Serving up rice vermicelli in MSG-free soup, a new restaurant in Mong Kok challenges diners to drink all the broth in theirbowls. Anyone who walks into Nmcnoodles will see the banner on the wall with the challenge.

Sweet, soothing, delicious and natural tasting, the soups lived up to our expectations. There are four options, and the most popular is the coconut chicken broth rice noodles (HK$55). The stock is made from boiling black fungus, water chestnuts, bean curd, red dates and Lung Guang chicken with carrots and other vegetables. Fresh coconut juice and coconut flesh are added at the end, giving the soup a strong, sweet, coconut aroma.

We also liked the satay chicken broth rice noodles (HK$48) with mushrooms, black fungus and bean curd. It’s for those who like coconut chicken soup but with a spicy tang.

For the black garlic chicken soup rice noodles (HK$58), instead of using black garlic oil like other noodle shops, minced black garlic is added to the chicken broth, accentuating the sweetness without any oiliness. The soups can be ordered with shrimp, sole fillet or pork cartilage instead of chicken.

For snacks, we ordered the black gold chicken wing (HK$36 for five pieces), which are slathered with a thick layer of minced black garlic.