Daikaya Reviews

Mugi-miso has a great unique savory broth. Opt for extra veggies and egg for a solid meal.

Delicious, and worth getting all the add ons. My friends and I got here, and thankfully they don't take reservations, as a few groups were waiting for others to join before being seated, so we were able to get right in.

I attended the izakaya upstairs and it was the most fabulous meal of its kind I have eaten. Each dish was unique and authentic and those stranger dishes were prepared most perfectly. The sake collection is extensive and will not disappoint. Make sure to get reservations or get in early - this place filled up within ten minutes of opening.

Delicious shoyu ramen, chewy wavy noodles and delicious broth. Super loud space though because of the incredibly straight walls.

Izakaya. Rocky was delicious, catfish was crispy and tasty, yakitori well executed (chicken skin, thigh, pork/Brussels), grilled avocado was a favorite and cod roe spaghetti was good. Don t get the octopus, lost in sauce and over cooked, bad. Great experience, if a little bit of a caricature of Japanese cuisine, but more expensive. If you re looking for traditional, go elsewhere. For a fun meal, this is pretty good. Service was good but meh.

Do NOT go to this place...always an hour wait, even when there are open seats. The waitstaff couldn't care less if you ever get a seat or a meal. Oh and the ramen isn't even worth the wait. On their best day it's an 7 out of 10. Typical DC. All hype, no horse.

Some of the best ramen in the city. I got a soft boiled egg with my bowl.

The food was good but I don't think it was exceptional. There was an hour wait which after having eaten there I don't understand. The place is small and you might have to share a table with other diners. The main reason I gave it 2 stars was because I paid $15.95 for basically a bowl of noodles. I guess people really like the place since there is such a long wait but for me it wasn't all that. I don't plan to ever go there again.

Great atmosphere. Cool take on ramen. Everyone is friendly. Our server Emily was awesome! Will definitely come back when in DC.

Everything I had was delicious. So awesome they have ume rice balls.

The initial flagship of the Daikaya/Bantam King/Haikan empire, the Daikaya ramen shop is, hands down, the best in DC. They understand that the quality of ramen isn't what new fancy thing you can put on the ramen, but instead the quality of the broth and the noodles, which are the best in DC.

Yummy in tummy. Food menu was awesome. Great services.

I went to Daikaya Izakaya, the restaurant upstairs. I went with a few friends, and we ordered a bunch of small dishes. Everything was just amazing, from the grilled avocado to the tofu. The price was also surprisingly affordable (but not cheap), given the quality of food and the buzz around the restaurant. Service was great. Only complaint? It was freezing in there when I went. Bring a jacket, and maybe a hat, too.

Great high quality ramen. Can't ant go wrong with any options. Definitely get an egg or pork belly to go with whichever bowl you choose. I'd also recommend the additional spiceball. The staff are very nice and seem happy.

Best ramen I ve ever had. Always busy, but well worth the wait

This is the ramen joint to hit up if you want pork based flavors. Seriously, I see why this is one of the best in the cities!

For full disclosure, I visited the Daikaya during restaurant week. I thought the food was very good, and I had the opportunity to try dishes that were completely new to me. The drinks were good and the vibe I got at the restaurant was very positive and relaxed.

Our family enjoyed an excellent ramen dinner with fair prices and fabulous service!

Waited 1.5hr, it was well worth it, tasty broth and spicy.

This place was amazing.
Perfect service even on a night when they were absolutely slammed.
Excellent sake selection. Great menu of Japanese beers.
And the food! It's an izakaya, so individual servings are small. Fried Garlic, chicken skins, pork and brussel sprouts and the poke were all perfect. I'm not a huge brussel sprouts fan and these were delectable.
Great music as well.

Went to Daikaya on a Friday evening. Wait time was 40min; party of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids). By the time our table was ready, wait time for new customers was 1.5 hours. We tried both the Shio and the Shoyu Ramen and loved them both. I had read many reviews of the place before going- one thing that is not mentioned is how tiny this place is. They have 2 small tables that can sit up to 4, 2 long tables that can seat 8 each, and they can fit 6-7 people at the bar. That's it- and they don't take reservations. It was very loud, but our waitress was great. I was taken aback by the fact that they don't make the ramen 'in store', they import the noodles - so if you expect an authentic Japanese Ramen spot where part of the experience/fun is to watch the chef making the Ramen, this is not the place.

