Bantam King, Daikaya's Sibling Chicken Ramen Shop Featuring (Bantam?) Chicken Ramen - 5th and G Street in Penn Quarter

[funkyfood]

Nashville hot chicken is too.  So not an Asian thing.

[DonRocks]

47 minutes ago, funkyfood said:

Nashville hot chicken is too.  So not an Asian thing.

Yes, Fremont Diner in Sonoma, CA does this.

[KeithA]

Last Saturday went to lunch at Bantam King. I've been a couple of times before and just as before, we enjoyed the chicken gyoza a lot to start. Then, we tried the fried chicken for the first time. We had the kids who are fussy about spice, so we they made a big breast without the heat or Asian glaze. It was still very delicious.  The kids are suckers for sticky Japanese rice and lapped this up. We also got an off menu kid's ramen soup but that wasn't the kids' jam - to be fair only one of them really likes chicken soup and she wasn't into the ramen noodles and the broth was lighter but rather salty. My wife and I really enjoyed our soups. I had the miso ramen which was almost creamy without dairy and my wife had the shoyu ramen which was almost meaty with the umami burst from the soy sauce. I actually liked hers better and will have to remember that next time. Last time, I had the chintan (lighter) broth and really enjoyed it too. 

[silentbob]

I don’t get the piece of butter that comes with the rice and chicken drippings. We opted against adding it, but don’t know if that was a mistake.

[mongo jones]

here is another account of a meal in dc last week that we were steered to by the good people of donrockwell.com (full review with pictures on the blog). thanks to marty l. for the recommendation!

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My first report from our brief sojourn in DC last week was of our first meal: dinner at Baby Wale. I’d planned to go in order but instead here is a report of our last formal meal in DC: ramen at Bantam King. As with Baby Wale, Bantam King was a recommendation from the excellent community at DonRockwell.com. We’d originally planned to do our ramen eating at Daikaya but it turned out that they were participating in Restaurant Week and were only serving a Restaurant Week menu for dinner with a minimum spend of $35/head. We were only too happy to swap it out for Bantam King. And then we were quite happy with our meal.

Like Baby Wale—and also Daikaya—Bantam King was a leisurely 15-20 minute walk from our hotel. They don’t take reservations but we were there a little after 7 on a weekday and there wasn’t too much of a wait. We were told 20 minutes but got seated earlier. There was a bit of an annoyance with getting our table but it was minor. We were offered 4 seats that opened up at their long, communal table; I said to the host that we would be happy to wait a little longer for a four-top that seemed to be winding up by a window, as with small kids that would be easier than the communal table. He said there was a group ahead of us who would get the table. I asked why if they were ahead of us he was offering us the seats that opened up first but he seemed confused by this. The stand-off was ended when another four-top in the inner part of the dining room also got up. He then gave the group ahead of us that table and gave us the window table.

All controversy over, we sat down and quickly perused the menu. It is very brief: five types of ramen plus a limited list of smaller dishes/sides. There were also a few specials. In addition, the menu listed a seasonal special of tantanmen but, disappointingly, it was not available; instead, they had a cold, broth-less tantanmen—I passed. What did we get? The kids split an order of their chintan ramen; the missus got their spicy miso ramen; I got their shoyu ramen. In addition, we got an order of gyoza, an order of fried chicken wings, and an order of rice with onsen egg. It was all more than decent, with the spicy miso ramen probably the pick of the three. We also quite liked the fried chicken wings—a bargain at $6 for four large chicken wings.

Oh yes, as their name indicates, Bantam King is a chicken-only restaurant. Their ramen broth is made from chicken and the only meat featured in any of their dishes is chicken. I prefer porky ramen in general but concede that this was pretty good.

For a look at the space and the food, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down for thoughts on service and value and to see what’s coming next.

[pictures on the blog]

All of the above plus a small carafe of their house sake came to just short of $80 with tax and tip. Counting the kids as one adult that’s roughly $26/head. Which is pretty good for the quantity and quality. Service once we sat down was very good too. Our order was taken quickly, the food came out quickly and servers were always on hand when needed. All in all, I would recommend Bantam King to anyone else in our position: within easy reach and looking for a place for a quick, tasty dinner for kids and adults. I’m not sure, however, that I would travel across town to eat here.

