As a major foodie, one thing I’ve always wanted to do but never felt brave enough to is go to a restaurant on my own. I’ve always looked at people who go to restaurants alone as super independent people – but I’ve never been able to extend that image to myself. For some reason, while I always thought other people looked independent doing it, I thought I would look sad and lonely and everyone wold be judging me. I decided recently I wanted to face that fear: bite the bullet and eat at a restaurant alone. Why should I have to wait for a friend to be free that likes that type of food to go eat somewhere? If I want to eat something, I should be able to do that regardless of if a friend is coming with me or not! Well, I did it and I had a really great time. It turns out absolutely no one is looking at and judging you if you go and eat on your own in a restaurant! I definitely felt very apprehensive ahead of doing it, so I wanted to share some tips for how I did it, made it really enjoyable and feel less scary.

Top Tips For First Time Solo Diners (From a recent first timer)

1. Try to avoid just sitting on your phone – be present, take in the environment. This makes it a much more rewarding experience. If you’re gonna sit on your phone, you might as well just be at home and order a delivery. You go to a restaurant for the whole experience, to take in the surroundings.
2. Pick a place with good people watching opportunities – this was key for me to stay off my phone. I chose Koya as this had bar seating which meant I could watch the chefs cooking the food which was really fun.
3. If you’re scared, pick something lowkey for the first time. I was scared, so chose lunch over dinner as this felt less scary for me – I was just grabbing lunch while out shopping, whereas dinner felt scarier as I would be leaving the house specifically to go eat. Koya had bar seating too which I think really helped as this lends itself very well to eating alone.
4. Pick a place with food you’re really excited to try! And maybe somewhere none of your friends would go. One of the reasons I wanted to start eating out on my own is that a lot of my friends may not want to eat at all the places I want to. I do have a few foodie friends, but they aren’t always gonna be free!
5. As much as you can, try to tell remind yourself how strong & independent you are for doing this! And absolutely no one else is going to be looking at you and judging for being alone, but if they do, who cares! It won’t affect you if people are thinking that.

I hope these tips help if any of you are planning to give this a go for the first time. I cannot recommend it enough!

Koya Review

You’re probably all wondering how was Koya? Well I’ll tell you! For those who don’t know, Koya is an amazing Japanese udon bar with locations in Soho, Hackney and the city. I went for a Saturday lunch at the Soho branch around 2pm – when I got there the queue wasn’t too long. I think I waited around 30-40 mins. It did start raining but luckily that was just when I reached the cover. It was cold, and a little stormy which I think is the perfect weather for a big hot bowl of noodles & broth.

Once I was seated, I ordered the cumin miso lamb and added tamago (poached egg). I got a prime seat and watched the chefs making my dish. They handed me this huge steaming bowl of noodles and cold egg on the side. I cracked my egg into the dish – the yolk was still gorgeously thick and runny, and the broth warmed up the egg perfectly. The noodle dish consisted of thick udon noodles, broth, a minced lamb cumin and miso mix, with a bit of freshness from coriander and spring onions – it was absolutely delicious. I really love udon noodles, and these were a fantastic example of them – they were thick, a little bit chewy and so comforting. The broth was savoury, and the lamb was amazing – very umami and fragrant. I really liked the addition of the tamago as the yolk added a bit of richness. I definitely want to go back and try their other udon dishes, as well as their small plates and sides. Maybe next time I’ll take a friend to share with!

So all in all my first solo restaurant trip was a major success – I did it confidently, I really enjoyed the experience AND I got to eat delicious noodles. I think my next challenge for myself will be to go out for dinner alone – please give me tips in the comments if you have any! Anyone who, like me, feels apprehensive about eating a restaurant alone – I really recommend giving it a go! It feels very freeing to know that anytime there’s something I want to eat, I can just go and do that!

Find them at 50 Frith Street, W1D 4SQ (+ other locations in Hackney & the city)