Lovely dinner at Daikaya after a long day. Walked in after 10pm, promptly aerved. We ordered ramen misu and spicy with additional charsiu (roast pork). Great rich broth and ramen was the right touch. Will definitely dine here the next time I visit DC.

This was my first time eating honest to goodness ramen (no Top Ramen doesn't count). It was fantastic! The atmosphere is very interesting, you'll usually be seated across from a complete stranger, even in a group of two. There's almost always a wait, but they'll take your number and text you when it's time to be seated.

Communal tables on small stools are what to expect. Many broth choices for each taste. It gets busy early in this small dining room.

Great service...Great ramen noodles..Worth the wait

I am not sure how I feel about the wok smoked veggies taking over the ramen. I guess it's not my style and the wait was 1 hour on a weekday at 7pm.

Very nice spot. Clean insides and friendly staff. Food is a bit pricey but delicious.

Drinks and bbq are awesome here, so far the best bar and grill in dc area

If you don't have an hour to wait go around the corner to Bantam King(same owner). The food is just as good!

Very good ramen and the prices are fair. Ordered the spicy bowl and it was very enjoyable. Not too spicy and the noodles were the right consistency. Will be coming back when in town. If you're visiting the area, definitely a spot to check out and try.

Was sitting and waiting 10 mins for the servers to take my order. No one came.

Delicious ramen. Small space with a bit of a wait, but ultimately worth it.

Had some great Shio Ramen here! I saw it while walking past and decided to step in since it seemed pretty busy. We got a table within 5 mins and the staff was super helpful in helping us to understand the menu. We got big bowls of noodles in absolutely delicious broth! Pretty nice atmosphere and I'd definitely visit here again!

YUM!!!!!! You must order the marinated egg on top of your ramen. I ve never had anything like it!

This review is for both Daikaya the ramen shop and Daikaya Izakaya.

***Daikaya the ramen shop***
My first experience with Daikaya was less than stellar. I ordered the shoyu ramen and the taste was near inedible. In fact, I couldn't even finish my bowl due to severely burnt bean sprouts which made the entire ramen extremely bitter. However, I ate with them the week they first opened and I've since talked with both Chef Nobu Yamazaki of Sushi Taro and fellow Yelper Norry H. and both of them have told me Daikaya is the most authentic Japanese ramen. So I knew I had to try it again.

This time, Chef Katsuya Fukushima was the one cooking my shio ramen, and it certainly was better than my last experience. The broth tasted good, pork chasu was tender, even the bean sprouts were good (thanks to the chef). Although my preferred style of ramen is Hakata, I can finally say that Daikaya is worth eating every last noodle. Definitely order the shio ramen!

***Daikaya Izakaya***
Despite my reluctance to try Daikaya again after a less than stellar ramen experience, I have to say the experience at Daikaya Izakaya is well-deserving of these 4 stars.

My boyfriend and I went a little overboard in our ordering (happens to the best of us, I know). We ordered two of the chicken thighs, livers, and wings. Each order was $3. My favorite of the chickens was definitely the liver. If you've never had liver before, this is the perfect opportunity to try some.



We also ordered the onigiri rice ball with Kombu soy and seaweed filling ($3) and the seared enoki mushrooms topped with miso butter ($9). Oh man, enoki mushrooms with MISO BUTTER...I didn't even know they made that.

Finally, we decided to get the Mentaiko mini donburi (fish roe, green onion, nori, and soy-Kewpie over a bowl of rice for $5). Again, delicious! I loved having all the ingredients mixed in the bowl of rice. So good.

Daikaya Izakaya is the perfect companion to its downstairs sister ramen restaurant. I'm glad I had the serendipitous opportunity to try Izakaya even though I was waiting for ramen! I guess Daikaya ramen will just have to wait until next time...

Not worth for the wait. Sakuramen is better in my opinion.

Really good! Quick lunch, so tasty and big portions. Will come back again for sure.

