For our last Sunday in London, Fafa suggested a Japanese breakfast date. Japanese breakfast is one of the joys of my life; I needed no convincing. An hour later, we stood in front of Koya.
I couldn’t help but notice the tied Noren. Noren is the traditional Japanese curtain usually used to decorate the entrance of Japanese eateries. IDK why, but the tied Noren irked me a bit.
Stepping inside, I expected to hear Irasshaimase (welcome in Japanese) but got none. That was the second red flag for me. But the menu and the decor looked authentic, complete with the Maneki Neko. Also, Fafa told me we should keep an open mind when I whispered the lack of Irasshaimase to him.
With that, we put our order in.
Fafa’s food arrived first – he got the classic Asagohan (Japanese breakfast) ━ a bowl of rice, fish (his was salted) with a side of pickle and a bowl of miso soup.
Mine came a bit later as I had ordered from the seasonal-menu board ━ I got pickled clams and shisho Maze-Gohan rice with a side of miso soup because, well, pickle, clams and rice, how could I not?
It looked good and tasted good ━ especially for that price in London. Just that it was not the Japanese breakfast level good.
The rice was well-seasoned, and so was the pickled clams, but the portion was off. I would prefer it to be a clam for every full spoon of rice, but it wasn’t even half of that. I ended up ordering a plate of pickled plum midway through to finish up my rice.
The miso soup had snow peas. I had never eaten miso soup with snow peas in and outside Japan. If it tasted good, that would be a different story, but the soup was lack of flavour, and the snow peas didn’t help.
In short, my Japanese breakfast wasn’t umami enough.
Meanwhile, Fafa thoroughly enjoyed his Asagohan. His only regret was not ordering the English-Japanese breakfast, which comes with a side of bacon and egg.
I also noticed the lack of interaction between us, the patrons and the person behind the counter. One of my favourite things about eating in kitchen-counter-style restaurants in Japan was the engagement with the cooks. I wasn’t expecting Netflix’s Midnight Diner level heart-to-heart, just a bit of eye contact, a smile or even a nod. Nope, nothing as such happened here.
And there was no condiment on the table! No shoyu, red flakes, shio, vinegar, or wasabi. Well, maybe not wasabi since it’s not a sushi bar but at least the other things?
I could be forever doomed after the one elusive Japanese breakfast in Tokyo that set an impossible-to-match standard for all the Japanese breakfasts I have after it. But this Koya, from the tied Noren to lack of Japanese restaurant hospitality, was just not Japanese enough ━ not umami enough for me.
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