Goshu Ramen Tei Noodle Bar

I’ve visited the hub of Japanese restaurants around 5 York St for years, but I never knew their names. They are always “the Jap restaurants on York”. As well, I can never really tell one apart from the other. Today, Condor was quite packed, so we ventured to Goshu Ramen Tei instead.

Food

I had no idea this place was a noodle bar, ‘cos as far as I can tell, both the restaurants serve very similar things. I didn’t go the noodles however, instead opting for the delicious sounding Sukiyaki Beef Hot Pot Set ($15.50). There was a bit of a wait for the food, but a feast arrived. There were:

• miso soup - a bit salty and one dimensional
• sukiyaki beef hot pot - the bottom contained udon noodles, and there were lots and lots of very thin strips of beef, which were marinated in a little too much soy
• rice - a big bowl, I couldn’t really finish it, but great especially with the sukiyaki sauce
• salad - token vegetables with a tangy mayo dressing
• orange slice - really more a token, to complete the bento box, than anything else

.There was a lot of food, and even I couldn’t finish it. If the sukiyaki wasn’t so salty, it would be so much better.

Rating - 5.5

Atmosphere

Another place where you don’t come for the décor. The tables are basic, the chairs are hard plastic. You are packed in, you get a lot of traffic noise – but does that make it all the more authentic?

Rating - 1.5

Service

Usually they are pretty good, but they were really really slow today for some reason. In the end we had to actually rush because it took so long before our meals arrived. Service wasn’t as efficient, and for Japanese standards, pretty low. I was disappointed there's no standard Japanese greeting of "Irrashaimases".

Rating - 2

C-factor

Not the cheapest or the nicest Japanese around, but certainly not the worst.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 9.5

Info

5 York Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9290 3745