The Chatswood store for Ramen Zundo is the second location of the store by the same name that first opened in World Square in 2012.
Butter Corn Shio ($19.00). It consisted of ramen noodles in a chicken and pork broth salt base with butter, corn kernels, pork belly, bamboo shoots and half an onsen egg.
The combination of butter and corn was delicious, and here, the broth base carried both — the corn kernels were sweet and juicy but also flavoured the broth with a hint of sweet corn flavour that was rounded by the pat of butter yet without tasting oily. The noodles were al dente, the oozy onsen egg was well seasoned and delicious, and the pork belly was generous, although not particularly noteworthy.
Chicken Karaage Ramen Soy ($22.00). It featured ramen noodles in a chicken and pork broth soy sauce base, topped with four pieces of karaage, pickled bamboo shoots, half an onsen egg, a sheet of seaweed and spring onions.
D enjoyed the initial crispness of the juicy karaage but was disappointed the pieces weren’t served on the side as they quickly became soggy after sitting briefly in the broth. The noodles were similarly al dente, while the soy gave depth to the broth while retaining a balanced savoury profile. Comparing the broths, D found the butter corn more interesting of the two.
Ramen Zundo offers a solid ramen offering with a variety of sides on offer. While we’re not particular fans of ramen generally, we’d be interested to return to try their donburi, tsukemen, and soba.
Ramen Zundo is located at R11, Chatswood Place, 260 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW 2067.