Tom was our server, and he was fantastic! A Japanese whiskey connoisseur, he imparted his wisdom upon my friend while we ate incredible dishes from the Restaurant Week menu. Our favorite was the enoki mushrooms with the miso butter, but the Nikka "From the Barrel" whiskey was the showstopper for my friend. Thanks a million!

Very good Ramen but the place is small and packed. Had a decent wait time mid day on the weekend.

Walked in for lunch. The wait was so long and I was so hungry I sat at eh bar upstairs. I really wanted ramen though, so I ordered what was essentially a cold ramen in a vinagrette/marinade and it was exquisite. Very hip and trendy, which is nice but what really matters is the food and it did not disappoint.

We visited on the first floor to eat ramen on Sunday afternoon, but gave up because it was too crowded and had lunch on the second floor. I ate natto bowl and chilled Chinese food, but it was delicious.

Fun and creative restaurant. Highly recommended to those who don't get to experience these kind of restaurants in their home town.

Pretty decent ramen - this should be especially meaningful coming from a guy from LA.

Shio ramen is perfect as comfort food when you ve caught a cold.

I came here with my family when they were visiting back in March and this was the best ramen I have ever had. Every time we go through DC I want to stop and eat here. There's also a neat little bar upstairs, too. If I lived closer I'm sure I'd come here often to hang out.

A good Ramen consist of good broth, noodles, and quality of meats. I tried many popular places in Houston, Austin, and California so I know what a great Ramen should be like. The broth and noodle are ok here however the meats and vegetables they give with the Ramen are way below average. They do have water containers everywhere so you can self serve yourself. Those who claim this is the best Ramen they ever had must have compared this place to other places in the area.

Overly crowded, music is blasted at a thousand decibels, and to top it all off the waiting is never ending. An hour and a half to seat 2 people, and then another 45 minutes for food. And it s decent enough food, but everything else is unforgivably bad.

This place used to be a DC spot to recommend but I'm not sure I can continue to recommend due to level of effort in finding parking, 1hr + waiting times and food quality. The service is great as expected though.

Spicy miso ramen with added toppings: egg and bamboo... it was OK!

Great atmosphere, friendly service, but not the best deal for vegetarians.

Oh my god. The BEST ramen that s I ve yet to try. Def get the spice bomb for some heat and loved the veggie ramen!

Great ramen, vegan options and unpretentious atmosphere

The ramen here was beyond any other I've had. Can't recommend it enough

This is definitely some of the best Ramen you can experience here in DC. Great place to grab food if you find yourself in Chinatown. The music and service is A1 as well.

Very limited seating and kind of cramped (on the first floor). Still, incredibly delicious. Our group of five actually split two bowls because none of us had ramen before and it ended up being enough! Large portions and the service was friendly and attentive.

My favorite ramen in the city! The dumplings are amazing too. There is always a wait to get a table, so plan on about an hour before you can be seated. The best thing to do is put your name down and go grab a drink from one of the nearby bars while you wait for your table.

Tom is an excellent waiter and the food was to die for. I tried the grilled avocado, the octopus and several other small dishes and they were all to die for.

Ramen is very good and flavorful, staff is cool, love the music they were playing... but they should carry Sriracha tho instead of only giving people the option to buy a spice bomb and it could use more default pork instead of making us post for more if we one more than just one slice

Tried a couple different types of ramen, and we were very impressed. Good, strong flavor.

Probably the best ramen shop in DC. Got the spicy miso ramen, was really top notch. Fresh noodles, and excellent broth, and wonderful toppings made the experience really pop. Good price for a great bowl of ramen.

Edit:
Came back for restaurant week for the upper level (2F) restaurant. The atmosphere and decor are very unique and well designed, and gives the diner a great display of Japanese Culture. The restaurant week menu consisted of small items from different categories. And with each dish the server would explain the best way to eat the food, it was a fun experience for dinner.

I started off with the Tuna Poke, which was light and had a good acidity to it. The next dish was a grilled avocado with salt, lemon, wasabi, and what appeared to be a dashi stock inside the grilled avocado. The avocado when combined with all these flavors was creamy and savory and very good. Next came the Chicken Kara-age, which was fried well and served with a kind of spicy mayo sauce. The following dish was shishito peppers stuffed with chorizo, perhaps the only disappoint dish of the night as it was very bland. The spam and egg donburi came next and it was delicious. For dessert, I got green tea and strawberry mochi which were tasty as well.

When you go expect a wait. The food is well worth it and the ambiance is laid back and relaxed. The servers are great and the food comes out rather quickly.

Leaving Japan after living there for four years was challenging, particularly from a food perspective. Japanese food is amazing and unique, and while it's easy to find excellent sushi in the States, excellent (or even decent) ramen is nearly impossible outside of LA or Hawaii. Imagine my shock when I discovered Daikaya, a true izakaya and ramenya. I was skeptical at first, having been deceived by other "real ramen" places, but my withdrawal had gotten so strong that I had to give it a try. I'd eaten ramen all over Japan, and since each region has its own distinct take on the dish I was interested by their self-described "Sapporo-style" ramen. Hokkaido is the one style of ramen I hadn't tried, so I was eager. I'm partial to Kanto-style ramen, with Kyushu-style a close second because they both tend to brew very heavy broth and thick noodles. Sapporo-style, I'd heard, was totally opposite, and that's what Daikaya ramen is. The broth is very light and the noodles are thin, but it's definitely genuine ramen. The same trimmings you'd find in true Japanese ramen (like cooked egg, memba, sprouts, pork, and nori) are present and prepared in just the way you'd expect. The noodles are served properly hot along with the rice. Gyoza is available, and is also quite delicious and true to its roots to match the ramen. The food, overall, is fantastic and a great surprise for anyone unfamiliar; telling your friends you're going out for ramen will invariably evoke suspicion, but Daikaya is a great turnaround.

Its location is excellent, two blocks from the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro Station and shoulder to shoulder with a ton of other restaurants if the wait is simply too much to tolerate.

Dislikes are all non-food. It's very popular, so reservations are not taken which means a wait is almost unavoidable during anything approaching peak hours. Using the NoWait app, which will hold your place in line while you wander around town and alert you when your turn comes, softens the blow to your schedule significantly, or you could have a drink upstairs at the izakaya while you wait. Once you're in, it's quite loud and can be a challenging place to hold conversation, even among two people, though booths are better for this than the bar.

Daikaya is an excellent restaurant choice and a great way to try a food you probably haven't before.

BEST ramen Absolutely The Best and the service is outstanding!!!!

A MUST in Washington! The wait is worth it. My go to....the veggie ramen with vegetarian spice bomb

Excellent ramen and service. Been here twice even though I dont live in the area cause we just had to come back. Iced jasmine tea is delicious and refreshing. Definitely get extra eggs in your ramen.

Really love the shoyu Ramen. Be prepared for a half an hour wait.

The hottest table in DC. 1-2hrs wait, so get in the list and come back later. Worth it. Get the spicy one

Found the ramen to mediocre and not worth the long wait.

So effing good. Our server...don't remember his name but he was wearing a Rick and Morty Hawaiian shirt...was on effing point in recommending various dishes and drinks. I loved the extinct whiskey list and all of the fancy sakes!

Miso ramen is so good here! It is addictive. Just be ready to wait for like 20 -30 minutes because the place is always packed.

I've been to Sapporo and had ramen there, this tastes just like authentic Sapporo ramen!

This is for Daikaya (ramen only) - Izakaya is upstairs and you can make reservations. I'm going to be frank here. This place is full of energy and servers are so nice and positive. This place is FUN. The music will make you move. It's a 4 which I will go back. Why 4? First, their ramen is good but not great. Try Ippudo and you can tell the difference in the broth. Second, their seating system is not ideal. If you are a party of 1 or 2, you will get seated quickly. If you are 3, ask for communal seats. If you are 4 or more then you may have to wait an hour up. Why? They seat 1 and 2 at communal seats first and make large group wait for a table. There are only 3 private tables!! So do it like Disneyland and split up. They don't really enforce 45min rule either and some groups will hang out way too long. There is a big table in the back which fits like 10 people. Some how people don't want to share spaces. Oh, if you don't like bean sprouts let them. Know because they put a lot! Don't waste $1 on chili bomb or random add-ons - take the noodles as is and may be free vinegar and chilli peppers. Again, the staffs are 5 stars, but the noodles and the wait are 3 stars. Solid 4!! Go there and dance. I will upload the video of the place later!I