Incheon ramen restaurant with mara broth: Menya Seoul

I dropped off my Tesla for tinting and had about five hours to kill in between, so I thought, what should I do? Then I casually stopped by Lotte Department Store Incheon Branch in Guwol-dong. It’s way too far from Cheongna ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

It had been ages since I came to Guwol-dong—did Lotte Department Store get renovated? It was so much nicer! Haha, it had been at least six years, and I wandered around without noticing time pass.

Menya Seoul Lotte Department Store Incheon Branch: location and parking

Address: B1, 35 Yeonnam-ro, Michuhol-gu, Incheon, South Korea (Incheon Terminal Lotte Department Store) Hours: Daily 10:30–20:00 Parking: Lotte Department Store parking; 1 hour free with purchases of ₩30,000 or more (You can combine receipts from other shops.)

Menya Seoul Lotte Department Store Incheon Branch is in the B1 food hall. Think bar-style seating. But it looked very clean, and it seems like such a great place to fill up before or after shopping, haha.

You can pay with Lotte mobile gift certificates, and it is registered as a food safety assurance business. Right now, the summer sets featuring cold ramen, mazemen, and a couple set are discounted even more.

With a set order, you can choose dongpo pork or jambon to get double the meat. We did not upgrade, but there was already plenty of meat. Double that would be wild—if you love meat, go for the upgrade.

Customizing mara broth and meat toppings

For broth, you can choose mild Korean-style broth, spicy broth, or mara broth—and we ordered mara ramen. The broth was insanely, insanely good (it comes with cilantro). If you cannot eat cilantro, ask for it to be left out beforehand. You can customize both the meat topping and broth, so it would be super convenient even when people with different tastes come together.

For the meat, you can choose either jambon or dongpo pork; we chose jambon. Order at the POS in front of the restaurant! Seats may be scarce on weekends, so I recommend grabbing a seat first and then ordering.

Summer-only pork belly mazemen

Since it was summer, they were selling cold ramen and mazemen. I skipped the cold ramen and ordered the pork belly mazemen. The mazemen was delicious, so it is a little sad that they only sell it in summer?

I had only seen Menya Seoul in Seoul, so it was newly nice to spot it at Lotte Department Store Incheon. And apparently, if you leave a Naver review, they give you a special ajitama egg. Ah, I only just found that out.

Jambon mara ramen vs. mazemen

This is the jambon mara ramen. The broth was just crazy. My husband had the mara ramen and I had the mazemen, and between mazemen and mara ramen, mara ramen won by a landslide.

We ordered a set and chose three pieces of gyoza (pan-fried dumplings) and a Coke. With the set, you could choose from karaage (Japanese fried chicken), gyoza, and more, and we went with gyoza. The gyoza was quite delicious too.

Does that mean the mazemen was not good? Not at all. With minced meat, Chinese-style noodles, and a thick slice of pork belly, it was delicious with nothing to complain about. The minced meat was nicely seasoned, and I mixed in the garlic chives and raw egg with gusto.

Ooh, seeing the visuals makes me want to eat it again. That mara broth was seriously delicious...!!!

How to eat the leftover mazemen sauce

After you finish the mazemen, mix rice into the leftover sauce and eat that too. You have not truly eaten mazemen until you do, hahaha. My husband and I practically had a food-fighting contest.

It is even tastier if you add rayu chili oil and kelp vinegar here and there, to your taste.

After finishing, we did not forget the good manners of neatly taking our trays to the return station. Gochisosama deshita again today.