Seongdong ramen shop with spice level 3 tomato ramen: Menya Pomo

Today I want to introduce a Seoul Forest restaurant that's completely different from the tonkotsu or shoyu ramen I usually eat. This is Menya Pomo, a tomato ramen specialist with a deep, rich broth full of umami!

It's about a 5-minute walk from Seoul Forest Station, and while there are plenty of other good restaurants nearby, I've been really into ramen lately, so I went to try something different!

Where is Menya Pomo Seoul Forest Branch, and what are the hours?

• A Seoul Forest ramen restaurant where you can enjoy a hearty ramen and risotto
• Address - 28 Seoulsup 4-gil, 2nd floor, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours - Daily 11:00–20:30
• Amenities - Wi-Fi, group seating, reservations, easy payment

Inside Menya Pomo: atmosphere and seating

At Menya Pomo Seoul Forest Branch, most of the seats are two-tops, and along the wall there's bar-style seating perfect for solo dining, haha. The overall wood-tone interior felt less warm and more calm and quiet — a nice setting to eat in.

We went a bit after lunch hour, so there were plenty of open seats, and we ended up eating comfortably at a table for four, haha.

Menya Pomo menu and how to order

Menya Pomo, which I recommend as a Seoul Forest ramen restaurant, has 5 types of tomato ramen ready, along with a variety of condiments to go with them, haha. There's also a 10% discount if you use Naver Pickup, which is really nice~

Ordering is done through the table order system, and they had everything from set menus to single tomato ramen dishes to tonkatsu! There were so many menu options ready, haha.

Free rice at the self-service bar and what comes in the set

Menya Pomo Seoul Forest Branch has a self-service bar with cabbage pickles ready and free rice on top, so it was really nice to eat a hearty meal. A drink was included in the set too, so we each had a cup of oolong tea, haha.

The food came out quickly, and the set menu items were on a tray, plus we ordered karaage and salad separately on the side — a really hearty spread, haha.

The salad had cabbage with garlic chips, sliced ham, and potato salad, and it was really good with the sauce,

India tomato ramen set: broth and noodles

First was the India tomato ramen, which lets you taste the fragrance of curry made with 11 spices, as a set. With the cheese rice and karaage included, the composition was really substantial and filling.

The cheese rice is meant to be turned into risotto after finishing the ramen, and the broth was incredibly rich and had a real body to it. The base is made from chicken and pork with tomato added, giving it a heavy yet refreshingly bright aroma that I really liked~

And the noodles used here are thin ones, which soaked up the rich, thick broth beautifully, bringing out an intense curry flavor together with the tomato flavor, haha. I ordered spicy level 3, but it was milder than I expected, which was a bit disappointing, T_T

Tantan tomato ramen at spice level 3 with extra cilantro

This is the tantan tomato ramen I had, ordered with basil cheese rice, and I also tried adding cilantro on top~ I ordered the same spicy level 3.

The overall heavy-looking color of the broth and the combination of ingredients really stood out, and with the chili flakes piled generously on top, the intense, spicy-looking visual was great~

I also tried the menu with the tenderloin menchi katsu included, and the fried coating, having soaked up plenty of the ramen broth, tasted really good, while the beef juices from inside were a really attractive flavor, haha.

Ordering the tantan version made for a great combination with the cilantro too, and when the poached egg broke softly and mixed into the broth, I could enjoy the even thicker, richer taste of the soup, hahaha.

Looking at these noodles soaked in the rich broth makes me want to go back again, T_T The spicy flavor of the tantan noodles combined with the tomato's refreshing tang made for a really nice, different taste.

The karaage also came out fried really crispy, and it was delicious eaten with the sauce,

Turning the leftover broth into basil cheese rice risotto

I mixed the basil cheese rice well into the leftover broth to make a risotto, and the spicy flavor and aroma combined with the cheese's savoriness and thickness plus the fragrant basil to create an overall excellent risotto. The balance of flavors was really great, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Who should visit Menya Pomo Seoul Forest Branch?

Most famous ramen restaurants are usually clustered around Hongdae or Hapjeong, but the reason I chose this Seoul Forest ramen restaurant this time is because of its unique dining experience! It's not just one bowl of ramen and done — being able to use the leftover broth to enjoy a perfect second course of risotto was really great~ It would be great for a Seoul Forest outing or a date course when you're looking for a distinctive meal, and it's also good for solo dining, so I'd recommend it to office workers in the area too. This was Menya Pomo, a Seoul Forest ramen restaurant~