Image above: On the waiter’s recommendation, I enjoyed their hiyashi soba – smoked mackeral and green leaves with the sauce poured on top. Yum! [Wednesday 16 June] | [View all photos]
A few months ago whilst Niki was over from Singapore we tried out Koya, a new Japanese udon bar, in Soho and having such a good meal there, I also took Susanna there a few weeks later for a long overdue catch up.
The menu is based solely around different styles of udon noodles and it was refreshing to see more than just the usual atsu atsu (hot udon in hot broth) that you get in other Japanese restaurants as well as finding a place that really excelled on a single food type.
On the waiter’s recommendation I really enjoyed the hiyashi soba – smoked mackeral and green leaves with the sauce poured on top. It was fresh, tasty, and filled me up nicely without leaving me completely stuffed.
And although the focus is on noodles, the side dishes were impressive as well with some utterly moreish melt-in-the-mouth kakuni, braised pork belly in cider which reminded me of a similar dish I had on my Japan trip earlier this year, as well as the roast kamo (duck) which was succulently pink and tender.
Even with the quality of the food, the bill was really quite reasonable (under £20 including soft drinks) though my Japanese friends do think it’s rather overpriced compared to back home. Though, choice of paying for that meal or paying for a flight ticket to Tokyo as well … :P
Koya | 49 Frith Street, London, W1D 4SG | Map | Nearest station: Tottenham Court Road
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[...] it lacks the wow factor of other Japanese culinary styles in London. Styles such as udon (in Koya) or sushi and sashmi (in [...]