Koya: The best Udon in London

Koya in Soho : source

I am being biased, I haven't really tried udon elsewhere in London, but I have been to Koya three times now and I had lots of udon when I was in Japan. The noodles in Koya are as good as the ones I had in Japan. And that's saying something.

If you don't know what udon is, it is a simple dish, thick noodles in a broth with some vegetables or meat or both. Warming and filling it makes for a hearty winter dish.

The thing I like about Koya is that it does one thing and does it well. They have some side dishes of course but really its all about the noodles. But you cant get bored either - each time I've been there, they have had seasonal specialities and on my recent visit on Friday, I ordered both my udon and small plate from there.

Small plate - Char grilled tempura turnips

Udon with mussels - seasonal special

Koya is a small restaurant based in Soho. They don't take bookings and usually, there is a line outside, but it moves fast, on my last visit I only had to wait 15 minutes to get a table. It was worth it though, I got my favourite table which over looks the kitchen. I could watch the chefs prepare each plate, see the attention to detail in each cut vegetable, garnish and plating, hear the clanking of pots, roar of the gas stoves and bubbling of water cooking the delicious noodles while devouring my own noodles.

Seating by the kitchen

I love Koya, not just because it makes great Udon, I love it because it feels like a place I could have walked into in Japan. Its small and busy and has great attention to detail. For an hour or so, I feel like I've taken a trip back to Japan minus the expensive plane fare :) If you haven't been and you love Ramen or Pho, you should definitely give Udon a try. And do let me know what you think ;)

Have you found a restaurant that takes you back to somewhere you've been?

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Best Meal While Travelling - Travel linkup

So many yummy dishes, so little time! I have eaten my way through some places but the one place that really takes the cake in every regard, flavour, presentation, price, ambiance and service, is Japan. I did not a have a single bad or below par dish. So what is the most memorable? Funnily enough it had nothing to do with the food at all.

Dishes from a Kaiseki dinner - see the little green bird?

I was in the Akihabara district in Tokyo, Japan with my friend trying to find a place for dinner. We came across a wooden shopfront that looked like it was transported from rural Japan and looked busy, warm and welcoming. We stepped inside.

Tempura nettle leaves and soba noodles

A sweet waitress greeted us and apologised saying they had no tables then, as a second thought, asked if we'd mind sitting at the back. I had no problems with that, the smell of food was intoxicating and I wasn't going anywhere.

Okonomiyak - a type of savoury pancake

It turns out that the 'tables' at the back were sunken tatami mat seating. I think maybe she thought foreigners preferred tables, but not me, this was exactly what i wanted :) I clambered into my seat, ordered a bunch of food and then sat back to take in my surroundings.

Vegitarian Bento Box

The walls were covered in traditional Japanese murals, and the entire space was filled with 'Salarymen' (office workers) getting drunk and creating a ruckus. Some were passed out, their heads resting on the tables, some were getting more drinks, some were slurring lines to the karaoke playing on one screen and others were watching some sports game on another.

Did i mention dessert? They tasted so good!

They would call to each other from across the room, faces red, swaying slightly before getting distracted with another drink. All of them were in almost identical suits, jackets off and tossed aside with their bags in a heap, ties loose, shirts rumpled. It was hilarious and fascinating to watch. I'd heard about this work tradition but seeing it was entirely different.

Crab miso soup and clam rice

I don't remember the food. I think there was a fish and some sushi and I'm sure it tasted great but my attention was on these guys. It was really brilliant. Id never seen anything like it and haven't seen anything like it again.

Clam miso soup and chicken teriyaki with rice

Since I was so distracted I didn't take any photos of the meal. Instead, here are some photos from other meals I had around Japan which were all absolutely delicious. And now I'm craving Japanese...

What was your memorable meal while travelling?

As always thanks to the lovely girls Emma and Kelly and Rebecca for this travel link up.

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Kaiseki Dinner in Kyoto, Japan

A Kaiseki dinner is, i suppose, similar to a degustation dinner at a fine dining restaurant. A and i decided to experience one for ourselves. Ive never done a degustation dinner but i was willing to try and wade through 13 courses in Kyoto!

A Kaiseki dinner does not come cheap, especially at establishments with a good reputation. A and i chose one after exploring the Kiyomizu-dera temple. And it was such a great choice. It was a small traditional style inn with private rooms where we were greeted at the door by a matron decked out in traditional Kimono. She asked us to select the style of Kaiseki (seafood or beef) we would like before showing us to our private dining quarters - a tatami room with sunken flooring (heated) under the table and a small window overlooking the Japanese garden. We also had our own private waitress who was a uni student. I assume she was assigned to us as she probably spoke the most English out of everyone, and she was simply lovely. She made every effort to answer all our questions about the dishes, was friendly warm and sweet, not to mention that she didn't skimp on the finesse of service because we were foreigners and might not notice - each plate was positioned perfectly, and each dish served artistically, even entering and exiting the room was an elaborate performance!

The dinner was amazing, some things were difficult to eat (octopus brain, abalone, sea urchin) but we always gave them a go, and some things were just delicious. Overall though, regardless what we were eating, each dish was presented as a work of art, each plate, bowl and sauce dish selected to compliment the food being served. Simply marvellous.

Now on to the courses! Enjoy!

VP

Our first course...the octopus brain is bottom left.

Simple presentation

Lovely colour and arrangement - seems a shame to eat it!

I think this was a kind of fish "mousse" in broth

Sashimi - notice the little green bird and pink blossom?

Lobster on ice...

our personal indoor grill

Grilled fish marinated in ginger sauce and scallops

See how the crockery compliments the dish?

