City Hall ramen restaurant after a Namsan walk: Mentsuru shio ramen

With the weather getting a little cooler these days, it really does feel like fall is on its way. I went up Namsan for the first time in a while, and on the way down I was trying to decide what to grab near City Hall Station. Since it's oddly gotten cold for September, I kept craving warm soupy food, and that day I was especially in the mood for Japanese-style ramen. I was just looking for a place to grab one bowl of ramen when I found a spot with a huge variety — Mentsuru City Hall Branch.

Where is Mentsuru City Hall Branch, and what are its hours?

Mentsuru City Hall Branch is in a great spot, an easy walk from Exit 10 of City Hall Station. It's genuinely close to the station, so a lot of office workers from nearby seemed to stop by for lunch!! It's open daily from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM with no break time, which I loved!

Bar seats and basement tables for solo diners at Mentsuru

Walking in, I could feel that distinct atmosphere of a Japanese ramen shop, and what caught my eye especially was the bar table set up for solo dining.

A lot of people go to ramen restaurants alone, but sitting by yourself at a big table can feel a little awkward sometimes, you know? Mentsuru City Hall Branch had a great vibe for sitting at the bar table and comfortably enjoying a bowl solo!

There's seating in the basement too, not just the first floor, so the place is spacious — great for coming with a friend or coworker without any wait!

What's on the kiosk menu at Mentsuru City Hall Branch?

You could order easily through the kiosk!! The menu was more varied than I expected. There's shoyu ramen and shio ramen, and if you like rich chicken broth there's tori paitan, or if you want something spicy there's spicy shoyu ramen or motsu ramen, among other options! There are also donburi (rice bowl) dishes like gyudon and hormone-don, so it's easy to pick something even if you're with someone who's not into ramen!!

You could add spice to the base ramen, or add toppings like extra noodles or egg, so it was nice that you could tune it to your taste. That day I wanted to really taste the broth itself, so I went with the tori paitan shio ramen.

How was the tori paitan shio ramen?

The tori paitan shio ramen had a pale, rich-looking broth from the start that looked pretty appetizing. Tori paitan is known for its rich chicken broth made by simmering chicken for a long time, and with a bit of spice added it was so good!!

You get the deep, rich flavor of chicken broth first, and the seasoning finished cleanly.

The noodles were also cooked just right, and they went perfectly with the broth.

On top of that, there was thinly sliced chashu (braised pork) as a topping, so it was easy to enjoy without feeling heavy! The chashu was thin so it just melted in your mouth!

The egg was soft-boiled too, and it was so good! Something I personally liked was that you can ask for free rice if you want it! When there's a little broth left after finishing the ramen, mixing in rice lets you enjoy it in a whole different way. We didn't add it separately since the portion was big, but it sounds great!

How does the plain shio ramen broth taste?

With the shio ramen, the first sip of broth was cleaner and lighter than I expected. It has that salty shio seasoning, but the broth isn't heavy, so you keep spooning it up without getting tired of it.

If you like rich ramen but find overly greasy or heavy broths a bit much, I think the shio ramen would work well for you.

Is Mentsuru City Hall Branch worth it for solo ramen?

One of Mentsuru City Hall Branch's strengths is definitely how many menu options there are. As the weather cools down, of course a warm bowl of soup comes to mind, and Mentsuru City Hall Branch hit the spot exactly! If you're looking for a ramen restaurant near City Hall Station where you can comfortably eat alone, with plenty of variety to match whatever you're craving that day, it's worth stopping by Mentsuru City Hall Branch.

Address: 2 Seosomun-ro 11-gil, 1st floor, Unit 1, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea