Koya

Unfortunately, I think Koya has become a victim of its own success. I was there about a year ago and was bowled over by the food and value for money. Recently went with friends and their food is overpriced for what it is - nearly £12 for what is essentially a bowl of noodles in broth with a few bits of seaweed floating around. Friends had chicken broth and struggled to find any chicken as opposed to skin. Wine comes in at a minimum of £25 per bottle, so for close on £90 we left hungry and dissatisfied.
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, December 11, 2012

I work nearby, so try to drop by at least once a month. The food is consistently original, fresh and quirky. While the standards on the menu are fine the specials on the board are always worth a try and often great. For those whining about the price, this is very high quality food so its hardly suprisng you pay a little bit more. It is certainly reasonable for what you get. The only drag is the wait which occasionally puts even fans off. Certainly worth a try.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 25, 2012

Warning: if you order chicken make sure you ask what part of the chicken it is. Based on the dish I had (Tori Atsu-Atsu), I would never want to eat here again. For the price they're charging I really didn't expect that they would use the cheapest, really hard, un-chewable throat bits and stuff. I'm sure you can't go very wrong with a vegetable option and the broth in my dish was nice, but I was really disappointed with the chicken dish because on the menu it just says "chicken" so I expected at least thigh or drum stick meat, not offal!
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Aska
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Monday, October 08, 2012

Just suffered dinner there with my wife. Terrible. Service terrible (they say Japanese staff... well.. not today...) Food even worse, decor? where? shared toilets, nasty smell in your clothes... It's just a wannabe restaurant, no more than a smelly take away with plenty of tables where you are forced to share a table elbow-to-elbow with a stranger in the same uncomfortable situation as you are. Expensive for nothing. I'm surprised they are still open, I guess they will die as soon as they run out of "friends" rating them positively. The worst place in London in 5 years.
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Felipe Garre
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, February 13, 2012

I go to Koya very often. It has great udon, great broth/soup, great staff, great cooking but absolutely NIL value for money. Feel like something different? Try ordering something from the board and be galled at the portion you get A marinated mussel donburi. 6 cold mussels on rice with some bean sprouts and julienned veg, oh an a small bowl of miso soup with some sliced leek, 2 slithers of shiitake and 3 pieces of flower shaped discoloured carrots in it. All for £11.80. Appalling. Understand the concept of leaving the table wanting a little more but this is leaving the table hungry, fed-up and shortchanged. Koya serves one of the more expensive bowls of noodles in Soho, as their udon is handmade and so is their broth. However, the nasty lack of generosity dressed up as Japanese reserve in their portions leave one with a feeling of having been cheated. Koya recently won the Observer Food Monthly Award for London 's Best Cheap Eats. This is true in that you can have a meal for under £10 but don't bet on feeling fed unless you're prepared to fork out cash for something extra . £1.80 for a poached egg and "small plates" with portions that are even smaller than how small you imagine they're going to be. Come on Shuko, Junya and John. Sort it out.
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6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Monday, November 14, 2011

Koya - Now I’ve been meaning to try this place for a while now. Since opening in 2010, I’ve come across nothing but good stuff about this place from the likes of the Guardian and Timeout – so, I was pretty excited to be there!

I arrived promptly at 5.30pm and there was noticeably already a small queue forming outside the shop front, which really just added to the excitement.

Doors opened and we were all promptly seated by the waitress at hand. There was just a massive burst of people and the next thing I knew - it was already 80% full. The first thing you notice is the décor - it’s all wooden but in the bare, simple, Japanese café like sense, which gives off an informal, chatty type vibe.

From the menu, I ordered myself the Niku (beef) Udon in broth (£9.30) and a side portion of roast duck (£6.20) to go with it. I got the feeling their clientele are mostly diverse Londoners, who are well-informed and genuine foodies at heart.

And it didn’t take long for the beef to come. I couldn’t help but dive right in to the noodles, and they were exceptionally good. The texture and flavour was simply delicious.

I’ve had Udon noodles before from all kinds of different joints in London (you can even buy them in packets from China town) but this place Koya, was by far the best. You can tell the noodles were of fresh produce.

The duck slices came shortly afterwards, presented in a tiny square dish in a watered down vinaigrette/pickled type dressing and with spring onion garnish. They were thinly sliced, slightly pink and were accompanied by a little English mustard dip.

And well? They were good! Succulent and well flavoured – just as duck should be.

