Daikaya Ramen Shop

Just get two eggs. You won’t regret it!

This place is AWESOME. I was in town for business and ate upstairs for dinner the second night I was in town, Over the next five days i was in town, I ate here or up stairs five times. The downstairs ramen shop was my lunch spot three days in a row. I enjoyed three amazing bowls of ramen over those three days. As a single diner two of the three times, I was seated quickly — once at the «bar» which was the most fun. The service is very friendly, fast and efficient. The ramen is SO yummy. I am in DC from time to time, and this spot will be a destination for me for every visit I can see for the foreseeable future. Delicious. Highly recommend.

this is the BEST ramen! Hands down, I absolutely love it. I have had ramen in many other cities and am always so disappointed eating it because of how spoiled I am with Daikaya
The best broth they have is spicy miso, the flavor is so bold and delicious. Get extra noodle or extra veggies for an EXTREMELY filling meal!
The dumplings are good as well but very greasy, be warned!

Fun casual restaurant in Chinatown. Very busy, loud music, a little cramped (we ate facing another party), but it added to the experience.
The Spicy Miso Ramen had ramen with miso, pork, bean sprouts, and other veggies. It wasn’t spicy at all, didn’t taste too much like miso, and was slightly oily, but it was pretty good. It would have been better if the soup came piping hot.

i guess you really can’t do anything about people really being in love with your business!!!
to the owner that is a GOOD THING!!!
knowing that i was going to be standing in line for God only knows how long was the hard part!
AFTER THAT! I (a ramen newcomer. KINDA) was seated next to a man who CLEARLY had eaten Ramen all over the world! He came in and KNEW EXACTLY what he wanted! Tho he did make it clear this was his 1^st time at Daikaya. I basically ordered what the server recommended! Miso blah blah blah! it WAS REALLY GOOD!!!
i would totally go back doing off peak hours!

I LOVE this place!
The noodles are a tad thicker than normal ramen but don’t let that scare you. They’re not like udon or anything.
We were a table of four (2A2K) and they seated us in the back table/​room which was nice.
Service was excellent to the point that my husband felt a little rushed but only because we were in the back room and people, mostly patrons, kept sticking their heads in to see if the room was free.
I had the Spicy and the other three had Shoyu in three different ways. 1) added butter 2) added corn and 3) spice bomb. We enjoyed tasting each of them to taste the subtle differences.
NOTE: the spice bomb adds not only spice but a bit of smokiness. I’m glad I didn’t get it because I wouldn’t have enjoyed that.
I talked about this place for the whole rest of our trip in DC.

Great ramen spot in Chinatown. The veggie ramen was awesome, loved the variety of veggies especially the Brussels sprouts. I also like that there seemed to be two types of noodles in the bowl making it more interesting. The show stopper was the egg though! Not vegetarian friendly, but one of the best eggs I’ve had at a ramen place. Very creamy and flavorful.
Enjoyed the ambiance. Great stop after work or on a cold day.
Definitely a place to try if you’re in the area.

I heard the line here can get pretty long but fortunately I did not encounter one when I came on a Monday for lunch. There are tables and shared counter tops to maximize space since it’s a small restaurant. Also, the shared counter tops makes it faster for single parties to get seated.
The waitress was polite when she greeted me with a menu while pouring a glass of water. She explained the menu since it was my first time, however, she missed the specials and popular recommendations (luckily I eavesdropped on the family that was seated shortly after me).
I ordered the Shio Ramen which was pretty tasty, though a bit on the saltier side. The portion size was fair; ramen tends to be filling at first but that sensation can quickly diminish after a few hours. I was a little disappointed at the small amount of meat; my meal came with two thin slices of roast pork.
After having visited the Ramen Museum in Yokohama, Japan, where they serve hand-​made ramen, it’s hard to beat the quality of any other ramen in comparison. Also, it’s a bold statement that a restaurant is making when the ramen is priced higher than the meals served at the historic ramen museum (700 – 900 yen or upwards of $ 8 minus toppings).

Visited Daikaya for the first time recently and was very pleased with the food and service. This place is very popular so the wait time can be a bit long but the ramen is delicious. If you’re in D.C. and craving ramen this place should be at the top of your list. Customer service was great and attentive.
I ordered the Miso Ramen and loved every bite. My girlfriend ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen and very much enjoyed her ramen as well. Everything from the broth to the pork was packed with flavor and very delicious. Highly recommend if you’re in the Chinatown area.

