Akira Ramen & Izakaya - Chef Tony Lin and Noodlemaker Jerry Li at the Galvan on Rockville Pike near Twinbrook Metro

[Simon]

I ate here tonight based on Tim Carman's enthusiastic review and was very disappointed (Carman, you've misled for me for the last time...).  

The Akira Ramen (tonkatsu broth, with a couple thin slices of chasu, veggies, fish cake, and half an egg) was deeply mediocre.  The broth, thin and bland, had little discernible pork flavor and mainly served as a carrier for the bitter char of the chasu.  The curly noodles were little to write home about (or wax poetic about in the Post).  Overall, a nothing bowl of ramen.

I ordered the grilled yellowtail collar as an appetizer, was told it'd take 15 to 20 minutes, so asked for it to come out before the ramen.  After about 25 minutes, the ramen came out first, and the yellowtail a few minutes later.  The fish was moist and nicely grilled, but it won't bring me back on its own.

Sitting at the bar, you could see bowls of ramen being plated sluggishly by an inexperienced kitchen staff -- nothing like the well-oiled machine at Daikaya.

[malokd]

Had a great experience here last night.  For apps we got the kara-age and the veggie/shrimp tempura soba.  Karage was crunchy, but not overcooked  served with mustard and spicy mayo on side.  The soba was really good---noodles had a nice bite with buckwheat flavor coming through--small dishes of pickled cucumbers, scallion and wasabi, and seaweed/lotus root on the side.  Expertly fried tempura shiso leaf, whole pepper and shrimp--not greasy at all.  Nice cool mentsuyu for dipping.  Excellent

I had just eaten at Daikaya two weeks ago and had a great bowl of ramen there--so it was nice to compare.  Got the spicy ( volcano) ramen---and it was on par at the very least.  Friend got the tempura ramen and that was a bit of a bust.

Definitely will return.  Worth going to if you live in the area

[Sluggo]

I concur with malokd's assessment.  Enjoyed the volcano ramen very much, worthy of addition to the upper tier of ramen I've had in the area.  The gyoza here was also a nice accompaniment.  I would skip the uninspired yakitori.  Be prepared for a crowd and a wait if you go for weekday lunch, haven't tried the weekend.  

Pro tip - parking at Safeway in the back is easy if there is nothing  in the front! 

[zgast]

I go once or twice a month for lunch - new office is right next door.  I'm a fan.  Mostly stick with the Akira ramen (which I think is a tonkotsu) but have also tried the volcano and the tantanramen (basically dan dan noodles in a broth).  Latter is a bit heavy, but all are good to very good.  Hope this place does well as the crowds have started to die down a bit - lunch yesterday was in a mostly empty restaurant at 12:30.

[DonRocks]

[I'm upgrading Akira to Italic based on the previous three reviews.]

[silentbob]

Some friends and I had an early dinner here the other day.  The tonkotsu broth was excellent, rich without being overpowering or salty.  Noodles were a disappointment though, pretty bland and not much chew.  Fatty pork was delightful.  Portions seemed tiny for the price, and I'm not a big eater by any means.

We ordered three appetizers but they didn't arrive until after the ramen did.  Very unfortunate.  They do say on the menu that the grilled yellowtail collar takes 20 minutes though.

[weezy]

Ate here with a friend yesterday.  We split the tofu & avocado salad and an order of yakitori.  Nice dressing on the salad and good contrast of creamy soft textures of the tofu & avocado against the peppery greens but a bit hard to eat with chopsticks, as they dissected the main ingredients while conveying them between plate & mouth.  The yakitori were very tasty and nicely plated, tender dough and octopus. The yakitori are noted to take 15 minutes, and the plate arrived just barely ahead of the bowls of ramen.   I haven't had real ramen before, so nothing to compare it against, but I enjoyed the tonkatsu miso ramen that I got (straight noodles) and my friend got the volcano ramen (curly noodles).  I found the broth to be mild and rich and properly salted; the egg yolk nicely creamy, the other ingredients tender but not overdone.  I liked the noodles' texture, had a nice chew to them.  We both ate it all and agreed that the meal hit all the notes.  If I'm back up on that side of the Beltway, I can certainly see stopping here again. 

The place was about 2/3rds full when we arrived around 6-ish for dinner and quickly filled up.  They certainly didn't want us to linger, taking plates and bowls away immediately as we finished something and having the check ready to slap on the table when we declined dessert.  A small shop in a new build-out, turning tables is important, I get it, but a 2-3 minute gap between things would have been nice.

[Al Dente]

2 minutes ago, weezy said:

We split the tofu & avocado salad and an order of yakitori. 

 

Takoyaki.  😊

[weezy]

oops!  got it bass ackwards.

[DanielK]

Quick turnaround in ramen shops is de rigueur.