Tsuta in Causeway Bay is the Hong Kong branch of a Michelin-starred soba shop from Tokyo, and it received a lot of hype when it opened a few months ago. The queue to get in can be long, but we visited on a rainy weekday afternoon, so the wait outside was quite brief. The interior is tranquil, with only about 20 seats around the open kitchen.

The selection is limited, with only two offerings for broth: shoyu (soy sauce) and shio (salt). The most basic bowls start at HK$98 and include one slice of char siu, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots) and leeks in a truffle oil broth. You can also order side dishes and toppings, such as rice, egg, extra noodles and additional pork.

We ordered ajitama shoyu soba (HK$113), which had seasoned egg, and a char siu shio soba (HK$134), which was supposed to come with a few extra slices of pork. Because of a mix-up, the shio soba was missing the char siu, so we were eventually given the sliced pork on a separate plate, rather than in the broth.