Gwangjin ramen shop with nori-wrapped noodles: spicy shoyu, Mentsuru

I was looking for somewhere to eat dinner near Children's Grand Park when Japanese ramen came to mind, so I headed to Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch. These days as the weather turns cooler, warm soupy food naturally comes to mind. That evening, my friend and I were debating what to eat and decided to go for Japanese ramen.

Where is Mentsuru? A short walk from Children's Grand Park Station Exit 4

While looking for good spots to eat near Children's Grand Park, Mentsuru caught my eye — it's close to Children's Grand Park Station, so it's a convenient meeting spot too. Coming out of Exit 4, you don't have to walk far to find it, so even first-timers should be able to find it without much trouble.

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch is quite close to Exit 4, so the accessibility was great. Finding a restaurant when you're heading out for dinner can take annoyingly long sometimes, but here we could spot it quickly right after leaving the station and walk right in.

What two people ordered at Mentsuru: spicy shoyu ramen, tori paitan and 5 takoyaki

When we sat down and looked at the menu with my friend, it was clear Japanese ramen was the signature offering, with several flavor varieties available. That day we ordered spicy shoyu ramen, tori paitan, and 5 pieces of takoyaki. With one bowl of ramen each plus a side dish to share, it made for a perfectly sized dinner for two.

I like Japanese ramen, so I hesitated a bit over what to choose, but it seemed fun to try two different broths, so we picked spicy shoyu ramen and tori paitan. The spicy shoyu ramen with its kick of heat in the broth was, as expected, delicious.

How spicy is Mentsuru's spicy shoyu ramen?

We started with the spicy shoyu ramen. True to its name, it has a spicy kick, but rather than hitting you with intense heat right away, the spiciness builds gently the more broth you drink. So even people who like spicy food but find overly intense flavors overwhelming might want to give this a try. Notably, even with meat in it, the broth didn't feel greasy at all.

Eating the meat and noodles together, then taking a spoonful of broth, felt spicy yet clean going down, so I kept going back for more. Ramen broth that's too heavy can feel like a lot partway through, but the spicy shoyu ramen's gentle heat made it easy to finish to the last drop. Eating the noodles, meat, and broth together made for a hearty dinner.

Tori paitan at Mentsuru: a creamy, savory white chicken broth

I also tried a bite of my friend's tori paitan. As a paitan-style ramen, its defining feature was the creamy white broth with a savory flavor. If you enjoy the rich, nutty broths characteristic of Japan, tori paitan should suit you well.

Where the spicy shoyu ramen had a gentle heat, tori paitan leaned softer and more savory, so ordering both together made for a fun comparison as we ate. Personally, I found it interesting how much the mood shifts between ramen types depending on the broth.

One side spicy, the other savory — it was great for sharing with a friend and talking about which ramen we each preferred more. If you're craving ramen near Children's Grand Park, rather than picking just one, it might be worth choosing different broths based on your taste.

Plenty of onion and 3 sheets of nori for wrapping the noodles

One thing that caught my eye while eating the ramen at Mentsuru was how much onion was in it. The onions in the ramen were more generous than expected, adding a crunchy texture when eaten with the noodles. There were also 3 sheets of nori (dried seaweed) on top, which was fun too. It's good just eating the nori as it sits on the ramen, but wrapping the noodles up in it also worked really well.

Taking a bite of noodles wrapped in nori gave the familiar ramen a slightly different feel, so I tried eating it this way a few times throughout the meal. The meat pieces were also fairly large, making it feel heartier than eating just the noodles alone.

True to the name Mentsuru, I felt this was a menu built to let you focus on the ramen itself. If you're someone who usually enjoys Japanese ramen, discovering these little details one by one could be part of the fun.

Are 5 pieces of takoyaki worth adding to your ramen?

Since ramen alone felt like it wasn't quite enough, we also ordered 5 pieces of takoyaki. Since we came for Japanese ramen, we matched the side with Japanese food too, and the ramen-and-takoyaki combo worked better than expected. The takoyaki had a crispy texture on the outside, making it a good bite to have between spoonfuls of ramen.

Eating warm ramen broth alongside crispy takoyaki gave a nice contrast in texture that kept things from getting boring. Above all, having ramen and takoyaki together gave off a faint feel of eating at a small ramen shop while traveling in Japan. If you like this kind of Japanese-mood menu combo, ordering both together is worth it.

Final verdict on dinner for two at Mentsuru

Between the two of us, we finished two bowls of ramen plus the takoyaki, which made for a satisfyingly hearty dinner. When you're craving ramen near Children's Grand Park, the thing that stands out most about this visit to Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch is how convenient it was, right by Children's Grand Park Station.

And after trying the menu, we found that even though it's the same ramen, the broth completely changes the direction of the flavor, which made it fun to order different bowls with a friend and share. If you like spicy broth, go for the spicy shoyu ramen; if you prefer a savory, rich white broth, tori paitan is the way to go.

Add takoyaki on top and it feels less like a simple meal and more like you're really at a Japanese restaurant. Above all, while eating that day, my friend and I promised to come back next time for ramen with a beer. A bowl of ramen and a beer in the evening seemed like a pretty good way to end a day.

If you're looking for a dinner spot near Children's Grand Park or craving Japanese ramen, it might be worth stopping by Mentsuru.