Now back to the noodles, the beef, which were actually delicate shavings of beef, were again tender and succulent. What to say about the broth? The flavoured stock, mixed with fresh spring onion and onions was simply awesome. There is something about beef with onions, the broth just brings it all together.

So the verdict: I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Koya. The staffs were polite, efficient and they even spoke Japanese, which made it uber cool because I know it’s not quite authentic Japanese but the essence is there.

My only quarrel was with the tight seating arrangements. Tables of two-by-twos were horizontally placed from the walls, which means if you were unfortunately (or fortunately) seated by a wall, you’d have to politely ask your neighbour to stand up (or shuffle forwards) to let you through if you needed to go use the washroom or something. I imagine there’s usually a lot of shuffling about as the place was already full by 6.00pm, and with people queuing outside!

Still, I can’t complain too much, the food was delicious, staff was good and the place seemed clean. So I’ll definitely be back to try out more of their dishes!
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Daniel To
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, June 16, 2011

Koya is always busy now because the food is fairly unique for London. It specialises in the udon noodle dishes and was recommended by Japanese friends.

I have been a fair few times now and my favourites are the Hiyashi Udon where you are given cold noodles with a cold soup to pour over the top. This was the last section of the menu for us to try but the best even though a cold soup was the least appealing sounding to us. It will be ideal now with the summer months. The mackerel was very nice but some others like the pork were a little bit too salty for my taste.

I love the onsen tamago which is a slow poached egg that gives the yolk a very creamy texture. The small plates are expensive I think especially the pork belly and the duck, as you receive only 3 very tiny slices which cost over 6 pounds.

Overall the food is nice, especially the star which is the chewy udon noodles, but it best with friends as can be noisy for a couple
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MartinaL - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, April 26, 2011

the meal in koya restaurant was a total experience. i am a person who do not eat much. if you expect big portions do not come here.. food is amazing, amazing, amazing, but the portions are not so amazing. had the best noodles ever and that broth was just heaven. i enjoy every minute of it. i would go there again and again. first experience was great and i hope it will be again great next time.. can not wait to go again.
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8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, February 10, 2011

We were a party of three for dinner. The place looked like a cheap noodle bar. We all had the thick noodle in soup. All three came with a portion of Udon (thick Japanese noodle), comparable to a 50p packet from a Japanese supermarket, in a broth.

One of us had the Buta Miso (pork and pork) Atsu-Atsu. This was simply a spoon of a mixture of mince pork and miso paste sitting in the soup. With an extra topping of Onsen Tamago (a poached egg which came in the shell, which we had to crack open ourselves), the cost of this dish was £8.80+£1.60=£10.40

One of us had the Tempura Atsu-Atsu (prawn tempura), which was the same noodle in broth and a single prawn tempura laid on top, and a poached egg, cost: £9.30+£1.60=£10.90. Please note that on the same menu, one can order the same poached egg on a small plate for £2.10

And one of us had the Saba Atsu-Atsu (smoked mackerel), which again was the same thick noodle in broth with a single fillet of smoked mackerel on top. Cost: £9.80

As sides, which they call 'Small Plates', we had a Kaiso Salad (mixed seaweed - £4.10), Kakuni (braised pork belly with cider - £6.20) and a special of the day, deep fried tofu (£4.60 of 4 small cubes of tufu). Be warned that these small plates are indeed small.

Finally, we had Shusen sake at £9.30, which when shared amongst the three of us, was equivalent to a small shot glass each.

Although the food was good, it was nothing special and at these prices, we were expecting something slightly better than the ordinary.

The service was fast enough and the waitresses very politely but they somewhat seemed to lack experience; putting down several dishes at one end of the table, and leaving ourselves to pass down the dishes to the people at the other end of the table, is not what I would call good service.

One last complaint is that the restaurant was small and the acoustics were terrible. We had to speak very loudly to hear one another.

Overall, at a cost of over £20 each for noodles and ordinary side dishes, and including the sake, Koya is over-priced for what it offers.
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Greedy Pig
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, February 04, 2011

Authentic udon and by far the best I've had outside of Japan. Has become very popular due to receiving glowing reviews so I recommend going early around noon to avoid queing. A bowl of noodles for around 10 quid could be considered over-priced but isn't this what people pay at places like Wagamama?! Now if someone would opened a ramen shop which is at the same level as Koya I would be really happy...
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Mat G
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, January 26, 2011