The food was pretty mediocre, but the experience was made 10x worse by our server. Never introduced herself, unhelpful and almost annoyed when we asked for recommendations, and rude when we asked about something that we had already ordered which had never arrived to the table saying “we're out of that”... never sorry, can I get you something else instead, etc. Rather her solution was acting like she was doing us a favor by taking it off of the bill. Uh yeah, otherwise that would be stealing? Would definitely never return or recommend this place.
jamesB
Wonderful food and service. Very welcoming and accommodating of a food allergy by one member of our party (dairy). Server knew the menu and kitchen procedures in depth. "Japanese tapas" taken to new heights of excellence. One of my best meals in years. Well done!
JeanieO
The food was really very good, and the service prompt and friendly. The down side is the noise level. The music was too loud for conversation, so everyone has to use an outside voice, which just makes it noisy. Our waitress turned the music as low as the owner would let her. We have a person in our party who is hard of hearing (and wears hearing aids), but the background noise was so high, he couldn't hear any of the conversation. And I would recommend Izakaya to a friend with the caveat that the noise level is not conducive to conversation using your inside voice.
LyndaR
Daikaya was a delightful find in Chinatown, DC. Nestled behind the Capito One Arena, the restaurant was captivating from the start. Low lighting, subtle music, and a menu full of Asian specialties made for a wonderful culinary experience. It was a new take on the Latin staple Tapas dishes. Small plates it a great way to share, and we did that all night. Don't miss the Lamb Chop, Grilled Avocado, or the Chicken skewers. Don't miss this little Gem of a restaurant the next time in DC. Oh and lastly, the service was excellent. Ask for Max if you get a chance.. his suggestions were spot on!!
LuceroW
The food was absolutely delicious! The service was amazing as well. When we first sat down it took about 30 minutes to get one of our drinks, but the servers were very kind and super on top of it. They comped the drink which was very nice of them. Overall it was a fabulous experience. We will 100% be coming back!
ThatKimFischer
I was so sadly disappointed in our experience. I'm guessing it was because of restaurant week, but overall the food and service were just not great. I was really excited about going then felt embarrassed for bringing my work colleagues there when all was said and done.
I would give this place ZERO stars if I could. They literally called me 5 minutes before our NYE reservation to let us know that they were out of menu items. When we got to the restaurant, they told us they were out of even more menu items. Very very poor planning and I am very disappointed. This was my NYE plans and I was unable to enjoy it and had to look for other person. The owners should be ashamed of themselves for poorly managing this business
CHFogey
We hadn't been to Daikaya Izakaya in some time, but I'm happy to report that it is still excellent. The dishes were beautifully presented, and delicious. The gyoza were particularly good, and we all appreciated their wonderfully crispy chicken wings. I'd also like to give a shout-out for their "Rocky Balboa" appetizer. My son ordered it to try the sea urchin; I was a bit skeptical, but it was simply excellent.
Came from eating ramen from their other establishment, Bantam King, so we were too full to order a lot off the menu but what we did have was delicious and kept us pushing for the rest of the night. Yummy and creative drinks! Will visit again with an empty stomach.
SofiaC
This was my first time in DC, and decided to try out DAIKAYA for the first time. I am so glad I did. I was in town to celebrate my birthday and the experience at the restaurant so amazing from the host to my server, I kept welcomed and special. Definitely made my night!!
My party of 3 made a reservation for dinner ahead of the Dave Chappelle concert. All was good while the place was nearly empty but once more than 12 customers showed up the wheels fell off. It took a very long time to get a draft beer, and even longer for a wine and ginger beer drink - the cold Saki we ordered never materialized, and neither did one of the dishes we ordered, which the waiter had to order twice becaue it "got lost." We had to pay and leave to make the concert. Ultimately the waiter removed the Saki that never arrived off our bill but we paid for the food that never made it. The food we did get was really tasty. The waiter kept apologizing for the drinks being delayed saying that the bar just got "slammed." There looked to be at least 4 people in the bar area crammed into the same 2 foot space and wait-staff crowding around scrambling to figure out what was happening with their drink orders. Mixed drinks taking some time I can understand, but draft beer, cold Saki, and wine? Why can't the wait-staff pull drafts, pour wine and Saki? And given a very popular concert going on across the street, and reservations, surely a busy night was not a surprise. Shame.
RichardS
We really enjoyed our time. Arrived during happy hour, but they also have a great selection of Japanese shochu and also mock tail options. The food was fantastic. Ambiance felt very authentic. Highly recommend for a informal relaxed fun time.
As someone who has lived in Japan for two years, I had high expectations for this downtown izakaya. However, my experience fell short of what I anticipated. While I typically appreciate a chef's unique take on classic dishes, the menu here seemed more Americanized than authentically enhanced, deviating from the traditional izakaya essence I was looking forward to. Additionally, the portion sizes were notably small compared to the prices. Understanding that izakayas serve tapas-style dishes, I still found the value to be lacking. On a positive note, the ambience was pleasing and the service was generally good, although we did experience a delay in being seated despite having a reservation, and the service at the bar was somewhat lackluster. Overall, while there were some positive aspects, the dining experience didn't quite meet my expectations.
Had a great time with my colleagues. I loved the food, drinks, ambience. Our server was fantastic, have us great recommendations and never made us feel rushed even though we showed up an hour before the kitchen closed.
Food was ok. I don't understand any amount of hype. Service was so bad I wouldn't go back. One drink arrived half way through dinner and the other one not at all. Canceled it with waitress but they tried to bring it as I was paying the check anyways, so we sent it back. Server never showed up to see how everything was going. Tables shoved so close together your conversation is shared with neighbors. Went downstairs after for a decent ramen meal.
