What do you do when it snows in April and you’ve got a sore throat from allergies or constant weather changes or who knows what? Eat ramen, of course. After our day exploring Renwick Gallery’s Wonder exhibition, we were starving and cold and ready for a great meal. While Daikaya and Toki Underground are definitely the top spots in DC for ramen, we wanted to try something different. Chaplin’s in Shaw has an excellent weekend happy hour, and happens to serve huge bowls of delicious ramen. Decision made.
The upstairs was closed for a private event, so the small downstairs space was packed. While we waited for a table, we shuffled up to the bar for drinks. Chaplin’s has happy hour every day of the week, with half price draft beer, wines by the glass, and drafty spirits. I tried The Pilgrim with Genever, Luxardo Marischino Liqueur, Crème de Violet, fresh pineapple, lemon and green Chartreuse flame.
I’m a cocktail wuss, so this was a little strong for me, but still tasty. As it melted it became easier to drink, and the pineapple chunk was boozy amuse-bouche after being soaked in all of the liqueurs. Tom’s beer cost $3, so that was fun too.
Our table was ready faster than expected so we wedged in between two other two tops (one of my dining pet peeves) and hungrily scanned the menu. After reading early reviews of Kyirisan, I was craving fried tofu, so I ordered Chaplin’s version with a sweet and spicy sauce.
A very solid appetizer, though I would have liked more of the sauce. It may also have been improved somewhat if the tofu was cut into smaller cubes to avoid that awkward squishiness in the middle. People who like tofu will enjoy this, those who don’t will not be won over to the soy side.
Tom was more excited about the pork ribs with house Japanese barbecue, cucumbers and carrots.
I was shocked at how large the serving was, especially for a $9 price tag. You could certainly make a meal out of this dish. The sauce was rich and savory and the meat very tender adding up to a very satisfying appetizer.
But we had a ways to go yet. Almost immediately after finishing our starters, piping hot bowls of ramen arrived at the table. My selection, the Chaplin A.S.S., which stands for extra spicy sour, exploded with fresh Thai flavors of lemongrass, coconut milk, red chili and cilantro. There was chicken in there, but I mostly ignored it and got my protein from a soft-boiled egg instead.
Although this was not a traditional bowl of ramen, I became obsessed with the broth, favoring it even over the noodles, which were cooked very nicely to al dente.
Tom ordered the Stamina Spicy, a more classic style ramen bowl with sliced pork, ginger, poached egg and a miso broth.
This bowl lived up to his name and had Tom sweating as he slurped, and we both agreed the broth was incredible and flavorful (though I still preferred mine) without being too salty, a hard thing for a ramen dish to accomplish.
Over the course of our meal we both opted for the most expensive glass of wine on the list, because hey – they were 50% off! The service was great and although I didn’t enjoy the closeness of the tables, we were in and out pretty quickly and left full and happy.
Chaplin’s takes reservations so you don’t have to wait for hours to get your fill, and even if you’re not hungry the happy hour – one of the best deals I’ve found in DC so far – is still well worth a visit. Now that the weather is finally warming up, they also have a killer, dog friendly patio. Enjoy the slurp friends!
Leave a Reply