Daikaya Izakaya

It's November 1, the first day of the Wizards home slate for the 2014-2015 season. Thank God! I've been struggling the last three months with hoops withdrawal. There's only so much that the schedule release, making travel plans for road games and training camp can hold me over. The three preseason games offered a brief respite but now the season's here for real I'm going to think that all is right with the world again. And now that the season's starting (and the Wizards have actually won a game already), I can start thinking about food again. That's right, food.

One of the best parts of going to games (especially given the Wizards' win-loss history) is sampling cuisine at the innumerable restaurants around Verizon Center. Last fall, I wrote a blog post about my three favorite Penn Quarter food spots. Since I wrote that post, I've been to two of those places (Graffiato and Luke's Lobster) a combined one time. I know, I'm not really living up to what I'm writing. Some of that was the Wizards' fault; they allowed savvy fans like me to cash in Monumental Rewards points at an insanely low price for access to free food and drinks via VIP tickets which resulted in me eating at VC a lot during the season. The main reason that I shied away from those two places, though, was simpler. I found somewhere better: Daikaya Izakaya.

Daikaya Izakaya is located on the east side of Verizon Center, which for those of us who are Orange-liners is the far side. My natural tendency for years was not to explore restaurants on that side of the arena because (a) I'm sort of lazy and just naturally wouldn't go over there and (b) there was pretty much nothing except Burger King over there. Now I love Burger King, but it's not worth walking around the building most days. But lately the re-development around Verizon Center has stretched east towards Judiciary Square and there's some good stuff on the other side including what has become hands down my favorite restaurant in that part of town.

Daikaya Izakaya is, as one might think from the name, a Japanese place. The name of the restaurant is actually Daikaya. Izakaya refers to the format of the experience and traditionally meant a drinking establishment (specifically sake) which also offered customers the ability to stay and drink and eat. Today, the word izakaya most often refers  in the United States to a restaurant that serves small plates which are ordered throughout the meal; brought to the table when ready; and then shared. Think tapas, but Japanese style.

Daikaya is located at 705 6th Street NW. The restaurant has two parts: a ramen place downstairs and the izakaya place on the second floor. I've never been to the ramen part of the restaurant. The upstairs suits me so well that I'm not sure I'm ever going to visit. Entering the izakaya restaurant involves ascending a steep set of stairs to a room that is really not particularly large. There is a small bar to the immediate right with seemingly mismatched bar stools (there are actually just three different types I believe) which dominates the place despite its relatively modest size. The tables in the restaurant fill out the space on either side of the bar toward and away from the street.

If I were to create my ideal restaurant, it would have a bar as the front and center element of the design, serve really good food and beer and be dark-ish without being dank. Daikaya checks all these boxes off perfectly. The place has some light from the street windows on 6th Street and a little more from a skylight over the bar but the supplemental lighting that might really make the place bright is just not there. Instead, they have preferred to use sparse wall sconces and a series of hanging low-light-emitting Japanese paper lantern type fixtures that border on the kitschy. There's plenty of wood in the bar which helps absorb the light and makes you feel like the place has been just that way for ages.

Daikaya of course serves a variety of sake. But I like to drink beer when I'm sitting in a dark bar and they offer a well put together variety, stocking some of the standard Japanese beers  (Sapporo is $3 during happy hour!) but mixing in some lesser known local brews, including some Three Stars beer, a keg-only microbrew in D.C. that offers some interesting flavor combinations (go over there one weekend for an inspiring tour) and which is not that easy to find. Three Stars is now brewing a custom saison beer made with sansho peppers and yuzu peel specially for Daikaya which I think is just awesome. I checked the menu while writing this post and they are currently featuring two Maryland beers that I have never even heard of in addition to the Three Stars product. Any place serving local beers I've never heard of is alright with me.

But a restaurant isn't memorable without it's food and despite all the positive atmosphere and great beer, the place wouldn't be worth anything if its food wasn't memorable. And Daikaya's is. Usually when I like a restaurant, I find one dish that I really love and I keep ordering that again and again. Daikaya isn't like that. There are so many good things on their menu that it's actually difficult to order. Every time I look over the offerings, I want six or seven or eight dishes not including some of the specials, which are often the best part of the meal.

Enoki mushrooms in the foreground, chicken skin (left) and thigh (right) skewers towards the back.

Fortunately, the izakaya are bite sized and with small prices (unlike some other small plates places around VC - think Jaleo) so eating a great variety is possible on every trip. It's difficult for me to articulate what is best but the seared enoki mushroom, smashed pee wee potatoes and beef tenderloin skewers are must haves on every trip. I know the price of the enoki mushrooms seems high at $9 but it's totally worth it. Get it. Trust me. If you need to compensate by getting something cheaper as well, get some of the cheaper skewers like the chicken thighs ($3) or the really cheap chicken skin ($2) which was marinated in something incredibly delicious last time I was there.

I think if I were forced to eat at Daikaya before every Wizards game I'd be OK. I don't think I'd ever get bored. I've been there eight or ten times in the last year or so and I've only gone through about half the menu. I'm sure the novelty will wear off eventually but it's showing no signs of doing so. I'm heading there tonight of course and I'm hoping they have the dynamite wings on the specials menu because they are absolutely, well, dynamite. 5:45 tonight so I can be in seats for the home opener 75 minutes later. Can't wait. This is a good time of year.