Ramen Zundo ~ Japanese - World Square, City

Ramen Zundo in World Square is our new favourite ramen joint in the city,  recommended to all ramen fiends.

[LAST UPDATED MAY 2013]




Ramen Zundo is a casual little order-at-the-counter-take-a-number kind of joint. It's nicely fitted out and not so squishy. The service is the chirpy smiley Japanese style we love so much. It's a pleasant place for a quick feed.

We hadn't heard or read anything about Ramen Zundo, we just saw it while wandering through World Square and gave it a shot. It has quickly become a favourite of ours.  If you're a ramen fiend it's definitely worth a special trip across town for. During our visits we've noticed this joint attracts many Japanese customers. 'nuff said.



#2 Zundo Black Ramen - $11.80. Ramen with baked garlic oil in tonkotsu broth (pork bones boiled for hours), The tonkotsu broth isn't overtly collagen lardy rich, which is just the way we like it. Pork is tender and the noodles are pretty good too. Look at those lovely flecks of garlic on the pork. An all 'round top notch ramen. Alison's favourite. Very happy.



#1 Zundo White - $11.80. A straight up tonkotsu ramen, nice'n'porky. This one seemed to have thinner noodles and also a little cabbage, we prefered the Zundo Black Ramen, the garlic gave it that extra shot of flavour.



#4 Tokyo Soy Ramen - $10.80. Our ramen obession started with thicker, heavier broths such as tonkotsu, but now we're appreciating the thinner, lighter styles, these are more a more refreshing, everyday style of soup. This chicken broth still packs plenty of flavour, there's a noticeable soy note yet it's not too salty. Nice! The pork is excellent as always and the soft boiled googie is top notch. Mr Shawn's favourite.



#10 Double Soup - $11.80. Another tonkotsu ramen but mixed with thinner, lighter chicken broth. We love these hybrid styles of ramen.



#8 Sea Salt - $11. A thin clear Chinese style broth:  plain, simple and refreshing. There's a subtle lemon-y/butter-y undercurrent that gives it a real kick.



#12 Tsukemen Ramen - $12.80. Noodles are served cool and have a nice chew to them. Dunk them in the porky tonkotsu style broth, which is out of this world when you add a squeeze of lemon to it.



Melted cheese and pork spring roll - $4. Nicely cooked, crispy on the outside with magic cheesy moments on the inside.



Pork chashu salad - $4.60. A side of roast pork used in ramen on top of salad with mayonnaise racing stripes on top.



Chicken katsu don - $9.90. Crunchy deep fried chicken fillet, on rice with miso soup on the side.



#19 Melted cheese curry - $8.30. Simply curry sauce with some grated cheese with rice, it's not art but when the time is right nothing beats Japanese curry.



#46 Calpis lemon - $3.80. The classic Japanese yoghurty drink, super refreshing. The last time we were served a glass of calpis like this we were getting licked to death in a dog patting cafe in Osaka. Memories!

[BACK AGAIN FEBRUARY 2013]



A side of cooked tuna salad - $4.60. A dollop of cooked (tinned?) tuna with a squiggle of mayo on top of lettuce dressed with that lovely sweet dressing of toasted sesame seeds and mirin, wethinks. A fun dish to try but not an amazing one.

[BACK AGAIN MAY 2013]



We've curious about a dish called mabomen $12.80 for some time. It's a bowl of ramen noodles coated with a sweet/sour vinegary sauce instead of soup. It is topped with bean sprouts and shallots.



The mabomen is flecked with little pieces of pork and there's a slight chili heat to it.



We plan to work our way through the whole menu, give us time... Ramen Zundo is at Shop 1030 World Square 644 George Street, Sydney. Oishii desu!




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