Miso Cool Shop SLG8-9a, Sub-lower G/F Westland Gardens 2-10 Westlands Road, Quarry Bay Tel: 2565 1001
Grub: Mostly Japanese noodles, but there is also a good selection of rice dishes, tempura and snacks to tempt the inquisitive palette.
Vibe: Clean, modern interior with friendly, efficient staff. There are large, dining-room-like tables stretched across the middle of the venue with smaller tables around the edges for groups of four to six. There is a window at the back that provides a view into the kitchen.
Who to take: Friends and classmates - Miso Cool seems to be popular mostly with a young crowd.
What's hot: Noodles. It's what I went for, and no matter how good some of the other dishes looked, I wasn't going to be sidetracked. Besides, just choosing between noodles and noodles is choice enough. Most of the dishes can be ordered with a choice of either ramen, udon, jelly noodles and black ink spaghetti.
I'm not actually sure if I've ever had jelly noodles before. There is a dish called hot spicy jelly noodles with pork ribs which was very tempting, but I decided I wasn't in the mood for spicy, so instead I plumped for the pan-fried black ink spaghetti with Hokkaido seafood milk soup. To go with it I also ordered the mixed shrimp tempura and a yoghurt and peach smoothie called a White Lover which was on a special summer menu.