Sometimes, my memories of a restaurant begin at the end, and at Koba in Fitzrovia, central London, the enduring image is the warm, fresh, sugary, bean paste doughnut served with a pot of buckwheat tea. It was an utter delight, but then, Korean sweet bean paste, which is made with adzuki beans, is so very satisfying: pleasantly claggy, almost nutty, and a little decadent, while at the same time still convincing you that it might count as one of your five a day, were it not stuffed inside a hot fresh doughnut with a whopping great dollop of whipped cream. It was a cold winter’s day – the sort where, by lunchtime, my own umbrella had blown inside-out twice and everyone else’s seemed determined to poke my eye out. Against that backdrop, this doughnut was a moment of pure bliss.
Koba, a Korean restaurant by Linda Lee, has been providing moments of such joy for 20 solid years, not least with its traditional tabletop barbecue hot plates on which guests could grill their own dinner. Or, in many cases, have their dinner grilled for them by a kindly server, because nothing says: “Lord God, what time does my shift finish?” more than the face of a tired Korean server watching a gang of tipsy non-Koreans trying to work a tabletop hot plate. After you’ve dropped that first plate of onions into your handbag, you’re often more than grateful for the help. To celebrate reaching 20 years, however, and after an elegant revamp, Lee has now ditched those hotplates altogether. Koba 2.0 has also slung out the black tables, the dangling extraction vents and much of the dark wood, and replaced it with a wabi sabi colour palette that’s pale, dreamy and, in places, even twinkly.
‘Insta-friendly’: Koba’s mul hwei starter features mixed raw fish, prawn, trout’s roe and an icy gochujang vinaigrette.
Small, elegant snacks and starters include the likes of deep-fried cuttlefish, neat jeon shrimp, vegetable and fermented sauce pancakes and a really very lovely yook hwei raw beef with pear, seaweed and egg yolk. These starters come with a generous serving of banchan, featuring different types of kimchi, beansprouts and spicy cucumbers. Perhaps the old crowd will miss the grill-your-own element, but, especially with something like Koba’s dak galbi barbecue chicken, I feel it’s much better to let an expert take the strain, not least so you don’t mess up the chicken in its heady marinade of gochujang paste, chilli and garlic served with mixed leaves, pickles and sauces. It’s pretty great, too.
Rest assured, also, that the beef bulgogi with mushrooms is still on the menu and, should you really wish, you can even grill it yourself on one of the few remaining tabletop grills in the downstairs private dining room.
‘Gorgeously staged’: Koba’s dubu sotbab of tofu, wilted greens, nori, mushrooms, green beans and rice.
Other parts of Koba’s new menu, however, lean towards delicate, modern fine dining. The mul hwei, for instance, is a pretty bowl of prawn, raw salmon and white fish topped with a generous scoop of vivid orange trout roe and dressed in an iced gochujang vinaigrette. It’s a dish where the Koba reboot goes Insta-friendly, as does the dubu sotbab tofu and vegetable rice pot, which doesn’t sound like much on paper, but which turns up gorgeously staged with piles of wilted greens, sliced nori, green beans and mushrooms on top of rice, all waiting to be mixed in.
That’s a nice touch, and one of many in this new incarnation of a handy little dining spot that has weathered so much change to this area over its two decades. It’s peculiar to think how many great, seemingly invincible restaurants have thrived but then vanished around Charlotte Street, Rathbone Street and down towards Goodge Street. Elena’s Etoile is long gone, and not even the OG Spaghetti House could survive the current climate in this little patch off theatreland, but Koba is somehow still kicking it. Will the decision to whip out those hot plates finally finish the place off? I don’t think so. The go galbi grilled mackerel is just as great as ever, and in fact it’s all the better for not having to endure my amateur antics.
‘An utter delight’: Koba’s Korean bean paste doughnut.
But let’s go back to those desserts. Korean restaurants and the words “let’s linger over pudding” aren’t traditional friends, but at Koba I think it’s worth making time not just for that doughnut, but also for the vast scoop of fresh vanilla ice-cream that’s served with slices of sweet, fresh persimmon and a drenching of spiced, sticky syrup. Absolute joy.
Ripping up your own rulebook after 20-odd years is something only the bravest souls would ever dare to do, but I admire Koba’s chutzpah. More power to its elbow. Use these places or lose them to the death stampede of theatreland stalwarts. I’m helping out one doughnut at a time.
Koba 11 Rathbone Street, London W1, 020-7580 8825. Open Tues-Sun, lunch noon-2.30pm, dinner 5.30-10.30pm (10pm Sun). From about £50 a head à la carte; lunch set from about £12; five-course set menu £45, all plus drinks & service