Koya - noodling round Soho- Apr 2011

Where: Koya, Frith Street Soho

How much: Bowls of noodles or rice are between £8 and £13 with side plates around a fiver each. 

With who: The Lumberjack

Come here if: you can manage to get a table

There's a real renaissance in reservation free dining in the West End. Looking at most of the current hot lists, there's a number of names cropping up again and again; #Meateasy, the New Cross burger pop up, Sputino, Russell Norman's latest 26 seater Soho spot, Dishoom and Koya, each expect you to take your time, and take your chance with the queues. I'd love to link it to some banker backlash, a sense of camaraderie from eager restaurateurs seeking to kick back against the elite and provide opportunity to all, but it's more of a new type of dining, a more casual twist away from the fine dining edge. 

Casual Koya certainly is. Dressed down, colour coordinated soft linen lined staff straight out of a Muji advert. Plain walls, bare wooden tables aimed at twos and reclaimed floor tiles, it's a pretty space, though nothing designed, arty or memorable. It's a little Japanese cafe focussed firmly on the art of the noodle.

There's lots to like here. The staff are friendly and unobtrusive, still or sparkling filtered water land on your table as soon as you're handed the slim 2 page menu. There isn't long to wait for food, the homemade udon noodles that are the staple of the house, are made fresh daily and briefly braised in an umami rich broth and served with a variety of accompaniments. While you can have several of their delicately flavoured toppings with rice and have the noodles dry, without the broth, but for me these both miss the best bit. We started with cold sliced duck breast in light soy with fierce Japanese mustard on the side comes to share. It's nothing to write home about (assuming your home was in Japan) but it's a great piece of meat, cooked well. The noodles are exceptional, as always. Thick worms of al dente udon simmer in a broth shared with slow poached chicken, vegetables and a golden poached egg shining in the centre of the pot. Sprinkled with a spoonful of deep red shichimi seasoning, combining chilli pepper, orange peel and toasted sesame seeds, it's a thing of beauty.