Koj
3 Regent Street, Cheltenham
‘Japanese grazing,’ cries the website for Koj, a neat slip of a place on a Cheltenham Georgian terrace, with its back to an ugly mall. ‘ #NOsushi.’ Which may come as somewhat of a disappointment to those who feel this great cuisine is solely concerned with raw fish and vinegared rice.
But much of the joy of Japanese food is its exquisite specialisation. Unlike European cuisine, where you’ll find all manner of culinary techniques cheek by jowl on a menu, in Japan you pick your pleasure. So if you crave tempura, you head for a place centred on a bubbling vat of boiling oil. The same with ramen, or yakitori, shabu shabu (tissue-paper-thin slices of beef, cooked briefly in boiling water, then dragged through dips), okonomiyaki (a savoury pancake) or tonkatsu (deep-fried pork). Sure, there are places that cram them all in, but they’re the exception rather than the rule.
Koj, a neat slip of a place on a Cheltenham Georgian terrace, with its back to an ugly mall
Which makes, of course, for very good eating. Something the owner and executive chef Andrew Kojima knows all about. A MasterChef finalist who has spent time shaking the pans in London at the likes of The Ledbury, Le Gavroche and Dinner By Heston, he draws on his half-Japanese heritage to create a sort of izakaya (Japanese pub) by way of the West Country. And the food is, on the whole, very fine indeed. Precise, clean and expertly cooked. Padron peppers, crisp and charred, come with a citric gasp of yuzu. Leeks are equally charred, but possess an inherent sweetness, accentuated by a rich miso dip. Shitake mushrooms are breaded and deep fried, to create a fusion of the crisp and the chewy. Just as in China, texture is every bit as important as taste.
Things get a little more gruff and bosky with an ox heart steamed bun, the perfect blend of lithe and bovine. The organ is slow cooked, and splendidly soft, with a sharp whack of pickled shitake and a low horseradish growl. Soft shell crab, stuffed into another cumulus-like bun, avoids that bitter tang so often found in the cheaper varieties, instead serving up well seasoned crunch. Lotus root and cauliflower, elegantly pickled, adds a different sort of crunch, while kimchi bean sprouts have honk and kick, adding a serious chilli depth. More chilli kick from a mabodon, rice slathered in a richly umami, tofu-studded pork mince. Comfort food with balls.
Okonomiyaki, Japanese pancake, has all the bounce and chew you would hope, sweet, but not cloyingly so, rich but not overwhelming. It’s slathered with mayonnaise and bonito flakes, for that subtle, smoky fish scent.
Not everything is quite as spot on. Carrot tempura has a rather turgid batter that clumsily grasps rather than ethereally coats. Decent tempura is a truly rare thing over here. Beef shogayaki is fine, the well-bred flesh thinly sliced, but the end result is forgettable. Pudding, though, is magnificent. A delightfully pert, tart and cleansing citrus jelly, in contrast to the rich, savoury sweet, umami-packed caramel and miso ice cream. I could eat the latter forever.
Koj is a gleamingly bright shard of Japan, in this most English of Cotswold towns
The sake list, as you’d expect, is not only well chosen but well priced, too. The sommelier (sak-ellier?) knows his stuff and guides us through all manner of polished rice delight. We even find a decent variety served warm, Honjozo Genshu. Too often, warm is used to hide a rough brew.
We end with a silken, sweet-sour umeshu, or plum liqueur, in a small, bright room filled with small plates of bright delight.
Genuinely interesting, intelligent Japanese food, far removed from the usual dreary clichés. ‘A classic MasterChef set-up,’ says Matthew as we wander out into the crisp Cheltenham afternoon. ‘Enthusiasm and economy meet hard-earned expertise.’ A gleamingly bright shard of Japan, in this most English of Cotswold towns.
About £30 per head