(Con)fusion

Today for the first time we had the entire office working late on an urgent project. We needed to pull together and get cracking on this job, but not on an empty stomach! So we took our dinner break and ended up at Miso.

I was the last to arrive, and quickly looked over the menu. I haven't been to the restaurant for a few years, since it doesn't strike me as a place that needs revisiting. I initially thought about just ordering some cold inaniwa udon (冷やし稲庭うどん), but then something else caught my eye - another cold udon that seemed more creative and interesting. So I placed my order.

The gang ordered a few starters to share, which included some pan-seared ox tongue with marinated spinach. Someone thought the ox tongue tasted funny, so I decided to try a slice and see for myself. Well...it did taste funny. Fortunately I don't think it was the meat itself, but rather the funny sauce. I couldn't quite place it, but whatever it was, it didn't have any fans at our table.

My cold udon in seasame sauce with spicy teriyaki chicken came, and I was stunned. The udon seemed OK, but was swimming in a big bowl of sesame ponzu. This could make for a messy eating experience. What's worse is that the strips of chicken were laid on top of the cold udon. Now anyone who has ordered the classic tempura with cold udon/soba knows that the freshly deep-fried tempura is always served on the side. This is done so that the tempura isn't cooled by the icy cold noodles. Well, I don't know why this restaurant doesn't understand the simple rule. I wanted my noodles cold, not my chicken, but cold chicken was what I got. And never mind the stupid hot sauce that was on the chicken... I ate the chicken but left most of the noodles in the bowl, having lost my appetite somewhere in the process.

I guess I really don't need to come back this restaurant in the near future... regardless of how close it is to the office.