Sea Urchin sushi and soy sauce

Tempura vegetables and dipping sauce

Abalone

Abalone

Shrimp rice

"Container" for shrimp rice

Shrimp rice with garnish

Shrimp rice and miso soup with lobster

Lobster miso soup - Divine!

Green Tea

Desert - Green tea ice-cream and fruit

Desert - Green tea ice-cream and fruit

Our window onto the Japanese garden

Japanese Garden

Our lovely young waitress

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Japanese Food

Food, oh glorious food!

I think i spent a large portion of my trip eating, not that I'm complaining! Japanese food is divine! Its simple yet full of flavour; the texture, the different bowls, the presentation the deliciousness of it all. I did not have a single bad meal the whole time i was there. Not one. And i ate at several different places, and i always tried to order something different. And the food was 'light' so you didn't get that heavy, sleepy feeling you normally get after having a meal.

Udon with wild mountain veggies

I took photos whenever i could but its still a small showing of the delectable dishes i had while i was in Japan. I must say that the restaurants i went to were often just as interesting as the meals themselves but for some silly reason i didn't actually take photos of them.

Miso soup with crab and scallop rice

Beef soba

There was one place A and i stopped in, in Ueno, Tokyo...and unfortunately he is the one with the video from that one...it was as typical a Japanese place as you can find. We were shown to the back and it was obviously a popular place as it was filled with "salary-men" socialising (read, drinking) and having a marvellous time. It was a tatami floor with sunken seating around a low table. The food was great and the atmosphere even better. We spent our meal watching the salary-men, drinking, passing out, shouting, ordering drinks, arguing over who was paying and just generally having a good time.

In Kyoto - A, very happy with his order

In Kyoto - Prawn Tempura with rice and soup

In Kyoto, A and i were wandering around Gion and somewhere near Kennin-ji Temple found a very authentic little soba place - they actually made the soba noodles themselves on site. My tempura soba order came with a kind of leaf (shiso/perilla) - odd but very delicious and cooked to perfection...A was so jealous that he ordered a separate serving of them, but he was nice enough to share a couple with me :)

Ok so not everything we had was authentic Japanese. One day we were so hungry that we just stopped at a random place near the Ryokan we were staying at in Kyoto. It was more Bavarian style and you can see their version on a "hamburger" with mushroom sauce...oh and there was pasta underneath the burger pattie. I must say though that despite it not looking so great, it tasted great.

The quest for Ocha-zuki...A was obsessed with finding this dish. Every place we went to he asked if they had it. Luckily in a diner near Kyoto station we finally found it. There are some variations but this one was a rice dish with salmon and seaweed over which you pour green tea before you begin eating.

And lucky for me, while A was enjoying his Ocha-zuki, i had a twist on the usual miso soup...

Clam miso soup, rice, pickles, and yakitori (grilled chicken skewers)

One night while walking along the streets of Kyoto, A and I came to a standstill. A window display of an absolutely fantastic dream-like place had caught our attention. Oh. My. God. Ice cream parlour! Like kids our faces lit up and we went inside to treat ourselves..what can i say, its hard work being on holidays! I went back a few days later for Sakura (Cherry Blossom) pancakes...You should have seen the menu for this place, pages of different desserts all looking sumptuous and drool-worthy.

A's choice

My choice

The birthday pack

Teddy bear sundae

The rows of sundaes are just too tempting for A

A sundae for one...or four people

Now thats what i call a pancake stack!

Kids cone sundaes

How is this not tempting?

My "Sakura" pancakes and cream (with real cream) tea

Ok moving on...I cant remember what this dish is called. I had it in Kyoto and we were told that it was another speciality of the district. It was a hot-pot of chicken, vegetables and some noodles - very delish i can can assure you. The restaurant had a very nice atmosphere, intimate, friendly and simple. They had coat hangers on the wall for your coats, baskets under your seat to put your bags and blankets hung on the armrest in case you got a little cold. We were lucky enough to be seated next to the window outside of which we could see the tiny stream running by.

Chicken hot pot

Issen-Yoshoku - A Kyoto style Okonomiyaki. Ingredients are: Spring Onion, Egg, Dried Shrimp, Grilled fish paste, Dried bonito, Beef, Ginger, Tempura batter, Knjak Jelly, flour.

Issen Yoshoku

Wild mushroom and vegetable Udon

Okonomiyaki - i had this in a place somewhere along the Philosophers Path just before reaching Nanzenji Temple in Kyoto. The host of the establishment cooked it for me herself which i found very sweet.

The story with this dish is that i was somewhere in Iidibashi in Tokyo and i wanted to see how Japanese do "western" dishes so i walked into a pasta place and on their menu - among other more typical pasta dishes - was this one, prawn with whitebait and fish roe. Believe it or not, it did taste good.

My last 2 stories for you in this foodie first edition of my Japan posts involves McDonalds and coffee.

Im a great lover of coffee, one of the greatest disappointments about living in London is their terrible coffee so the fact that the coffee in Japan was better that i expected, was a treat. Like everything else, it had been perfected down to an art form, the turn of the cup, the presentation, the offer or sugar and milk...

Now before you all yell at me for going to McDonalds in Japan and the insanity of that idea hear me out...I do this occasionally when i travel to see what a global company is like, how it varies it menu to cater to the locals. Well, there was no miso soup on the menu and the fish burgers did not come with roe, a cheeseburger was a cheese burger and that was it. BUT. I was handed a perfectly folded take-away bag with two hands, and i was given a proper bow. Where in else in the world will you get that from a McDonalds employee?

Well, i hope you enjoyed the post and photos. More posts are coming soon!

VP

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