Noko

Noko – sounds somewhat Nordic.  In Japanese which I think is what they are going for it means child or comfort.  In the same ways that my kids look on a blank sheet of paper with wonder and mischief in their eyes, I try to do the same to an empty plate.  Thinking about what delights may come soon.

It is a blank canvas that anyone can draw on.  Sadly on occasion at the end of the meal, the scribble is something that you regret but sometimes something masterful appears.   Most of the time though this is unrequited hope.

Secret beef.  An excellent start.  Spicy, bursting with umami, the chewiness of beef, the crunch of nuts, the bite of chilli.  These some of my favourite things.  With this as our starter, my hopes were fired up.  My tongue was tingling too.

Pan fried pork dumplings.  Those  day dreams were quickly dashed.  These pork dumplings (a bit of a weird fan going on here) were one dimensional in taste.  Not that they were bad but just that I could have easily mistaken these for minced chicken, minced lamb, or minced mystery meat.  Maybe they should have called these “secret” dumplings.  Instead of the beef.

Gochu jang k-pop chicken wings. Deep fried then generously slathered with gochu jang.  Enjoyable especially as they didn’t break the bank.  Sweet and spicy with a little sour tang, these were nice small delights with crunchy batter and fulsome skin.

Lamb shoulder skewer.  Meaty but perhaps overly cooked.  Dusted with some seasoning (couldn’t figure out what these were), they were a bit too chewy for me, not that I am opposed to a bit of gnawing from time to time.  Yet I’m not one to work my mouth off often (I have been characterised as a man of few words occasionally), so I could pass on this.

Scallop with glass noodles.  Seemed like rather alot of glass noodles and not so much scallop.  A pretty shell though and the scallop that I did find was tender and smooth.  Nothing to blow you out of the water though.  Nice bite with the chilli.

Biang Biang noodles, soy sauce with chili powder, cucumber and peanut on top.  The texture of the noodles was excellent as they bounced around my mouth.  The peanut and cucumber oddly seemed almost as if placed as an after though.  As I like to tell my children, nice try.

So did I find Noko child like?  Well, in some senses yet as it seemed rather confused.  The start was great, the end was ok.  The middle rather disappointing. In the end, my blank plate ended with a drawing wjocj was more like a children’s scribble of food.  Fairly two dimensional or confused.  Although I am probably being too harsh and Noko may become better once it grows up.

A quiet eating 7/10.

Dinner (2 course equivalent) was GBP30 excluding drinks and service.

Noko Camberwell (no website)

15 Camberwell Church St,
London SE5 8TR