Zundo Izakaya Ramen, Sushi Robata — Restaurant in Lexington

So there I was looking at my sad instant cup ramen. Wishing it was actual Tonkatsu, willing it to change into it. Alas, it did not. So I went to find a good ramen place that's local to me. And away I went~

Me and the husband and I walked in the wrong door (along with another group of people) that's attached close to it. A poke bowl place. Oops. Not today! I didn't know it had a door that walked into Zundo as well. That's okay. I got to see the gorgeous cherry blossom decor they have there. I loved seeing that. We were seated quickly. Got our drinks fast. The husband inhaled his soda while I sipped my water, and yet his drinks were refilled constantly.

I wanted to try some appetizers, so we got chasu buns (pork buns) and jumbo ebi shumai (steamed shrimp dumplings). Buns- like pillows, meat seasoned well Dumplings- I'd never had these before, and they were so good. I recommend tasting them with and without soy sauce.

Okay, we ate our snacks now. I was ready for ramen. I ordered the Tonkatsu ramen while the husband ordered shoyu Ramen. He prefers that. While I waited, I listened to the relaxed music. Covers of popular songs, but my eyes watched the cat robot. Yes. Cat robot. It has a cite cat like face that comes around holding the food for the customers. And she talks. I say cat because it's screen has a face on it and two little pointed ears at the top. It has four trays to carry food. And let me say I wanted to take her home. Husband had seen one before so wasn't in awe like me but his opinion doesn't count.

After about twenty to thirty minutes said cat robot comes over with our food. Waitress places it in front of us and off to food land I go. 😋

I tasted the broth first and uggghhh it was so rich and flavourful. Creamy, unhealthy goodness. It's been cold out. I deserve this. Noodles made in house for sure, the softest pork pieces that just fell apart in the best way. And my egg was just how I liked it. How can this be so perfect? Welp husband wanted me to try his shoyu. Now most people will pass on it since it's so common but please don't! I'll get it next time. The light yet intense flavor is relaxing compared to my more hardy pork broth tonkatsu.

We left full. And happy. I want to go back. I only live 30 minutes away (I'm in versailles) so a perfect day trip. Maybe I'll try the bubble tea? Oh yeah. They have that. Looks tasty too. Taro please!

So 10/10 would recommend. Food - incredible Staff - so nice and speedy Decor - gorgeous 😍 a mixture of modern and classic...

You won't be disappointed with the Ramen in this place. As somebody that just recently lived in Japan for years, I've failed to find a place that does a Ramen bowl like you'd find in Japan. I got the Spicy Miso with a side of edamame and it was wonderful.

The edamame was perfect temperature and perfectly salted. You can go wrong with this light snack.

The Ramen was very good. The broth was rich and full of flavor. They make their own noodles in house so you get the freshest experience possible, and that's important for texture. The chashu pork was prepared correctly and the soft boiled egg was just that!

All this came together with a wonderful atmosphere and a fantastic waiting staff that brought me back to what good ramen prepared by people that actually care about flavors, preparation and authenticity feels like. Ramen is a very subjective thing any everybody has their own preferences, but this is the first time since leaving Japan that I genuinely enjoyed every bite.

They also have a bunch of Japanese drinks like Asahi (Osaka), Orion (Okinawa) and a lot of things from Suntory like Yamazaki 12 and Hibiki.

The only thing missing from the experience is the entire staff greeting you and bidding you farewell by yelling as they do in virtually every ramen/izakiya joint in Japan. Can't really knock them for that though.

Plenty of parking, access...

We were on that side of town and decided to try somewhere new. It was not a great experience. The waitress wasn’t friendly but she did keep our waters refilled. The big issue we had was food timing. We ordered Spicy Miso Ramen, a volcano roll, and pork belly Robata. There was only two other tables occupied when we arrived. We waited 30 minutes to receive the first item. I say first item because everything came out at completely different times. The pork belly was first. Then 15 minutes later the sushi came out. Lastly, 10 minutes after that we got the Spicy Miso Ramen. If they were busy I don’t know how they would be able to handle the cooking and distribution of the food. The food was good and the sushi was fresh. I did appreciate the open-air kitchen. I could see there was at least six people cooking which is another reason I don’t know why there was a timing issue. They did have a delivery robot which was interesting. Also, the entire time we were there, there were two tables that were not cleared and dirty even though the wait staff was not busy (they were standing around a lot). Also be sure to look at the online menu as there are items not listed on their hardcopy menu in...