What The Table Condiments At A Ramen Restaurant Are Actually For (Not Your Ramen)

When you visit many restaurants, the condiments that are readily available on the table tend to be ones that you use for the food most commonly served at that particular type of restaurant — think bottles of ketchup and mustard at a burger joint, salsa and hot sauce at a Mexican restaurant, or syrup at a pancake place.

When it comes to sit-down ramen restaurants, though, at least the ones that offer more than just steaming bowls of ramen, three common condiments that you tend to see on the table are soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil. And though you might be tempted to use them on your ramen, don't! You'd be making one of the common mistakes to avoid when ordering ramen at a restaurant, according to an expert. Aside from chili oil, they're not actually meant to be used to modify the namesake dish of ramen. Instead, they're meant for a side dish found in ramen restaurants, namely gyoza. This popular Japanese type of dumpling, which is very similar to potstickers, is best eaten with a mix of the condiments provided as a dipping sauce.

Although some ramen restaurants will bring you a premade savory dipping sauce when you order gyoza, others let you make your own using those same three condiments of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil. If you don't have a set preference, you can always start with a one to one ratio of soy sauce to rice vinegar, and adjust from there based on taste. And if you like things a little spicy, add a bit of the chili oil as well.

To further customize, you can also add two other common condiments found at ramen restaurant tables: Garlic (minced or fried) and sesame seeds. These two additions are typically added to a bowl of ramen. Skip the soy sauce though, especially if you order shoyu ramen (or soy sauce ramen), one of the four basic types of ramen broth, because all types of ramen come with already flavorful broths. And be sure to slurp away at your ramen noodles as soon as they arrive, whether or not your order of gyoza has, as ramen is meant to be eaten as soon as it's ready.