates. True tapas in a different style.

Great quality. The simplified menu helps them focus on making each item stand out. The spicy miso was balanced and flavorful, while the soy based broth was richer.

The atmosphere is good, if you think about a drink here.

It is said to be the most famous Japanese ramen restaurant in Washington DC. Wait 45 minutes before entering. It was nice to see the employees working hard and energetically. Ramen taste is mediocre.

Outrageously expensive for what you get. Think airplane food portion and I'm being generous. The Rocky Balboa egg shot is so salty that I almost had to make an hair transplant appointment right after I took the shot from all the sodium.

Great food, great bar tender, great/interesting drinks.

Noodles were good but broth was extremely salty. The chashu was fine, maybe they could look into omitting the ground meat. I definitely do not understand the high rating, maybe people have not had really good ramen before.

Ramen is okay. I don't really understand why the line is so long.

The noodles are salty. The waiter may be for the turnover rate, giving people a sense of rushing

Great ramen. I come back again. Tips in my bill was included.

I love their chicken grilled. It is very tasty and reasonable price! Will def come again next time.

Definitely this place has to be on your checklist if in Washington!! Have the spicy miso ramen!!! Ask to add and egg to that one!!! It will blow you're mind

I LOVE Daikaya and was a huge fan during my tenure in DC. The ramen shop offers some ramen that was better than what I had in Japan (in particular their spicy miso). Upstairs offers wonderful Izakaya-style fare that you can't get elsewhere. Fried garlic, grilled avocado, fried Brussels sprouts plus the abura-miso pork onigiri are a must have.

Very courteous wait staff, delicious food, and good ambiance. I've been here a few times and have never been disappointed by the food I've gotten there. There will always be a wait, but well worth it!

Food was amazing. A little overwhelming for an out-of-towner, but I had a local friend. Great service and nifty atmosphere. I walked from NASA no prob.

The waiting time is too long, it is not worth it for this ramen quality

Best Ramen in DC. Get there an expect to wait, small space and very busy. Worth the wait.

Liked the atmosphere here, reminded me of a Tokyo style ramen shop. Tried the spicy miso with Bata and some of the spice bomb. The flavor was a little less than I might have expected. Noodles were quite tasty, some good nori

The vegetable ramen was a hit, staff was very helpful .

Best ramen spot in DC. Be prepared to wait though as it s crazy packed in the evenings during dinner time

Always a wait, very crowded restaurant. However, excellent combination of traditional and non traditional ramen. Noodles and broth are excellent, with ad-ins that you cant find elsewhere. Service is usually good too

Genius. The broth is palpably painstaking. The vegetables are the perfect temperature, crisp but not raw. The noodles are chewy but not pasty. And the service is -immediate-. Had to wait half an hour (had a cocktail at a neighboring bar), but every single second was worth it. I wish I had a stomach double the size, because I could gorge on these noodles and broth until I burst.

Worth the wait, price, location, and the seating style paired us with a really neat couple. 100% recommended.

The food was decent but I really think it s vastly overrated.

The taste is soso .. Houston Jinya Ramen is more delicious. Waiting time is more than 30 minutes.

This is for the Izakaya upstairs. Separate entrance, incredibly classy and amazingly decorated. A beautiful spot for a date, and the food is just superb. Great beer and drink selection, spectacular service. Far exceeded my expectations. I will definitely go back!

Very nice discovery, each dish is a taste experience.

A ramen specialty restaurant with basically choose your broth and what goes with your ramen menu.

The ramen is Sapporo style, with noodles imported from Japan and the broth was the highlight, it was a mixture of chicken, beef and pork base. The broth really stood out, so silky, creamy and smoky at the same time. The Shio Ramen was my favorite over the Miso one as it was super clean and crisp, it allowed the broth to shine while the Miso kinda overpowered it a bit, but is good if you prefer something heavy.

Great food. Fast service, but it can be a pain to get a table

Nice broth and good service. Looks like a diner.
But.. no pork belly / Tonkatsu and there is only chicken. I repeat, ramen with no pork belly.
I get that chicken is probably good for the planet and conducive to all religions, but ramen without pork belly is no fun.

A fantastic menu of tapas-style eats. Sat at the bar and enjoyed great service.

Nice noodle and tasty soup.
This place is always busy. Long wait in peak.

Amazing ramen place that got so popular you can't just walk in and grab a bowl. You have to make a reservation, no more dropping in after an event. Disappointed because I will never return.

Veggie ramen was great! Different vegetables than usual: brussel sprouts, carrots, and sugar peas but really good!

As near to eating ramen as if I was in Japan that I have ever tasted in the DMV.

We had to wait 40 minutes for us to be seated because the place was so small, but it was worth it because the service was fast and efficient and the ramen was SO GOOD

Delicious food, both downstairs (ramen) and upstairs (small plate Izakaya). Try the chicken kara-age, the onigiri, and the ramen.

This review is for the second floor brunch menu. We went there on Sunday around 12PM and it was pretty empty. I think this place is underrated though considering to how many people were waiting for the first floor ramen (Walk-in only). I have no idea what the ramen is like. But the food we got on the 2nd floor was really good. The sisig was amazing. The onigiri could have had more meat in it, but tasted good nonetheless.

Very busy, good me to wait 45 mins and they would text me... Never received a text back.... When the next day early, same response

Great food , friendly staff , the only disadvantage is that its crowded and gives you a sense of rush

Excellent food experience helped by very knowledgeable staff. Every dish perfectly executed and full of flavor. The bar has a unique collection of Japanese whisky. The Manhattan with Basil Haydn Rye was smooth and flavourful.

They have a rare VIP room they offered me and my friends. The best experience ever! Daikaya 10/5!

Miso ramen was quite salty rather than deep. Don t think its authentic Japanese ramen

This is a very child-unfriendly environment. My daughter wanted to grab a colorful straw on the checkout counter, and I stopped her. The person took the straws right away like we are trying to steal from them. It is very rude and unfriendly. Come on, it is only a straw! I will not go there anymore.

Delicious ramen spot. Broth is on the less creamy side, and has wonderful flavor. I went 15 minutes after it opened on a Sunday. It was almost fully packed. I hear lines even at 2pm can be up to an hour wait on weekends. This is the only ramen place in Washington DC that I have been to, so I cannot speak to its value. Compared to Boston, this is on the pricier side.

Amazing ramen! I love getting the extra veggies...they load it up with delicious vegetables.

Probably the best ramen I've had this side of the Mississippi. I ordered the spicy miso, and the broth was rich without being too salty. Not as spicy as I like, but I've said that about every ramen shop except one.

I was only on the first floor ramen shop, and was seated quickly by myself at the bar. There are longer tables, but they don't appear to be communal everyone squeeze in where there is space spots like in Japan. They're tables for groups, it appeared to me.

All the staff, from the hostess to the wait staff to the kitchen staff, were very efficient. When it comes to the kitchen, that isn't really too unusual. What surprised me here is the size of the workspace. I've never seen anyone operate that well in a space that small.

Really neat place near the arena. It's a little easy to miss, look for the nice stone facade outside. The prices were super reasonable for its location! One warning - if you want more "stuff" in your ramen order it! My standard shoyu ramen came with 1/2 egg and a single slice of char siu. Next time I go I'll definitely get more on top.

Hands down the best ramen I've ever had anywhere! The flavor was incredible. The vibe of the restaurant is also really cool.