Jung-gu, Seoul ramen with kimchi at every table: Mentsuru City Hall

I'm the girl who goes to Japan twice a month, haha. I feel like I go on a Japan trip 3-4 times a year, but even when I'm in Korea I keep craving Japanese food so much... haha.

It had only been about a week since I got back from Japan, but suddenly I was craving Japanese ramen so badly lol. Luckily I found a famous Japanese ramen restaurant, so let's go go go! lol

I met a friend at City Hall to catch up and eat something good after a while! It's got great access from City Hall Station, it's so good that it gets crowded even on weekends, and it's also a great spot for solo dining, so I wanted to introduce it.

Mentsuru City Hall Branch

How to order at Mentsuru City Hall Branch and what the menu costs

At Mentsuru City Hall Branch, you order first at the kiosk near the entrance and then get shown to a table. There were so many delicious-looking dishes that I agonized over it, so I decided to pick one of each type of ramen and add one side dish to eat until we were full, haha.

Tonkotsu ramen (₩11,000), mazesoba (₩12,000)

We also ordered the handmade gara-age (fried chicken, ₩7,000) like this.

There's a wide variety of drinks too, so keep that in mind, haha!

First-floor and basement seats for solo diners, plus kimchi on every table

Mentsuru City Hall Branch has space in the basement as well as the first floor. There were a lot of people coming in groups as well as people eating alone, so it really seemed like a comfortable place to visit.

There was kimchi placed on every table. Every time I eat ramen in Japan, I feel like tonkotsu ramen in particular can get a bit greasy if you eat a lot of it. So I always thought it would be great to have kimchi with it, and this place really understood the Korean heart, haha.

Tonkotsu ramen, 11,000 won: broth with no porky smell

The tonkotsu ramen at Mentsuru City Hall Branch is ₩11,000. I really love tonkotsu ramen, but sometimes if it's made poorly, there's a really strong pork funk... and some places are so salty they're hard to eat. But here, the broth was clean with no off-flavor, not greasy at all, and just so delicious.

The chashu that comes as a default topping was so generous...!! It was soft and so tasty, haha. The egg was a soft-boiled egg too...!! And the sliced topping on the tonkotsu ramen especially — wood ear mushroom! That chewy texture is so good. And it was really a 100% match with what I ate in Japan.

First sip of the broth...!! lol How can tonkotsu ramen be this good without being greasy...!! Honestly this ramen flavor might suit Korean taste buds even better than what you get in Japan.

The noodles were exactly like the ramen noodles I eat in Japan, and the noodle doneness was just right, haha. The portion is generous too.

Handmade karaage, 7,000 won: almost half a chicken

Wow... but the handmade gara-age (₩7,000) at Mentsuru City Hall Branch was seriously the kicker. Honestly, it's pretty cheap and I ordered it as more of a side dish, but lol, this is basically the amount of half a chicken, it's such a huge portion, haha. And it's not just the quantity — it's really delicious too! Fresh out of the fryer, it's absolutely amazing! Eating this made me really crave a draft beer lol.

Dipping it right into the mayonnaise! lol Each piece of gara-age is seriously massive! It's a perfect combo with ramen, so definitely order it and eat them together.

What was the 12,000-won mazesoba my friend ordered like?

This is the mazesoba my friend picked. This one looked really tasty too, haha.

The noodles were really springy and chewy, and the mazesoba sauce was so delicious too. My friend mixed it up so skillfully, which made it taste even better, haha.

We ate it all up so happily, haha. Looking at the next table, they were eating other kinds of ramen too, and it all looked delicious. If two people eat like this, you'll seriously burst lol. We ate until we were super full.

If you're looking for a City Hall restaurant that's good for solo dining, a Japanese ramen restaurant like Mentsuru City Hall Branch, I think it's worth a visit, haha. Great for solo dining too! Next time I'm near City Hall Station, I'm going to try eating alone here.