Goyang ramen restaurant with 3 steps: Gyedan Ramen Ilsan Main Branch

A cozy ramen restaurant in a Bamridan-gil alley

This is a small restaurant tucked into an alley in Bamridan-gil. With both counter and table seating, it is an easy place to enjoy alone or on a date.

Gyedan Ramen and Motsu Ramen

The menu at Gyedan Ramen is simple. There are just two kinds, Gyedan Ramen and Motsu Ramen, and each can be ordered with regular or rich broth. Motsu Ramen's standout feature is its extra topping of fried makchang (beef abomasum).

There is also seasonal yuzu mixed ramen, plus sides such as chashu rice bowls and tamago rice, along with milk tea. Ordering is easy on the tablet kiosk at each table.

How to eat ramen in three stages

Once you see how to eat it, you understand why this place is called Gyedan, meaning “stairs,” Ramen. I followed the “how to enjoy it” guide posted on the table, and dividing it into three stages really made one bowl of ramen feel like it had three different charms.

Enjoy the original broth first

First, savor the full, original flavor of the rich tonkotsu broth. The deep umami particular to a broth simmered for a long time came through clearly from the very first stage.

Add the house spicy sauce

After eating about half, add the spicy sauce placed on the table to turn it into a spicy version. It was the same broth, yet the flavor changed so much that it felt like I was eating a completely different ramen.

Finish with rice in the broth

This is the stage where you soak tamago rice or a plain bowl of rice in the broth and enjoy every last bit.

Original broth → spicy flavor → rice: getting three different kinds of satisfaction from one bowl made me think the name “stairs” was definitely not given for no reason.

Motsu Ramen topped with fried makchang

Motsu Ramen comes topped with two slices of chashu, fried makchang, a soft-boiled egg, and bracken fern. When I heard ramen came with makchang, I first worried it might be greasy and heavy, but it had no unpleasant odor and soaked up the broth well. Its nutty flavor and chewy texture went beautifully with the rich tonkotsu broth.

Overall, it was clean-tasting rather than greasy, so I kept reaching for it.

Add chashu rice and tamago rice

The chashu rice bowl had tender chashu with a lightly sweet seasoning, making it easy to polish off as a meal on its own.

Gently mix the tamago rice with chopsticks and dip it into the broth, and it makes a nice side to have between bites of ramen. If you try both, preferences may differ, but if you are a rice person, you will likely be happy with both sides.

By the way, they also make milk tea by cold-steeping it for 10 hours, so it is nice to have as a palate cleanser.

Gyedan Ramen Ilsan Main Branch (계단라멘 일산본점) was a Bamridan-gil favorite with rich, long-simmered tonkotsu broth, a great pairing of broth and makchang, and the fun of eating in three stages from original to spicy to rice.

Because the restaurant is small, there may be a wait on weekends, so I recommend visiting on a weekday or early in the day. If you are looking for something a little different near Ilsan or Bamridan-gil, I recommend trying this staircase-style ramen experience at least once.