Kōya — Restaurant in Tokyo

My wife and I stopped in for lunch after a trip to the Nakameguro Donki. I'm glad we did. This place serves huge, satisfying portions at a fantastic price.

I ordered one of their set lunches: the big beef bun and some cold sesame noodles with a soft boiled egg. A beer on the side. I think I had to pay extra for the cold noodles, but it was worth it. They were great. A tender chew and strongly seasoned minced meat with just a touch of heat. Usually, eggs come poached in a cup, but this one came with the shell still on. I cracked it over the noodles, added some of the vinegar and mixed it all up. In the mushi atsui/hot and humid Tokyo summer, cold dan dan noodles are wonderful. The green onions add some crunch and the plate full of extra coriander (I love that they don't call it cilantro here) made it taste even more refreshing.

I ate the beef bun after I was done with the noodles. The beef filling is a perfect balance of sweet and spicy. And it's huge. Honestly, it could've been lunch on its own. It's the size of a burger. But I'm not complaining. I love browned, Maillard reaction bread, but there's also something special about the dumpling smooth surface of a steamed bun. You bite through that moist and glossy exterior and find the glutinous crumb below. Then, the tender and juicy, umami rich and fatty ground meat. I'm getting hungry again.

Once my belly was full, I still found room for the sweet and light almond pudding.

The place is really cute, with a cool, but very unique, retro vibe. They have old food labels all over the back wall. The light fixtures are bright green. Everything is very vibrant. Service was friendly and attentive. The place was very busy, and with only one cook and one server, they still kept us all...

Being from Sichuan where the Tantan noodle originated, it's hard not to be inclined to compare this place with what I ate growing up. While authenticity doesn't equate to quality, it's perhaps worth noting for those who are interested.

Spiciness is 5/5. Knowing most Japanese food is not that spicy, the dishes here are definitely not for the faint-hearted. I'd say it's about as spicy as what you'd get in Sichuan. My spicy tolerance is decent but it definitely made me sweat a little.

Numbness is 5/5. A lot of Sichuan food outside of Sichuan simply ignore this ingredient altogether. Here it's very properly incorporated, even with a selection of peppers. Not as strong as what you'd get in Sichuan, but it's the closest I've found in Tokyo yet.

Flavour is 4/5. Overall delicious, but the noodle they used for the dry noodle stuck together and was quite hard to mix. It was hard to get the ingredients evenly spread.

Meal combination 2/5. It didn't make sense to serve noodle with dumplings and rice. There's just way to much carbs. What do you even eat the rice with? That single piece of pickled vegetable?

Presentation is 5/5.

I recommend this place as a delicious, close authentic representation of Tantan noodle from Sichuan, with reasonable modifications.

If you do come, get the soup noodle. It tastes much better than the dry noodle. And if your set has rice, the remaining soup can be used on...

This is what I ordered and ate for my dinner today. I didn't take the photo of food because I was too hungry. In Chinese proverb, they say when you are hungry, every food you eat is taste, but it is no work for this restaurant. The price can compete with Tim Ho Won (one star michelin hong kong dim sum restaurant), but the taste and portion totally cannot compete. The food here not authentic. The fried chicken totally is Japanese style Yu Lin chicken, the meat bread (the flour more than meat, and the meat totally tasteless), the rice portion is small (half of Tim Ho Won's portion but the price just one hundred yen different, the extent small of course) One more thing, their dishes not wash properly, still left some dirty food on it. For an Asian, eat hong kong for many years and live at hong Kong for 2 years. I totally not recommend You to visit...