Namdong Japanese restaurant for family dinner with kids: Hongdae

On the way home from a weekend outing! We wanted a quick dinner that even the little one could enjoy, so we looked around and ended up at Hongdae Gureume, a well-known restaurant in Namdong, Incheon.

Since you can get ramen, tonkatsu, and sushi all in one place, it seemed like a good spot for a family with different tastes — and sure enough, when we visited there was a mix of families, couples, and solo diners haha.

Location and parking at Hongdae Gureume Incheon Nonhyeon Branch

Hongdae Gureume is a 1-minute walk from Incheon Nonhyeon Station haha. It's on the 2nd floor of the iFlex building, so it's easy to get to by public transit, and if you drive, there's 2 hours of parking in the building's basement — no parking worries!

Once you get inside and head up to the 2nd floor, the red entrance and the big Hongdae Gureume sign stand out, so it's easy to find.

How long is the wait on a weekend evening?

The time we visited... the place was already packed with diners, so a waitlist was ready and waiting. If it's full, you just write your name and party size on the waitlist, and even if the floor looks empty, orders piling up or delivery orders can delay seating, so just wait for staff to guide you.

A place with the feel of a Japanese eatery

The interior is decorated in warm wood tones, and the walls are full of Japanese photos and props, so even though it's a neighborhood restaurant, it felt like stepping into a small local eatery in Japan.

The tables weren't cramped either, with seating ranging from comfortable solo dining spots to tables for larger groups.

There really were solo diners, couples on dates, and families all around — a vibe that feels easy no matter who you come with!

Apparently they've been running in the same spot for 10 years and have built up more than 15,000 regular customers — I could see why people keep coming back.

What's on the menu

The menu was far more varied than I expected — ramen, tonkatsu, sushi, sake-don, and even set meals where you can try several dishes together.

Adults can have rich ramen while the kid has tonkatsu, so there's no need to argue over picking just one menu — another reason it's great to visit with kids haha.

Signature dish: Kumamoto ramen (kuromayu)

Hongdae Gureume's signature dish, Kumamoto ramen!

It's made with a black garlic oil called kuromayu (kuroma-yu) haha. At first I worried the dark broth would taste really strong or greasy, but oh — the broth itself was surprisingly light and delicious haha.

The big bowl comes loaded with noodles plus a generous amount of toppings — chashu pork, a soft-boiled egg, bean sprouts, green onion, seaweed, and more haha.

The rich broth soaks evenly into the noodles, so even the noodles alone aren't bland,

but it's even better eaten together with the chashu and soft-boiled egg haha.

350-hour aged Mt. Aso pork loin katsu set

Ordered the Mt. Aso pork loin katsu set for the meat lover in our house haha.

The visuals were seriously something haha — the big pork loin katsu was cut into easy-to-eat pieces, skewered on sticks, and served with rice, salad, miso soup, and pickled radish.

They also gave two kinds of sauce, plus salt and wasabi served separately, so you can enjoy it in a few different ways depending on your taste.

Hongdae Gureume uses meat aged 350 hours haha. Even just from the photo the meat looks pretty thick, but it wasn't tough or dry at all — the inside was so juicy, and the crust on the outside stayed crispy, so every bite had this perfect match of crunchy texture and clean, mild pork flavor! Haha.

Dipping it in the sauce, then trying it with wasabi on top, brought out the savory flavor of the katsu itself even more haha. The portion doesn't look like much but it's actually huge — we ended up taking the leftovers home, and even cold, there wasn't a hint of odor haha.

Spoon-eaten sushi (salmon + tuna)

The dish I was most curious about was the spoon-eaten sushi haha — Hongdae Gureume's spoon sushi.

Instead of the usual sushi look with a slice of fish on top of rice, this dish comes in a bowl generously filled with rice, salmon, tuna, onion, flying fish roe, sprouts, and more. Kind of feels like a kaisendon.

You make a wasabi soy sauce, drizzle a little over the sushi, and eat it with a spoon.

If you add too much soy sauce, the saltiness overpowers the natural flavor of the fish, so I'd recommend adding just a little at first, or dipping small amounts and adding more if needed.

The soft salmon and tuna mix evenly with the rice, so you get the flavor of several ingredients in one bite, and there's no worry about messing up a sushi shape with chopsticks — that was nice too haha.

They say the salmon in particular is top-grade, shipped directly from Norway, and it really does melt smoothly in your mouth — salmon lovers should be satisfied!

If you want to try rich-broth ramen, crispy aged tonkatsu, and unique spoon-eaten sushi all in one visit, I'd recommend Hongdae Gureume Incheon Nonhyeon Branch.