Bantam King — Restaurant in Washington

I like this place. First thing you enter is, it's a happy warm atmosphere. The wait for me on a Friday 7:30 night was 30 minutes and, it was on point! There are Japanese comics as the wallpaper in the waiting area, it's funny just glancing to read at them. The staff was so nice and courteous, tablets were used to organize tables for the employees. It's a small restaurant so it can easily be busy, but fast turnover rates. The employees are efficient in their work. The decoration is similar to Japan's with bar like tables with the lamps overhead. There were 6 different types of ramen. I got shoyu chitan ramen( I'm probably spelling it incorrectly) , which has a dark soup base with rich a chickenbroth incorporated and medium thick noodles. I like it but it seemed a little bit salty, the broth. My sister ordered the shoyu ramen( not the chitan one.) This one has a lighter soup base compared to the shoyu one, and has a richer taste. The noodles are all the same in the ramen bowls. All the ramen we ordered seemed a bit salty actually. We didn't finish the whole bowl of broth. My friend ordered the Nashville chicken leg/thigh combo with piece of white bread and rice. You can smell the spice coming off it for sure. You can see the chef cook at the corner of the room, where the staff get the food for us. We ordered something but they completely forgot about the order, but we were totally fine with them taking it out of the bill because we were stuffed with our food. They have a dessert, and I was interested in their bruno Mars ice cream. But atlas, they didn't have the 24k gold leaf in stock so I switched for the cookies and creme ice cream. I wasn't disappointed, it was sweet! It came in a small paper bowl with 2 dusted powder toppings, a vanilla wafer, and tastes similarly to s'mores to me. The ice cream was vanilla but tasted a bit thicker/gooier? So I wonder if it was marshmallows too. My friend tried the vanilla ice cream with honey and chips. That vanilla ice cream was the real deal! It was the good type of ice cream that's rich & solid and not liquidy. The honey made it sweet and fence of chips...

I really wanted to love this place. It's funky and bright and unpretentious, and the atmosphere is everything the established and traditional ramen houses aren't. Unfortunately, the decor and mood aren't the only things different here. Whereas Daikaya, Toki, Reren, and the others serve delicious, flavorful, and close-to-authentic ramen, what Bantam doles out can best be described as dolled-up instant ramen, like the stuff we survived off of in college.

I got my go-to miso ramen with an extra egg. I was hoping for the familiar embrace of true ramen, but alas, I got canned chicken stock, a tasteless egg, and store bought noodles. Seriously, I am completely confident the cook dropped one of those ramen packet noodle bricks in and let them get overly soggy. The noodles were so overdone, they began to cloud the broth, resulting in a hazy liquid concoction that was equal parts salt and dull. It looked like turkey gravy. It tasted like a liquid salt lick, and it most certainly had none of the depth and flavor even modest ramen provides.

Good ramen houses are run by chefs who have spent years mastering the Japanese tradition. My guess is Bantam is run by a couple of recent enterprising American college graduates who thought they may capitalize on the rising tide of ramen's popularity without bothering to actually learn what the dish is about. It's too bad too, because their location and decor would be perfect compliments if only they could find a way of producing edible food. Well, I can only speak for the terrible ramen. Maybe the rest of their menu is good but I don't see any reason (barring a complete change in their ramen preparation) of ever going back or ever recommending Bantam to people who have taste buds.

Oh, and finding out that the bill was more than it should be because they charged dinner prices but gave me the lunch menu was just icing on the cake. After this experience, I'll buy an instant ramen packet at the grocery store if I feel I need the taste of Bantam ramen again. I'll have just a good of a meal and pay for it with the...

I can't tell you how many times I've stood around the corner at their sister ramen place Daikaya and been told I'll have to wait for over an hour to be seated. Bantam King, by comparison is a ghost town. For the life of me I don't know why. And this place is especially easy with a toddler.

Corner your toddler in a booth seat where she can admire the fun, quirky, lunchroom decor. The restaurant staff from the hostess to the cooks have all made goofy faces at our toddler, much to her delight.

I've yet to deviate from my favorite, the shoyu ramen, I add an extra egg because they're so dang good. The broth is flavorful, and they add dandelion greens to the soup, which I've noticed no where else. Per the name of the restaurant all the ramen is chicken based. I usually give my chicken to my husband, I like dark meat and they don't have an option for which one tops your bowl. You get the meat you get and it's always been the breast meat, of which I'm not a fan. My toddler usually shares the ramen with me, using the chopsticks and wide spoon. (yes, this is as messy as it sounds- but this is her favorite food too)

My husband has tried the miso and spicy miso ramen, which are both good. They have that complex depth of flavor you want in a bowl of ramen. I can appreciate these two, but for me it's like drinking a beer that's not quite my style.

We've ordered the kitchen staff a round of beers before, which is a menu option. And when you're dining with a kid whom the staff treats great it seems like the thing to do. So, in summation. Come to Bantam and be seated and served quickly. It's also great food for toddlers if you don't mind getting a...