Next up from DC: barbecue at Hill Country. But I’ll probably have a New York report and my last North Shore report before that.

[Sluggo]

I haven't been to BK for awhile, since around the time it first opened.   Mainly because it is usually packed whenever I'm in the neighborhood.  The menu has changed a bit.  They still have the chintan broth.  The others are listed as typical miso/shoyu ramen, but I guess it is paitan?  I had the chintan.  Fantastic broth. For toppings, I did not get an egg, will have to remember to add that on.  Corn is a default topping, I don't remember that from before,  and it was a bit too much corn for me.

They offer Toki on the menu, which I remember from before.  A shot of Toki, neat, is a very nice aperitif for rich ramen broth, hard for me to resist, sometimes to my detriment

[DonRocks]

On 10/14/2019 at 12:48 PM, Sluggo said:

Fantastic broth. For toppings, I did not get an egg, will have to remember to add that on.  Corn is a default topping, I don't remember that from before,  and it was a bit too much corn for me.

Drinks with an order of Gyoza ($6). The only "flaw" in this meal - and this is a nitpick - is that the sauce on the Gyoza is a bit on the thick side, but this didn't affect the taste at all.

The Miso Ramen ($13) is very mild, but extremely flavorful, with intense flavors of both chicken and corn.

The "Seasonal Special" Tantanmen ($13.75) is a fascinating ramen-riff on Ma Po Tofu. While extremely well-flavored and assertive, it's also on the mild side (as Ma Po Tofu tends to go).

There are two types of eggs, and I highly recommend the Onsen Egg ($1, poached in shell) - the server will gladly crack it for you at the table, so there's no need to fear it (the two pictures above are with the Onsen Egg as-served, and after it was cracked into the ramen.

I'd have to flip a coin to pick a favorite between the Miso and the Tantanmen - both were exceptional (albeit very different), and Bantam King may be my favorite ramen in the city right now.

[deangold]

3 hours ago, DonRocks said:

The "Seasonal Special" Tantanmen ($13.75) is a fascinating ramen-riff on Ma Po Tofu. 

Tantanmen is the Japanese transliteration of Dan Dan Mein or Dan Dan Noodles. Should not have a thickened sauce while Ma Po tofu does. Both have similar ingredients: bean sauce, chile oil, vinegar, soy, Sichuan peppercorn, and pickled vegetable.  

[DonRocks]

18 hours ago, deangold said:

Tantanmen is the Japanese transliteration of Dan Dan Mein or Dan Dan Noodles. Should not have a thickened sauce while Ma Po tofu does. Both have similar ingredients: bean sauce, chile oil, vinegar, soy, Sichuan peppercorn, and pickled vegetable.  

That sounds about right - the broth wasn't thick at all; the flavors just reminded me of Ma Po Tofu; I didn't even think about Dan Dan Noodles, but you're correct - this must have been paying homage to that.

By the way, we needed to have a Fried Chicken Plate ($12) for the Nats game last night - having gotten an order of dark meat (3 pieces) and white meat (1 huge piece), I would recommend the white meat, as the deepest breast meat is still moist and flavorful - the breading is fantastic; just make sure it doesn't co-mingle with the sweet pickles and white bread (which, perversely, work well - I guess it's like a picnic).

This is really good fried chicken, and even though the menu says "Nashville Hot," they toned it down for their customers - I would call it "slightly zesty" at most.

[KeithA]

On 10/14/2018 at 11:43 PM, KeithA said:

and my wife had the shoyu ramen which was almost meaty with the umami burst from the soy sauce. I actually liked hers better and will have to remember that next time

Always remember to check your old posts! 4 of us went last weekend to BK and the food was excellent.We got the Shio, Shoyu, and Miso ramen and wouldn't you know it, we all liked the shoyu best. Miso was second best followed by the shio. We also had really good huge breasts of fried chicken which comes with a spicy green sauce on the side that was really good. Unlike several years ago, my kids now were willing to try the ramen but only 1 was into it. She also liked the Shoyu the best. Their small charafe of house sake chilled was also good. The place was packed but not too long a wait. We really need to get this in our regular rotation now that we have re-emerged. 

[Mark Dedrick]

Just dropping in to let folks know that they are no longer open for lunch Monday-Wednesday. I am back on grand jury duty right now, and tried to go for lunch on Tuesday, only to be diverted to Daikaya.