Condor

We wanted to get some inside information on ramen, who makes it? How do they make it? And what do they think of ramen in Australia? We arrived late one evening to meet Ko who has been head chef at Condor for about a year. Condor is located near Wynard station and serves a variety of Japanese food with ramen as its main focus. This busy restaurant has been open for 28 years.

Ko was more than happy to chat to us about what he felt were the differences between the way Australians and Japanese people consume ramen and how they make it at Condor. People in Tokyo prefer Shoyu based ramen, whereas "Aussies like a crunchy texture" - so Karage ramen is very popular at Condor and Japanese customers wouldn't go near it. Australians also prefer softer noodles, but Japanese (and other Asian people) consider the difference in texture of the noodles to be very important, they are similar to Italians and like their noodles "al dente". Japanese customers of Condor never choose the "experimental" ramen dishes - they order the regular types: soyu, tonkotsu, salt and mapo dofu (mala tofu). Ramen in Sydney is more varied, whereas places in Japan tend to focus on one type of Ramen whereas in Sydney there is a lot of variety. Condor makes a new broth (soup) every day in summer, but they keep it for 2 days in winter. 

Karage Miso Ramen $13

Finally, we wanted to know a little more about Ko, Where was he before Condor and what is his favourite type of Ramen? Ko used to be a chef in an expensive Izakaya in Japan in Setagaya-ku but worked in many restaurants in Shibuya and Shinjuku before moving to Australia. He personally likes a miso-based ramen and whenever he visits Japan he will go to Kannana Dori in Tokyo to eat ramen. 



We wanted to know, what is the most popular dish at Condor? Ko told us the Karage ramen is the most popular ramen dish with pork belly ramen also being very popular among Aussie customers. Ko invented most of the new types e.g. pork belly and karage. Salmon ramen is another unusual ramen type served at Condor that started from a customer request to put the salmon on a noodle dish. The customer really liked it, so they decided to put it on the menu. At Condor customer feedback heavily influences new styles of ramen. They are very open minded and not traditionalists.

We ordered the Karage Miso and the Tantanmen ramen.  The broth has a mild flavor and the dish has additions of corn, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, spring onions, and kombu.  The noodles are quite soft and don’t have the same toothiness as some other places.  With the other additions of vegetables the ramen is pretty far from traditional but the corn does add a pleasing sweetness and the others add a nice texture. 

Condor is open Sunday-Friday 11:30am-10pm

5 York St Sydney NSW 2000‎

http://www.cjr-syd.com/

Miyama

Down a neon lit hallway, Miyama is tucked away from busy George st. We ordered the restaurants speciality the Tonkatsu Tantanmen and the Kim Chee ramen.  The portion size for both dishes were good and the broth for the Tantanmen was creamy and spicy but could have had a little more flavor.  It was topped with crisp tonkasu pork, corn, bean sprouts, 1/2 an egg, and seaweed.  The noodles were crinkly and soft with a nice texture and bite.  

Tonkatsu Tantanmen $10.50

It was a Sunday night so the place was quiet.  The service was great and the people were really friendly.  Miyama has a mall cafe ambiance but a big plus is that this place has free Wi-Fi with the password plastered on the wall.  

Food: 3.5

Place: 3

Overall: 

Shop 12, 849 George St
(732 Harris St)
Sydney NSW

(02) 9212 5350

Monday To Saturday 10:30am - 10 pm
Sunday 11:30 am - 9 pm

In Search For Sydney's Best Ramen

To me, ramen has always been those crinkly dried noodles that come wrapped in plastic with a flavour sachet.  I used to eat ramen by the bucket loads it as a child, the Maggi kind, in an artificially flavoured chicken or oriental broth.  


I spent a small amount of time in Japan and while wondering the streets of Tokyo I discovered a small noodle house down a few side streets where I had my first taste of real ramen.  Wheat noodles swimming in a rich meat broth with spring onions, seaweed, and slices of pork.  


There is a whole world of ramen out there with different varieties and styles of cooking.  

 Shio ("salt") ramen is probably the oldest of the four and is a pale, clear, yellowish broth made with plenty of salt and any combination of chicken, vegetables, fish, and seaweed. Occasionally pork bones are also used, but they are not boiled as long as they are for tonkotsu ramen, so the soup remains light and clear. 

 Tonkotsu ramen usually has a cloudy white colored broth. It has a thick broth made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours, which suffuses the broth with a hearty pork flavor and a creamy consistency that rivals milk or melted butter or gravy (depending on the shop).

Shōyu ("soy sauce") ramen typically has a brown and clear color broth, based on a chicken and vegetable (or sometimes fish or beef) stock with plenty of soy sauce added resulting in a soup that’s tangy, salty, and savory yet still fairly light on the palate.

 Miso This uniquely Japanese ramen, which was developed in Hokkiado, features a broth that combines copious amounts of miso and is blended with oily chicken or fish broth – and sometimes with tonkotsu or lard – to create a thick, nutty, slightly sweet and very hearty soup. Miso ramen broth tends to have a robust, tangy flavor, so it stands up to a variety of flavorful toppings.

We are now on the discovery to find the best ramen in Sydney.