Outstanding Udon Restaurant Starts Sending Noodles Nationwide

Koya, London’s outstanding udon restaurant, will start sending flat-packed (and vacc-packed) packages of noodles and dashi nationwide this week, it announced on Instagram this afternoon.

Under the new brand, which takes inspiration from “Royal Mail”, Koya Mail integrates Koya’s signature house with a crown over the text in red and white. The packages are printed with the word “omiyage” on the front — a nod to the Japanese custom in which a gift or souvenir is offered to a friend, family, or colleague after a trip.

Koya, the restaurant owned by Shuko Oda and John Devitt, has also been offering takeaway and delivery in London from its restaurants in Soho and the Bloomberg Arcade in the City, as well as a more recent nationwide offering through the novel delivery platform Dishpatch.

Anton Rodriguez for Koya

This marks a slight change in direction: it is, for one, minimalist. All that is available at the outset will be udon and dashi; though there is a suggestion that toppings — like the restaurant’s signature pork miso — could be coming soon, either as extras for delivery or as recipes supplied by Oda. They can be ordered directly from the restaurants; and they fit through the letter box.

Each package is designed to feed two for one meal, with a refrigerated shelf-life of one week; the packages can also be frozen.

More soon.