Koya Soho

Londoners will famously queue for anything, alive or dead, but Koya Soho is still worth the wait. The walk-in only, corridor-ish udon bar opened on Frith Street in 2010 and the standards remain consistently high. It’s a knowingly transient place that makes brilliant, innovative bowls for under £20 and a meditative portion of lasso-worthy noodles suits any meal and any season. Unlike other lines, you’ll more than likely be back here again and again. 

Once inside, you’re met with a counter catwalk. There are 25 or so knee-high seats and 25 or so heads bowed in appreciation. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, this is a restaurant that’s proudly utilitarian. A meal here suits one or two people best (or three, if you aren’t keen on whoever’s furthest away) and you can be in and out within half an hour. Its English breakfast udon bowl—that mixes the pig fat of a fry-up with a gooey tamago egg and shiitake mushrooms—is truly one of the great modern London dishes. 

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Soho gets a glint in its eye come nighttime and Koya is no different. Really, you want to come an hour or so before it closes at 10pm. Yellow orbs hang over the bar, lighting up a line of mates, dates, and anyone who may have had a few drinks. Tender, crunching chicken kara-age is a favourite accompaniment to beer all year-round, and truncheon-sized tempura is always a hit too. But the thing everyone is waiting outside for is the slippery udon—be it paired with a nourishing hot fish curry broth or a smooth umami-ish chilled lamb, miso, and cumin sauce. It’s hard to justify some queues but, in London terms, Koya is restaurant royalty.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

English Breakfast Udon

Pedants will argue that this bowl doesn’t have every component part of a full English, but this reimagined fry-up hits all the marks. The fried egg glows orange, the bacon is crispy, and the shiitake mushrooms give that necessary earthiness. All in a bowl of salty broth with bouncing noodles. It’s excellent.

photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

Curry Atsu-Atsu

The katsu-ish flavours of this comforting bowl of hot udon make it a great entry-level order. The noodles are chewy, the sweet and mildly spiced sauce is as comforting as they come, and it doesn’t feel half as heavy as a katsu curry with rice.

Hiyashi Lamb Cumin Miso

Udon is a seasonless dish, contrary to its comforting nature. A bowl of cold udon with cold broth is as refreshing as it is filling, and the ground cumin lamb in a chilled miso broth is as velvety and flavoursome as they come.

photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

Pork Belly with Cider

Is there anything as good as a slowly cooked piece of pork belly? That’s a rhetorical question. This is a perfect plate of food and one should be ordered each and every time you visit.

Onsen Tamago

This is a slow-poached egg in broth. It’s as good as poached egg is going to get - savour it or throw it down the hatch in one.