Oh my goodness… I loved this ramen so much. We got there at about 5:10 on Saturday, right after opening, and there was already a 30 minute wait. No problem — we just walked next door and got a drink until the text arrived that our table was ready. And wow, was it worth the wait (besides, 30 minutes is no big deal!). I got the classic shio ramen and added the egg. From the bite of the noodles to the delicate and flavorful broth, it was just simply the best ramen I’ve ever had. Momofuku doesn’t hold a candle to this place. My sister got the shoyu, which was also incredible. Much richer — may be my go-​to in the wintertime.
Out of curiosity, we tried the soft serve ice cream, too. We got the hazelnut soft serve with chocolate syrup to be safe, and the calpico yogurt with crushed wasabi peas to be adventureous. Calpico is apparently a Japanese soft drink, and I actually don’t like wasabi all that much, so I was expecting to just take a few bites for the novelty and be done. But it was really, really good! Calpico has kind of a milky, citrusy flavor, so it makes great soft serve — also not too sweet. And the wasabi peas didn’t impart too much of a wasabi or pea flavor — when stirred it, it provided a nice crunch and a slight burn, which was kinda fun for soft serve. Definitely worth a try!

Like most of the more popular, casual restaurants in DC, there will always be a line when you’re looking to eat so plan accordingly. If you’re eating downstairs in the Ramen shop, know that you’re there pretty much for the Ramen only. Technically they have gyozas and a couple of other appetizer /​dessert type foods but they are not particularly impressive. This place is designed to be more of a quick bite and go kind of place than a sit-​down experience.
Onto the part of this review that matters: the ramen. I’ve tried three so far — the shoyu, mugi-​miso, and spicy miso. Just to get this out of the way, I think the noodles are cooked really well at this place — springy but not undercooked. The shoyu lags a little behind the others in terms of the taste test. It’s a bit salty for my liking and there’s not a whole ton going on in terms of flavor. But the spicy miso /​mugi miso … those two are both absolutely divine. Personal preference to your favorite — mine is spicy miso for what it’s worth but take nothing away from the mugi-​miso. Quick tip: talk less, eat more. The longer the noodles sit in the broth, the worse the texture of the noodles get. Ideally, you finish the bowl around 5 minutes. So once that bowl hits the table. eat and slurp to your heart’s content.
Within the Chinatown /​Penn Quarter area, it’s a reasonable but not great value. After tax and tip, it comes out to around $ 20, a bit more if you add an egg (which you should because they’re awesome). And while you won’t be hungry, you’re not going to be stuffed. But the ramen is great and that’s what really matters.

The wait to get seated is long, especially on notably sore feet from hiking all over capitol hill, but completely worth it. We waited an hour and I’d do it again in a heart beat!
We were seated at the bar wrapping around the food prep area — it was fun to see the ramen dishes being made. I ordered the Shoyu Ramen, which was spectacularly flavorful and the portion was beyond enough. I also had the dumplings and appreciated their gentle crispiness.
This is without a doubt, a contender for the best ramen out there. I don’t know how to put into words just how incredible this ramen was — you just have to eat it. eat it now.

Wow! This ramen is incredible. Saturday night had a wait, even getting there 30min after it opened. Small area, community tables, amazing smells. The wait was worth it. Fast service, water always filled, friendly workers.
And now to the food! I got the Shoyu Ramen… Dark broth, rich flavors, half an egg, filled with bean sprouts, pork, and lots of noodles. My sister got the Shio ramen and added an egg… Much lighter in flavor than the Shoyu but a complex and flavorful array nonetheless. Always add the egg. Both were incredible. Both were devoured. We got the soft serve for dessert too, which was a satisfying treat after the ramen. Good texture.
If I lived in DC no doubt I’d be coming back here!

(4.5 stars) Finally I got to try the ramen everyone talks about. Normally, I come by on the weekend and the wait is 90 minutes or more for a few seats in this extremely small ramen shop. But it’s totally worth it. You don’t have to wait at the spot so hanging out at Chinatown coffee shop nearby is a great option.
The spicy miso ramen is crazy good. The broth alone has more flavor and definition than most other soups. Add the specially imported noodles and an assortment of different vegetables and it’s pretty much perfection. Each part alone is great, together they’re a killer combo. I’m not a big fan of pork and it was fine, but I don’t think it added much to the dish. It can get a little pricey for lunch when you throw in all of the add-​ons but don’t let that stop you.
The only somewhat disappointing thing was the pork dumplings. They were oily and boring, definitely not at the same caliber as the ramen. Plus, the dipping sauce didn’t do much to make them better. Just an okay addition. Keep your eyes on the prize and stick to the ramen because it won’t disappoint.

