Encountering the Udon Noodle

C does not much like Japanese food. I think this aversion has something to do with a bout of food poisoning after sushi, but he maintains also that it is simply boring. I don't agree with this, but I can understand that in comparison to French or Italian food, say, the flavours are less intense; their perceived blandness perhaps off-putting. For me, there is a lot to be said for the texture. With food in general, actually, I get jiggly at the prospect of encountering an unusually bouncy, fluffy, or jelly like food substance and with Japanese food this does happen often.

Our trip to the recently opened Koya in Soho would be an interesting one, then, since their main focus is the Udon noodle. Pan-fried in a medley of spices as in Wagamama's bastardized noodle dishes, C would eat platefuls, but the idea of a plate of plain worm-like noodles scared him. At Koya you have various options as to how to eat your noodles: hot in hot broth, cold in hot broth, cold with pouring sauce or cold with dipping sauce. C decided on a hot/hot with smoked mackerel, despite apparently not liking soup noodles. 'Why did you order soup noodles?' I wondered, but the main reason, I realised is to do with not wanting to wait for the hot soup to cool down enough to slurp. 'Order rice instead', I suggested. 'No, I'm worried it will make me sleepy.' I suppose this was going to be a good test. If these could overcome this ridiculous fussiness, they must be alright. I, as the happier eater, braved the cold noodles with a cold sesame dipping sauce, with a side of seaweed. C ordered a bowl of rice with duck as well, just to be safe.

The cold noodles arrived piled upon a bamboo plate, ready to be dipped into the bowl of sauce. This was not as easy as it sounds, as the noodles are quite sticky, and also very long. Not as skilled with chopsticks as I'd like, I didn't manage to elegantly manoeuvre them from plate to bowl to mouth. I found ground spice mix in a pot on the table, and experimented with mixing spoonfuls of this into the (comfortingly) unseasoned noodles. As a refreshing summer's lunch, I found the meal hugely satisfying and would definitely return to sample more variations of the Japanese staple.

And C? I was pleased to be persuaded that the meal had in fact been genuinely enjoyed - both the soup noodles (in a deliciously fishy broth) and the duck rice (stickily sweet and morish) - and to have an indication of further forays into Japanese food textures in the future. Koya is only open for lunch, which is nice as I'd imagine at night time the little canteen-like space doesn't look nearly as lovely. The wood and earthy-coloured tiled floor seemed to fit with the simplicity of the food, and the general atmosphere. If only they'd served my favourite weirdly textured Japanese desserts, I would have been really happy. But I suppose too much chewiness in a meal might ruin ones appetite.