Koya

Hello TimeOut people, have you never eaten a bowl of authentic Japanese Udon or Donburi? If I see your rating, I expect at least noodles are homemade and soup has the hint of taste. I am an Udon-lover and have been in Japan xx times. I went there yesterday because of your rating but it was a big disappointment!! Bland and overpriced food. I never would recommend and go back. This restaurant actually deserves zero star!

Hello TimeOut people, have you never eaten a bowl of authentic Japanese Udon or Donburi? If I see your rating, I expect at least noodles are homemade and soup has the hint of taste. I am an Udon-lover and went there yesterday because of your rating but it was a big disappointment!! Bland and overpriced food. I never would recommend and go back. This restaurant deserves zero star!

Ere

I went there today and was disappointed because I was expecting much more from a place that got five stars from TimeOut. We waited about 25 minutes outside in the cold hoping it will be a great experience. We were greeted with a warning that the credit card machine is not working and cash only is accepted. The service was slow without any apologies. Our mains arrived unsynchronised so we had to wait again. The portion size is smallish and not very filling plus no desserts are available. It is true that this place feels authentic but overall there was too much pain involved with this experience.

It is a joke that people give this place any stars. Very average, over priced food - it certainly doesn't deserve its bib gourmand. Wake up London and east in proper restaurants! Oh, and the service is ropey too.

Went Koya with the family due to the the review ranking. I had to say that we were disappointed because the noddle was not as good and very overpriced. The small dishes are really SMALL...There are a lot of many places in London that serve better and cheaper Japanese food. I could not understand how "Time-Out London" made the review of this restaurant? I might not use Time-Out for finding a restaurant next time?

Bland. and expensive The food has no taste.I love Japanese food and I have been profoundly disappointed. I will not go back!

Not somewhere I'd come back to. The posters who say Koya is overpriced for what you get are right. The "small plates" are particularly poor value for money: £2.30 for pickled plums (3 per portion), £2.90 for homemade pickles (six slices of pickled beetroot) and half a dozen pieces of greasy undercooked vegetables will set you back an eyewatering £8.60. The Duck & Vegetable Hot Pot was competently done and slightly better value for money, but over £14 for a bowl of soup and a duck breast is scarcely budget eats. Drinks are priced as you'd expect anywhere else in Soho (around £5 for a 330ml beer, £7 for a small glass of non-house wine). The final gotcha is a "discretionary" service charge of 10% (mentioned in tiny writing at the bottom of the menu) added to the final bill. £50 for a few small plates, a shared bowl of soup noodles and a couple of drinks is hardly budget - even for central London. If you're tempted to hang around outside in all weathers for average food at inflated prices - Koya's the place for you. For everyone else, there's better value to be found over the road in Chinatown.

Overpriced and overhyped, plus tiny portions. Not a place I'd go back to. The udon noodles with walnut miso looked like and tasted of dishwater. Bland, bland, bland. The homemade pickles were hard and chewy cabbage that tasted of nothing but brine. If you want flavourful and authentic noodles, go to Shoryo ramen instead. OK, so it is ramen, not udon, but infinitely better than Koya.

Overpriced and overhyped, plus tiny portions. Not a place I'd go back to. The udon noodles with walnut miso looked like and tasted of dishwater. Bland, bland, bland. The homemade pickles were hard and chewy cabbage that tasted of nothing but brine. If you want flavourful and authentic noodles, go to Shoryo ramen instead. OK, so it is ramen, not udon, but infinitely better than Koya.