Gwangjin ramen restaurant for solo lunch: Mentsuru

A perfect solo-lunch spot near Sejong University: Children's Grand Park ramen place Mentsuru and its shoyu ramen

Lunch at Children's Grand Park Station, then a walk

Children's Grand Park Station. I feel like I come around Sejong University more at this time of year~ It must be because the weather is so nice!!! And because I like autumn more than spring like this, haha.

Children's Grand Park isn't only for families with kids, you know~ Isn't having such a huge park and green space right in the middle of the city part of the charm? It's also one of the places I'd recommend when you want a slightly old-fashioned, retro-feeling date~~ We decided to meet at Children's Grand Park Station today so we could walk around a bit too, haha. There are lots of good places to eat around Konkuk University, so we considered eating over there first, but decided we'd save those Konkuk University spots for when we go there, lol.

Children's Grand Park Station is just one stop from the busy Konkuk University Station area on Line 7, but surprisingly lots of people have never gotten off on this side... This could be a nice chance to come out for a little stroll and outing~ The cool early-autumn weather lately is just perfect, perfect for getting out!!!

First things first, we were hungry, so let's fill our stomachs before we start~ While looking for somewhere good near Children's Grand Park Station, I thought... oh, this is a university area! It's not only Children's Grand Park; Sejong University is here too, so there had to be a good-value place!!! What we found was Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch (멘츠루 어린이대공원점), a Sejong University value spot with Japanese ramen and rice bowls, perfect for eating alone and seriously close to the station!! Mentsuru is a ramen place I visit now and then, so it was already tried and tested; there was no need to go farther. Off we went~~~

Mentsuru's signature exterior looks both polished and easy to spot. Why did the Children's Grand Park branch somehow seem more relaxed? Anyway, we zipped right inside~~

Solo-friendly seats and table ordering

Right when you enter, there are tables that are perfect for eating alone!!! What a well-chosen day, weather fairy and spice wimp~~ The early-autumn, late-summer mood outside the window was so lovely too, haha. We debated sitting here, but chose a table, so I'll save these seats for next time!

There is a kiosk by the entrance, but every table has table ordering, so we skipped the kiosk and went straight to our seats.

Inside, there were bar seats—dachi-style counter seats?—around the open kitchen. The atmosphere was nice, and the interior was so good for solo dining too, which I loved~

Mentsuru's standard setup: yuzu danmuji (sweet pickled radish) and that Kabá pepper, haha. It somehow feels like it tastes even better, though I'm not exactly someone who knows much about pepper ;; haha.

A lunch of shoyu ramen with gyudon on the side

The spice wimp always orders shoyu ramen. So, shoyu ramen at Mentsuru again today... and I got shio ramen, haha.

Japanese ramen with draft beer or a highball is honestly such a perfect match... But it was lunchtime, and I'd been feeling a bit off lately, so I thought I should probably avoid alcohol. We had met near Children's Grand Park to walk, relax, get some fresh air, and soak up the sunshine because the weather was nice—walking after drinking would be a bit much, right? lol. Sadly, we'll put that off until next time~

I've come to Mentsuru pretty often, but because it was hot lately and Japanese ramen hadn't sounded as appealing for a while, I spent this summer only going out for things like tonkatsu, lol. Anyway, maybe because it had been a while, I wondered whether the portions had gotten a little smaller—or maybe we were simply that hungry, haha.

At Mentsuru, they also give you extra rice if you ask~ Of course, you can mix it into the broth, but we were so hungry that I wondered whether to add something from the side menu... Then I thought, we're going to walk around Children's Grand Park, we're hungry, and it's still lunchtime, so let's eat properly—and just ordered gyudon (Japanese beef rice bowl), lol. I ordered it thinking, if we leave some, we leave some~~ Secretly, we finished it all!

Ta-da, the gyudon came out in no time.

Gave it a quick mix and ate it alongside the ramen—this was delicious too~~~