Koya & Honey My Autobiography

Every time I ever walked past Japanese restaurant Koya http://www.koya.co.uk/ there has always been a long que & I've never fancied waiting but yesterday I finally made it for lunch with Daisy. There's been lots of excellent reviews & awards given to Koya the last couple of weeks so was looking forward to a great bowl of ramen!

Koya is quite smallish inside but everyone's packed in so there was a nice buzz for Monday lunch. We had to share a table which we obviously didn't mind & I ordered a amazing "Hot Ginger (homemade)" tea. It was lovely & gingery (you'd hope it was) & had a lovely sweet edge to it. A lot of Koya's menu seems to be ramen based like "Atsu Atsu" which is Hot udon in Hot Broth & "Hiya - Atsu" which is Cold Udon with Hot Broth but they also do rice bowl dishes which all sound very tasty to. 

Pickled

We chose a small plate of "Otsukemono" which are home made pickles & consisted of beetroot only. Quite tasty & a nice herb sprinkled on top. 

For main I went for a "Buta Miso Hot Udon in Hot Broth (Pork & miso)". Daisy chose the "Kamo Hot Udon in Hot Broth (Duck)". I was lucky to have tried some amazing ramen in Japan a few years ago with my old friend Mike which were incredible & always been disappointed with what I've had in the UK but Koya changed that feeling. The pork stock was delicious & meaty with a little sweet edge to it which I liked very much. The noodles were first rate & I scoffed it down heartily. It was a really nourishing & flavoursome meal. Daisy's duck was equally amazing! The duck was really tender & delicious & the stock was a little lighter then the pork stock so good contrasting flavours between the two dishes. 

I think Koya was excellent, if you're looking for really tasty & warming Japanese food that's not to expensive, this place is amazing. Just maybe expect to que! 

Book

Onto "Honey My Autobiography" which is my dad, Pino Iacaruso's cookbook. He wrote it a couple of years ago & includes stories about his childhood in Italy, cooking for Princess Margaret & Princess Michael of Kent, the Finnish embassy (where he worked for quite a few years) & also contains lot's of amazing recipes such as "Roast venison with chocolate sauce" & "Cold lemon souffle with crystallized tangerine". 

If anyone would like a copy they are £6 including p&p UK. Please email me at ediacaruso@hotmail.com & I will get in touch as soon as possible. 

Tootle ooh for now