One thing i love about Soho is that you never going to run out of place to eat. Last week, me and my friends went to a Japanese restaurant called Koya. It is specialising in udon, a thick noodle served with broth, kinda similar to ramen. To be truth, i don't really like udon but i'm a bit curious after seeing so many positive responses about this restaurant on yelp.
Too bad they don't accept reservation. so we have to wait for around 30-40 minutes to get inside (maybe it's also because it was Friday). The place is not too spacious, but you still can get the Japanese atmosphere inside. The waitress are mostly British, which i found kinda rare in most Japanese restaurant in London. The place was crowded and a bit noisy, definitely not a place to chill out and relax.
The restaurant has a variety of udon (which i just knew was exist). There are hot udon in hot broth, cold udon in hot broth, cold udon with sauce to dip and cold udon with sauce to pour (???) There are also some topping, such as seaweed and poached eggs, like in a ramen bar.
Ten Mori – Fish and
Vegetable Tempura (£12.80)
Poor presentation, poor taste, very oily, very
expensive for the portion. I was disappointed, I mean like "really?? This is the first dish and it let me down already?"
This one was in the special menu. I forgot its name,
but it’s a wild boar. I don't even know people in London eat a wild boar or there was actually a wild boar in the city. My first time eating a wild boar and surprisingly, i liked it. I found the
taste was interesting, kinda similar to pork, but harder in texture. The
presentation was beautiful, mostly due to the green sauce that made it so colourful (I forgot to ask what
it was).
Gyushabu – Beef Shabu-Shabu
(£11.80)
This one was hot udon in hot broth mixed with beef. I
admit after the starters let me down, this dish paid my disappointment. The
broth was super rich in taste and the beef itself was delicious. The udon was
well made and perfect in texture.
Cold udon in hot broth, my another first time! The
weird thing was I found no difference between the cold udon after you put it in
the hot broth, and the hot udon hot broth itself. The waitress said the cold
udon is served if you want the udon to be a bit warm, not hot (pretty
reasonable, although at first I thought the taste was going to be different somehow). Same
as Gyushabu, I was impressed. I now understand why the resto specialised in
udon. Again, the udon was well made, perfect in texture. The broth was
seasoning perfectly and rich in taste. However, I hate the fact that the pork
was so little and the portion was not worth the price.
Well, to be frank, my disappointment was
greater than my satisfaction. But, if you like udon, this place definitely
served it well. My biggest disappointment was the portion. I think it was very
ungenerous and was not worth the price. Even my friends still hungry after
finish one bowl of udon. The waitresses are really nice and polite, though. Overall,
I give 2/5 for this restaurant. The udon is really nice, but I think there are
still many other things need to be improved, including the starters.
Address: 49 Frith Street
, London W1D 4SG
Opening hours: Mon-Sun 12:00-15:00 / 17:30-22:30 (Sun to 22:00)
Nearest tube: Leicester Square
Price: £££
Website: koya.co.uk
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