Eating Ramen & Koi Soi Noodles @ Soya Noodle Bar Cascais

Thomas was feeling like ramen, and while he suggested going back to Shoyu Ramen & Izakaya Cascais, I felt like we'd been there too recently, and didn't want to get sick of going there by visiting too often.

So we headed a little ways past Shoyo over to, to be completely honest, our favourite Asian restaurant we've been to in Portugal so far: Soya Noodle Bar.

Now, we've been here a lot over the past year or so, and that's because when lockdown started, I got a hankering for Korean that just built up over time.

When I did a quick search to see which restaurants served bibimbap, the list was quite small, and to my knowledge, this was the only restaurant in all of Cascais that actually served it.

So we headed down, I got some bibimbap for myself, and Thomas got himself a bowl of ramen (which he loves way more), and we were both satisfied with the fact that this was the only place you could get a bowl of bibimbap.

The quality of everything we've bought here has been impeccable, though on this particular day, I decided to get a bowl of koi soi noodles and Thomas decided to grab a bowl of ramen (usually, I go for the bibimbap).

I didn't make up my mind until I was sitting in the restaurant. It's usually a last minute decision for me as I love the ramen as well, so my choice is usually made based on whether I feel like having a crazy punch of flavour (the koi soi), a rice dish (bibimbap all the way) or a more subtle noodle dish (the ramen is perfect for this).

I grabbed the koi soi, wanting the crazy flavour that day, with both Thomas and I opting for the duck because, well yum.

The portion sizes are excellent here. I definitely feel like the ramen is a lot less filling than the koi soi, but that makes sense because they really do pack the koi soi noodle bowl full of veggies that make you quite full afterward.

Don't feel bad for Thomas, we grabbed his favourite dessert, this impeccible mango & rice pudding bit of genius, and he ate around 2/3 of that.

I have to say, I adore this dessert, and I'm not usually a dessert person. Sure, I'll have the staple chocolate cake, and I'll eat a bit of any dessert that comes my way just to try, but I'm not usually bothered by most creative desserts.

This on the other hand, to die for. Definitely a great portion size to share or to have for yourself, just depends on you.

All in all a great trip, and absolutely will come back here. When I do, I'll get the bibimbap to show you in a later post.