Koya, Udon Noodles, Soho-London

NOTE: I am in London until the beginning of October, for Berlin Posts, please visit my Berlin, Favourites page or Places I’ve Eaten In 

You know the best part of having a food / restaurant review blog? The people you meet virtually. Before I had the blog, I would grit my teeth through social engagements. Patiently listening to (ok, trying to) lots of small talk and wondering when I could get to the main event and see if there was going to be synergy in thought or not. With this blog, we skip all that, we can strip down to our tighty whites - metaphorically speaking and get all nerdy about our common favorite subject: food!I get quite a few people writing in asking me where they should eat while in Berlin, for their ‘paid for by the company’ business dinner, their anniversary, cheap eats etc. I do my best because it’s hard to know what a stranger will like, what their budget is and of course, if they are coming from London or New York - Berlin really can’t compete with that scene. (In people terms alone, London has 7.5 million inhabitants compared to Berlin’s 3.5 million).A while back, I had a chef friend of Stephen Williams (former head chef at the Harwood Arms) write to me to ask for recommendations.

I obliged, although most of what I recommended was closed for the Easter weekend.  When I returned to London, I dropped him a quick email to ask where I should go. First on his list - Koya*, just a few doors down from Barrafina on Frith Street. The small shop specializes in Udon noodles, which are made by foot daily. Something I learned from the guy who recommended it. Initially, I took that to be a typo but I googled it and yes – the noodles are kneaded by foot. I don’t know enough about it to understand why this is significant or even necessary. But the huddle of people outside the shop hint that the noodles are indeed something special. Read more of this post