I was in Washington DC with family and my brother really wanted ramen due to the cold and rainy weather. I agreed with him but the wait on a Tuesday night was an hour and a half!
They do use an app to help you gauge your place in line, Nowait. It seems cool but adoption is low so I can’t really justify keeping it on my phone. They also sent me a text when I was nearing seating.
Service was quick for how busy it was. Servers seem to have a chip on their shoulder. It wasn’t rude by any means, but I wouldn’t call it friendly by any stretch of the imagination.
The ramen is extremely ok. Not good, not dismal. I got the shio and I was surprised at how two-​dimensional the broth was! One of the things I normally look forward to in ramen is the richness of simmered pork parts in the broth and that was definitely absent. The noodles were also below expectations for me, especially with the prices they were charging. In a place that bills itself similarly in New York, San Francisco or Manila, I would’ve expected more fresh noodles. The egg was good though. It was among the better tamago eggs I’ve tried.
The ramen was satisfying given the weather but I wouldn’t wait that long for ramen like that again.

Eh. This was more of a disappointment than anything. My wife and I (plus a friend) were super stoked about trying a new ramen place and it disappointed us.
The site itself was pretty rad and the menu was an organized chaos. Loved it. We were served immediately, and our server was super nice.
When we got the ramen, we were super excited to try it… and it was more like a try-​hard than anything. And you had to pay extra for any ingredients you wanted to add in your soup. Ridiculous. My friend’s ramen was too salty. Mine tasted too soy sauce-​y. And my wife ordered extra spicy but it wasn’t up to par.
Doubt we’ll come back. We didn’t even finish the whole thing because we were so disappointed. Oh well. The ambiance was cool; it is located in Chinatown which makes it sound legit. Just wasn’t worth the money we spent.

My first experience with Daikaya was less than stellar. In fact, I couldn’t even finish my bowl due to severely burnt bean sprouts and overall meh ramen. 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 Unilocaler 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.
The next time, Chef Katsuya Fukushima was the one cooking my 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.

Stopped by for a bowl on the first Saturday of the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was a rainy, cold day but the crowd was still out. We were quoted 1.5 hr wait and did end up waiting just about that.
It’s a very small and cozy spot and the interior is pretty plain. There’s a few booths, a communal table and bar seating. I decided on the shoyu and my sis had the shio.
This was a solid bowl of ramen but I’ve had better. There was too much bean sprouts for my liking. The broth was a little lacking but the noodles were just incredible. Bouncy, chewy, perfect noodles. The egg was also cooked the way it should be. I tried my sister’s shio and did prefer it. Seems to be the way to go.
The prices are on point. My bowl was $ 12 I believe. Service was friendly too and they had a good playlist going.

Daikaya was actually the first ramen shop I’ve ever eaten at in D.C. but I didn’t want to review it until I tried all the other ones in the DMV area.
Nothing has become more crave-​worthy than their Spicy Miso. Maybe I shouldn’t of had Daikaya first before making my Ramen journey because nothing could compare. Their broth is perfect; the only ramen shop where the Spicy Miso is actually spicy. Don’t worry it’s not insanely spicy, but you won’t need to ask for chili oil or any of that nonsense to give it a kick. The chashu pork is savory, the nitamago egg is creamy, and their noodles have the best consistency. They don’t need to rely on any obnoxious add-​ons to give their bowls some flare. They let the ramen speak for itself. The servers are also very informative and the atmosphere is top-​notch.
Daikaya has proven that Sapporo style ramen with their 16 hour chintan stock is the best ramen in the DMV.

I am so glad I waited the 45 minutes to eat here. They do not take reservations so get there early to reserve a spot for your party. Also they have a store next door where you can wait and grab drinks.
The restaurant itself is super small so the long wait time is in account of the number of massive amounts of people trying to eat here and the restaurant’s lack of space.
Make sure to add the pork belly and get extra veggies.
My favorite is the spicy miso ramen.
I love sitting at the chefs table. You can watch all the food being prepped and cooked right before your eyes.