Ramen for four in Gwangjin: shio, shoyu and tori paitan at Mentsuru

My neighbors probably already know this, but I have a husband who's basically a ramen nerd lol. So we've been to pretty much every ramen place people rave about. When we were out in Seoul this time, someone recommended a good one, so we went to check it out.

Where to park at Mentsuru near Children's Grand Park

Mentsuru is only 30 seconds from Children's Grand Park, so access is really easy! We parked at the park and walked over :-) There's no dedicated lot at the building, so if you're driving to the ramen shop, use the Gwangjin Plaza public parking lot across the street.

Inside Mentsuru: interior and seating

Here's the interior vibe. It had this warm orange glow that suited a ramen shop really well.

One thing I really liked about the seating was that they clearly thought about solo diners, couples, and families all at once.

Mentsuru menu and prices

Naver review event — drink or fried gyoza. You need to include a food photo plus 2 of the keywords below.

<Ramen>

• Shoyu ramen (soy sauce) ₩11,000
• Spicy shoyu ramen ₩11,000
• Shio ramen (salt) ₩11,000
• Tori paitan (rich) ₩12,000
• Motsu ramen (beef intestine) ₩15,000
• Abura soba (oil-mixed noodles) ₩12,000
• Gyudon ₩11,000

There are also sides like fried gyoza, house-made karaage, and takoyaki.

On the ramen items you could choose regular or spicy, plus add toppings.

<Extra toppings>

• Pork belly chashu 2pc ₩2,500
• Extra noodles ₩1,500
• Menma ₩1,500
• Extra egg ₩1,000
• Seaweed ₩500

<Drinks>

• Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Sprite, Pepsi ₩2,000
• Watermelon soda ₩4,000
• Melon soda ₩4,500
• Peach soda ₩4,000
• Oolong tea ₩3,000
• Ramune ₩4,000

<Alcohol>

• Asahi draft beer 330ml ₩6,000
• Asahi draft beer 420ml ₩8,000
• Asahi bottled beer ₩5,500
• Sapporo bottled beer ₩5,500
• Suntory highball ₩7,000
• Jim Beam highball ₩7,000
• Cocoon highball ₩7,000
• Bombay highball ₩7,000
• Saero soju ₩6,000

There were four of us, and we ordered 2 tori paitan (spicy) + shoyu ramen + shio ramen.

The cat water coaster and refillable yuzu radish pickle

So we sat down at the table and there was this adorable cat-shaped coaster. We were like, what is this, what is this, and the staff came over and said it's a water coaster haha,,,,

The side dish is simple — just yuzu radish pickle — but it goes ridiculously well with the ramen.

All the dishes came out at once. In order: shio ramen (salt), shoyu ramen (soy sauce), and the two tori paitan.

Shio ramen: the winner with 3 of 4 votes

The first thing we tried was the shio ramen (salt). This got the most recommendations, and it's basically Mentsuru's signature ramen!

Even without adding extra toppings, it came loaded with chashu, menma, and more, and interestingly, every ramen at Mentsuru comes with a generous amount of onion!!

Because it's the basic option, the flavor felt really clean, with a chicken-broth base. 3 out of 4 of us picked the shio ramen as number one :-)

How was the shoyu (soy sauce) ramen?

This one's the shoyu ramen (soy sauce).

Maybe it was because I'd just had the amazing shio ramen right before, but the soy sauce broth tasted a bit salty to me. Still, my brother said it was delicious and finished the whole bowl haha

Spicy tori paitan: how hot is it?

Last up is the tori paitan I ordered.

There's a choice of regular or spicy heat level — I went with spicy since I was worried about getting sick of the shio and shoyu flavors.

Tori paitan is normally a milky, rich broth, but ordering it spicy gave it this deep red color that looked even more delicious. As for the spice level, if you just drink the broth alone it's a bit of a sharp kick, but eating it with the noodles and radish pickle, it's not that spicy at all (speaking as someone who can't handle spicy food well).

The noodles were soft yet firm, springy without breaking apart easily.

These are the toppings that come standard. I love egg with broth, so I added an extra egg too!

Oh, and about that radish pickle — you're probably thinking, how good can radish pickle really be? But even though I wasn't sick of the spicy food or full yet, I kept reaching for that pickle over and over, it's just magic ( ᵕᴗᵕ )!✩

Worth a meal on a Children's Grand Park outing?

Three of us picked shio ramen as number one, and I went with the tori paitan + radish pickle combo. If you're looking for a can't-fail, solid ramen shop in Seoul, or looking for an easy meal with your kids after visiting Children's Grand Park, I recommend this place!! ˘͈ᵕ˘͈

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch / Daily 11:00–23:00 (last order 22:30)