As much as I wanted to like this place, I just don’t think this place worked its magic for me. I went along and didn’t really take note of the "Japanese noodle and sushi bar" title, their menu focused on various forms of ‘men’ or noodle soup with everything from udon noodle, ramen noodle and wonton soup as well a number of other classic "Japanese" dishes. They also offer a number of "set" menus, and I ended up going for one of faves, the pork katsudon (breaded pork on rice topped with an egg-based sauce) for £8. Looking back, I really should have got a noodle soup instead.
You order at the entrance of the store, something that became an obvious bottleneck with the single menu taped to the counter causing people to crowd around it as they’re deciding what to order. After ordering, you then find a table or a counter seat in my particular case.
They served me a glass of tap water automatically, a plus on their side although unfortunately it wasn’t topped up throughout. Fortunately this isn’t a place that collects a service fee on top of their dish – what you see is what you pay.
When the katsudon arrived, it had been garnished with some seaweed – not too much to overpower the entire dish. I could see immediately that it was going to be a dry dish, where instead of a saucy egg based sauce, I found traces of egg and what still looked like very white rice untouched by any type of sauce. Admittedly there was plenty of rice and consider it the pork a generous serve to match the amount of rice yet I found myself desperately wanting something to moisten the palette. Much to my surprise, they also served the katsudon with a bowl of miso soup, and I definitely appreciated the offer.
Although there were plenty of signs this place should have been good – plenty of Japanese people and reasonable prices, I don’t think I’ll be going out of my way to head back there anytime soon. My table had obviously been wiped down, yet remained sticky to the touch, the katsudon was far too dry and unsatisfying despite their generously sized portion.
TheKua.com Rating: 2 out of 10
Found at: 84 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1F 9UB
2! Must have been quite rubbish. I guess they get 1 mark for the water at the start and 1 for the miso soup! ha!
Yup! I was quite disappointed and want to try a number of other places before going back here. I’m sure that there’s some redeeming feature. Just not for me just yet.