Keimyung Rodeo Street ramen shop: daughter's first ramen, Myeonsikdang

When you're hunting for a place to eat near a university, you end up checking the price first, don't you? For students especially, even a single meal can be a surprising burden. Myeonsikdang Keimyung University Branch (면식당 계명대점), where I went this time, plays to exactly that campus-town character. What stuck with me were the generous portions, the easy prices and the wide range of menu options.

Where is Myeonsikdang Keimyung University Branch, and what is it like inside?

Myeonsikdang is on Rodeo Street near Keimyung University, on the 2nd floor right above the 7-Eleven. The address is 55 Seodang-ro 9-gil, 2nd floor, Dalseo-gu, Daegu, South Korea, and it's open from 9:00 to 20:50. It isn't hard to find when you look around the area.

What impressed me most was the size. The restaurant uses the entire 2nd floor, so it's roomier than I expected. The tables aren't crammed together but spaced out comfortably, so you don't have to worry much about the table next to you while eating.

There were also several seats by the window that are great for eating alone, plus tables for sitting with friends, so it looked fine for everything from solo meals to group meals. True to a campus-town restaurant, the space felt designed so that people coming alone can eat comfortably.

Kiosk ordering and the self bar

There's a self bar, and you order easily at a kiosk. No need to explain your order to staff one by one. Everyone just picks what they want and orders, which I found convenient.

Receipt review and Instagram events

On top of that, if you join the Naver receipt review and Instagram events, you get a drink, and there's also a later prize draw for a 1-person set meal voucher. Welcome news for college students with tight budgets, right? You eat, you join the event, and with luck your next meal is covered too.

We chose the 2-person set: spicy tonkotsu ramen, shoyu ramen and katsu

That day we went with Myeonsikdang's 2-person set. You pick 2 mains and 2 sides, and a drink is included. We chose spicy tonkotsu ramen (pork-bone broth) and shoyu ramen (soy sauce broth) for the ramen, and mozzarella cheese katsu and hire katsu (pork fillet cutlet) for the sides.

Honestly, I briefly considered the buta-don (pork rice bowl) too. But if my daughter, who'd never had Japanese-style ramen, didn't like it, I could at least feed her the katsu and skip cooking a separate dinner. A mom's menu choices always come with this kind of practical math. haha So in the end I added the katsu as the safe choice.

How did my first-time-ramen daughter react?

But guess what! Contrary to my worries, my daughter ate the ramen better than I expected. She even said she wished she'd added more bean sprouts and chashu (braised pork slices). I thought she'd leave quite a bit since it was a new food, but watching her eat so well, I felt I'd worried for nothing.

The spicy tonkotsu ramen and the shoyu ramen are different styles, so you can pick by taste. Myeonsikdang offers not just ramen but also tonkatsu, rice bowls and Vietnamese pho, so it looked good for satisfying different tastes.

And the Vietnamese pho, which I only spotted on the menu later! If I'd seen it from the start, I would have agonized over that too. Next time I'll try pho instead of ramen. Being able to choose from several kinds of noodle dishes in one restaurant is a definite plus.

The best side: mozzarella cheese katsu

Among the sides in the 2-person set that day, the clear favorite was the mozzarella cheese katsu. Cut into it while it's hot and the cheese stretches out. It's the kind of dish kids would love, but it's a satisfying combo for adults too.

Seeing our chopsticks go to the cheese katsu more often than the ramen, you really can't ignore the charm of cheese. haha Ordering the hire katsu as well was a nice pairing for when ramen alone feels a bit lacking, and sharing several dishes in the 2-person set was fun.

The set drink, Shine Muscat juice, comes in a big bottle

The drink was quietly surprising too. I chose the Shine Muscat (green grape) juice included in the set, and I expected a small can. But it came in a surprisingly big bottle, and my eyes went wide for a second. Of course, value for money is a must for a restaurant near a university! A meal plus a generous drink felt satisfying for the price.

If you want a hearty meal near Keimyung University

This visit to Myeonsikdang wasn't so much about judging the taste alone as about seeing the strengths of a campus-town restaurant. The menu is varied and portions are generous, so even a group can each pick what they want, and there are seats for eating alone, so it looked easy to use.

For students looking for a place to eat around Keimyung University, the set menus and the various event perks are worth a look.

If you're searching for a good place near Keimyung and put low prices and generous portions first, Myeonsikdang is worth adding to your list. We've already planned to try the pho next time. This time it was the ramen and cheese katsu combo, and next time I want to experience Myeonsikdang's range with something different!