Daikaya - Ramen (1F), Izakaya (2F)

Reviews 4

AL

Alice Wang

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 couldnt 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 Ive 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 youve never had liver before, this is the perfect opportunity to try some. Next, we ordered the beef tongue jalapeño - "yuzu kosho" ($4) and the beef tenderloin with wasabi butter ($5). The beef tongue was delicious with just a hint of spice from the jalapeño. Great flavors. 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 didnt 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. Im 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...

CH

Christopher Dailey

Leaving Japan after living there for four years was challenging, particularly from a food perspective. Japanese food is amazing and unique, and while its 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. Id 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 hadnt tried, so I was eager. Im 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, Id heard, was totally opposite, and thats what Daikaya ramen is. The broth is very light and the noodles are thin, but its definitely genuine ramen. The same trimmings youd find in true Japanese ramen (like cooked egg, memba, sprouts, pork, and nori) are present and prepared in just the way youd 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 youre 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. Its 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 youre in, its 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 havent before.

CA

Carol Chan

My husband and I arent big on Izakayas - too little food for its worth for most places. But being drawn by Daikayas brunch menu, my husband and I decided to give it a try. To our surprise, we were able to make our opentable reservation 15 minutes before arrival. In fact, the place was half empty where we could have walked in, be seated with no problem. Not exactly sure of the portion size, my husband and I initially went with just 2 dishes. Our sweet waitress politely suggested to leave a menu with us and didnt criticize us for under-ordering at all. After eye-ing the dishes that were served at the nearby tables, we went with one additional dish - chicken and waffle, loco moco, and sisig. Chicken and waffle - loved the wasabi butter and maple syrup combo. Although the fried chicken was a bit overcooked and dry, it was crunchy and well seasoned. The red bean taiyaki did not have the crunchy exterior I hoped for. However they didnt skim on the red bean paste filling. Overall, a satisfying dish for just $7! Loco moco - my husband wasnt a big fan of the red wine gravy. I however thought it was pretty tasty. The beef patty could use a nice seared exterior. In fact, it was pretty mushy and fell apart almost immediately in the skillet. I would stick to another order of chicken and waffle. Sisig - this was the let down of our meal. My husband and I always order sisig whenever we see it on the menu. This sisig was perhaps the worst one weve ever had. The pork pieces were dry, tough, almost inedible. Instead of crunchy, pan fried pork pieces, they were swimming in a oily? watery? layer of liquid. We mixed and mixed but it didnt get any better. Disappointed by the loco moco and sisig, my husband decided to end our meal with their chocolate ice cream. Thank goodness for dessert, my husband left with a smile back on his face. The ice cream was perfectly sweetened, smooth, and silky. The banana chips added the perfect textural contrast and the miso caramel added an interesting savory element. Overall - a hit/miss depending on what you order. Price point - not too bad for Izakaya! Would love to come back and give dinner a try and perhaps the ramen downstairs!

MI

Mischa Grünberg

I bet it would be amazing... if it didnt take over 2.5 hours to get seated when there was no line! Sure, we had a party of 8 and didnt make a reservation. The thing is, they told us 2 hours and they put us on the list. We didnt expect to be helped right away. We went around China Town and saw what DC had to offer in this place. My friend downloaded an app that was connected to the restaurant that told us how many parties were ahead of us. After 1 hour, it said we were the next party. When we returned, we were told that it would be another 80 minutes. We showed him what it said on the phone and we got turned away. Big bummer. So we went out around again for an hour and came back in 60 just in case it was the original time they said. At this point, it was 2 hours. They said to wait another 30 minutes. Thats exactly what we did. When we came back again, I went in this time to see what was going on. Apparently, there were 3 people at the party table ordering a sake drink and socializing. Just 3 people. We were told that we had to wait for these 3 people to leave. There were plenty of other open spots that they could have sent those people to enjoy their drink and socialize, but they were put at the party table. It was inexplicable that they put 3 people ordering one drink ahead of a party trying to order individual dinners. I will not try to go to this place again. If you like being put aside and given bad service before youre even seated, choose this place. For all Im concerned, the people there dont know how to run a restaurant and California Tortilla ended up being a much better choice in the end.