Koya

49 Frith St
London
W1D 4SG

C & B arranged to meet P and me at Koya on a cold weekend afternoon. After bundling in, we settled in for a feast. Udon noodles were ordered for everyone, of course - I had the Tori Nikomi (chicken and vegetable hot pot) which came in the adorable dish above and kept its heat for ages, which made it perfect for warming me up. Everyone else was slurping up their dishes and making appreciative noises - and once we finished our noodles, we couldn't resist getting more food. Off the specials menu, we had rhubarb and beetroot pickles (which inspired me to make my own rhubarb pickles a few weeks later), the fried chicken (my only complaint was that it was incredibly messy to eat), a tofu dish that I absolutely loved but can't remember now, and probably another dish as well. I stupidly forgot to take pictures of it all so I have no way of figuring it out. Which just means I need to get back to Koya to recapture my memories. Giant thumbs up from me.

Tonkotsu

63 Dean Street  
London 
W1D 4QG

PG13 (as opposed to PGTips) had a birthday that needed to be celebrated, so off we went to have some pints and stuff ourselves with ramen. There's been a recent surge in ramen restaurants - we picked Tonkotsu as it seemed to be popular and it was conveniently located for both of us. Ordering was easy, aside from a slight indecisiveness over whether to get chicken karaage or gyoza. Gyoza it was (next time it will be chicken karaage), which was nice and crispy on the bottom, though I personally prefer my homemade ones, except for the fact that they take a lot of effort to make. On to choosing ramen - we both went for the namesake tonkotsu. What came out was a soul warming bowl of goodness with the most delightfully soft-boiled egg floating in it. The picture above does no justice whatsoever. I am getting warm just thinking about this bowl of noodles with its porky essence.

Hop-Namo

Second floor of Boxpark
2-4 Bethnal Green Rd
London
E1 6GY

There is a glut of Vietnamese restaurants in the Shoreditch area, and this newcomer has set up in the "pop-up" shopping area of Boxpark. A bunch of shipping containers have been stacked to make tiny individual stores and food outlets. Being the trendsters that we are, P and I arranged a meetup to look at the stores and see what kind of dinner we could get. After giggling at hipsters in onesies, we decided to pit Hop-Namo against the rest of the places in the area. I ordered a regular beef pho, and it was definitely not the dish I usually think of - the flavor of the broth was quite different and it was missing a depth to it - when I think of good pho, I can feel my bones getting stronger from the richness of the stock that the noodles are in, and this was certainly lacking that feeling. No plate of cilantro, beansprouts, basil, chillies, and lime was served alongside it either - so I just ate what was in my bowl with no adjustments for personal preference. Not to say it was bad - I finished it - it just isn't what I want when I want a good bowl of pho, so I doubt I'll be returning.

Otsu (Soba Noodle Recipe)

This was quite spicy so I might tone down the chili powder next time since I'm usually thinking of this as a cool and refreshing noodle salad, not one that makes my mouth burn. It also inspired me to pick up some soba noodles so that the next time I make this I don't have to substitute spaghetti!

Otsu

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients

For the dressing:
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon honey or golden syrup
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup Chinese rice vinegar
1/3 cup light soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

For the rest:
12 ounces dried soba noodles (I used regular spaghetti noodles as I didn't have any soba at home)
12 ounces extra-firm tofu
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced
1 small handful of cilantro, coarsely chopped, for garnish
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Method

To make the dressing, combine the zest, ginger, honey (or golden syrup), chili pepper, and salt in a food processor (or use a hand blender) and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce and pulse to combine. With the machine running, drizzle in the oils.
Cook the soba (or spaghetti) in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water just until tender then drain and rinse under cold running water. While the pasta is cooking, drain the tofu, pat it dry, and cut into rectangles roughly the size of your thumb (1/2 inch thick and 1 inch long).
Cook the tofu in a dry nonstick (or well seasoned) skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side.
Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the soba, the 1/4 cup cilantro, green onions, cucumber and about 2/3 cup of the dressing and toss until well combined. Add the tofu and toss again gently. Serve on a platter, garnished with the cilantro sprigs and toasted sesame seeds. Serves 4 to 6.

Viet Hoa

70-72 Kingsland Road
London E2 8DP

Viet Hoa is the first Vietnamese restaurant I went to in London, back in 2006. Little did I know that I would end up moving into a place only 10 minutes away by bicycle - and that it would undergo a complete renovation, setting itself apart from the other Kingsland Road Vietnamese places with its modern and clean  design. Apparently we can even expect a bar area to open soon.  Thankfully, the renovation has not changed the tasty menu, and there has only been a slight increase in prices. C and I had fried tofu to start and then both ordered the Bun Xa with pork and lemongrass. This is a giant bowl of rice vermicelli noodles, grilled pork, bean sprouts, coriander, crushed peanuts, fried shallots and a fish-sauce based marinade that you pour in and mix with everything. Every bite is full of sweet, salty and sour flavors balancing against each other, and all for under six quid. I will be back.

Dim t

32 Charlotte St
London, W1T

Thank goodness for Wednesday lunches with J or else I might not have much to blog about these days! Dim t is a chain of Asian restaurants - there's dim sum, noodle dishes, rice dishes and salads, and it seems to go from Chinese to Malaysian to Thai, so let's just call it pan-Asian. We went with their "Dine under 10" special which is a starter and a main for 9.95. To start with, I got the chicken satay and J got the chicken and asian greens steamed dumplings. I really liked the satay - nicely grilled, crispy chicken with a great savory satay sauce with a tiny bit of heat to give it a tiny kick. Thought the dumplings were ok (but would prefer my own potstickers, or better yet, my mom's...) I ordered the tom yum soup noodles with salmon which was deliciously lemongrassy and packed with bok choy, bean sprouts, red peppers, red onions and slippery wide flat rice noodles. That is probably way too much food for lunch but I was certainly full enough to skip dinner later that night. J had the Malaysian butternut squash curry which looked good (and I think she enjoyed). Nothing inspirational here but it's certainly a solid Asian restaurant.

New Culture Revolution

42 Duncan Street
London
N1 8BL

Met up with J here for dinner - I've been a couple of times before for various dumplings but we tried all new things this time. Veggie gyoza were tasty (and spicy! which is not in their description). J liked her carrot/apple juice as well. Then we shared a braised beef and aubergine dish, and ma la niu rou mien (szechuan spicy beef noodles) - both were good though the szechuan dish could have been way spicier for my taste. I like how clean it is inside and service is a little slow but very nice. Another place to go if you're in the neighborhood, but certainly not destination dining.

It's also conveniently located by The Island Queen, a cute pub that has one of my favorite summer fruit beers, Fruli. Unfortunately renowned among my friends for being the site of a double pickpocketing during a birthday party, so keep an eye on your wallet if you're there.