The food was pretty mediocre, but the experience was made 10x worse by our server. Never introduced herself, unhelpful and almost annoyed when we asked for recommendations, and rude when we asked about something that we had already ordered which had never arrived to the table saying “we're out of that”... never sorry, can I get you something else instead, etc. Rather her solution was acting like she was doing us a favor by taking it off of the bill. Uh yeah, otherwise that would be stealing? Would definitely never return or recommend this place.
Wonderful food and service. Very welcoming and accommodating of a food allergy by one member of our party (dairy). Server knew the menu and kitchen procedures in depth. "Japanese tapas" taken to new heights of excellence. One of my best meals in years. Well done!
The food was really very good, and the service prompt and friendly. The down side is the noise level. The music was too loud for conversation, so everyone has to use an outside voice, which just makes it noisy. Our waitress turned the music as low as the owner would let her. We have a person in our party who is hard of hearing (and wears hearing aids), but the background noise was so high, he couldn't hear any of the conversation. And I would recommend Izakaya to a friend with the caveat that the noise level is not conducive to conversation using your inside voice.
Daikaya was a delightful find in Chinatown, DC. Nestled behind the Capito One Arena, the restaurant was captivating from the start. Low lighting, subtle music, and a menu full of Asian specialties made for a wonderful culinary experience. It was a new take on the Latin staple Tapas dishes. Small plates it a great way to share, and we did that all night. Don't miss the Lamb Chop, Grilled Avocado, or the Chicken skewers. Don't miss this little Gem of a restaurant the next time in DC. Oh and lastly, the service was excellent. Ask for Max if you get a chance.. his suggestions were spot on!!
The food was absolutely delicious! The service was amazing as well. When we first sat down it took about 30 minutes to get one of our drinks, but the servers were very kind and super on top of it. They comped the drink which was very nice of them. Overall it was a fabulous experience. We will 100% be coming back!
I was so sadly disappointed in our experience. I'm guessing it was because of restaurant week, but overall the food and service were just not great. I was really excited about going then felt embarrassed for bringing my work colleagues there when all was said and done.
I would give this place ZERO stars if I could. They literally called me 5 minutes before our NYE reservation to let us know that they were out of menu items. When we got to the restaurant, they told us they were out of even more menu items. Very very poor planning and I am very disappointed. This was my NYE plans and I was unable to enjoy it and had to look for other person. The owners should be ashamed of themselves for poorly managing this business
We hadn't been to Daikaya Izakaya in some time, but I'm happy to report that it is still excellent. The dishes were beautifully presented, and delicious. The gyoza were particularly good, and we all appreciated their wonderfully crispy chicken wings. I'd also like to give a shout-out for their "Rocky Balboa" appetizer. My son ordered it to try the sea urchin; I was a bit skeptical, but it was simply excellent.
Came from eating ramen from their other establishment, Bantam King, so we were too full to order a lot off the menu but what we did have was delicious and kept us pushing for the rest of the night. Yummy and creative drinks! Will visit again with an empty stomach.
This was my first time in DC, and decided to try out DAIKAYA for the first time. I am so glad I did. I was in town to celebrate my birthday and the experience at the restaurant so amazing from the host to my server, I kept welcomed and special. Definitely made my night!!
Restaurantji Recommends
My party of 3 made a reservation for dinner ahead of the Dave Chappelle concert. All was good while the place was nearly empty but once more than 12 customers showed up the wheels fell off. It took a very long time to get a draft beer, and even longer for a wine and ginger beer drink - the cold Saki we ordered never materialized, and neither did one of the dishes we ordered, which the waiter had to order twice becaue it "got lost." We had to pay and leave to make the concert. Ultimately the waiter removed the Saki that never arrived off our bill but we paid for the food that never made it. The food we did get was really tasty. The waiter kept apologizing for the drinks being delayed saying that the bar just got "slammed." There looked to be at least 4 people in the bar area crammed into the same 2 foot space and wait-staff crowding around scrambling to figure out what was happening with their drink orders. Mixed drinks taking some time I can understand, but draft beer, cold Saki, and wine? Why can't the wait-staff pull drafts, pour wine and Saki? And given a very popular concert going on across the street, and reservations, surely a busy night was not a surprise. Shame.
We really enjoyed our time. Arrived during happy hour, but they also have a great selection of Japanese shochu and also mock tail options. The food was fantastic. Ambiance felt very authentic. Highly recommend for a informal relaxed fun time.
As someone who has lived in Japan for two years, I had high expectations for this downtown izakaya. However, my experience fell short of what I anticipated. While I typically appreciate a chef's unique take on classic dishes, the menu here seemed more Americanized than authentically enhanced, deviating from the traditional izakaya essence I was looking forward to. Additionally, the portion sizes were notably small compared to the prices. Understanding that izakayas serve tapas-style dishes, I still found the value to be lacking. On a positive note, the ambience was pleasing and the service was generally good, although we did experience a delay in being seated despite having a reservation, and the service at the bar was somewhat lackluster. Overall, while there were some positive aspects, the dining experience didn't quite meet my expectations.
Had a great time with my colleagues. I loved the food, drinks, ambience. Our server was fantastic, have us great recommendations and never made us feel rushed even though we showed up an hour before the kitchen closed.
Food was ok. I don't understand any amount of hype. Service was so bad I wouldn't go back. One drink arrived half way through dinner and the other one not at all. Canceled it with waitress but they tried to bring it as I was paying the check anyways, so we sent it back. Server never showed up to see how everything was going. Tables shoved so close together your conversation is shared with neighbors. Went downstairs after for a decent ramen meal.