Beating the lunch queue at a Mokdong ramen restaurant: Gyedan Ramen

Where is Gyedan Ramen Mokdong Branch? Basement level 1 of the SBS building, from Ilsan

Gyedan Ramen Mokdong Branch is the Mokdong outpost of Gyedan Ramen, a Japanese-style ramen shop famous in Ilsan. It sits in the basement of the SBS broadcasting building in Mokdong, and the sheer prestige of it — a line was already forming before the proper lunch hour of noon..

I'd already seen a neighbor blogger's review of the Bamlideul-gil branch of Gyedan Ramen, so my expectations were even higher going in.

Can you skip the queue? The six partitioned solo seats at Gyedan Ramen

Luckily, the partitioned solo seats let me in right away. Solo dining for the win..! There were six solo seats total. Too crowded to snap the interior, but there were plenty of 4-person tables too — and still a wait? Really?!

This tongue of mine has been trained in 'ramen city' Cheongju by Atsumari Jun and Menkaido — could Gyedan Ramen actually satisfy it..?

Ahh.. so cozy..! Later on, even pairs of diners were sitting side by side at the solo seats. And yes, a few looked like fellow ramen otaku.

What to order: Jinham rich broth plus a pork intestine topping

Gyedan Ramen Mokdong Branch doesn't let you separately dial in broth thickness and saltiness the way Menkaido does, but offering a 'Jinham' (rich) option alone signals this is a shop with real roots — a genuinely solid new ramen spot in Mokdong. The menu description says the ramen here is milder and adapted for Korean tastes rather than the intensely salty style found in Japan, but choosing Jinham gets you closer to the authentic local flavor.

There was a pork intestine add-on option, which surprised me enough to try it — and in the end, a great call.

The tablet shows suggested ways to enjoy Gyedan Ramen: depending on preference, you can add spicy sauce to make a karai (spicy) ramen, or mix rice into the broth.

They even have Sapporo draft beer — a shop with real roots really is different.

How does Gyedan Ramen Jinham with chashu and pork intestine taste?

Gyedan Ramen (Jinham) with chashu and pork intestine toppings added.

First, I scooped up a spoonful of broth. You could really taste the deep, rich broth simmered for over 14 hours using pork bones and chicken. Even choosing 'Jinham,' it wasn't as aggressively salty as shops chasing an authentic Japanese style — it's been properly Korea-patched.

The pork intestine, grilled almost like it was fried

The pork intestine, grilled crisp almost like it's fried, reveals its true value the longer it soaks up the broth. Turns out there's even a motsu ramen menu built entirely around this pork intestine.

Thick chashu and thin noodles at Gyedan Ramen

The chashu is quite thick-cut, but not dense — it melts softly, giving huge satisfaction in one bite. It's seasoned slightly sweet.

The noodles are thin, so broth clings to them plenty even eaten plain. Turns out you can even choose the noodle firmness. Wrapping them with chashu or pork intestine and eating in one bite was seriously delicious.

The ajitamago (seasoned soft-boiled egg) had a perfectly runny yolk, well seasoned throughout. I should've added one more..

Free rice and spicy sauce: the order to eat everything in

Gyedan Ramen Mokdong Branch lets you add rice for free, which you can then mix into the broth. Thinking back, I should have tried the rice before adding the spicy sauce..

Even one spoonful of the spicy sauce delivers a pretty intense kick, so recklessly adding two spoonfuls could be quite risky.

Rice mixed into the ramen broth shows a completely different flavor from the noodles. It's on the drier, fluffier side, which suits mixing into broth well. I think mixing it into the original broth before adding spicy sauce would've given an even deeper flavor.

Gulp.

Gyedan Ramen Mokdong hours, break time and parking

This new Mokdong ramen spot, Gyedan Ramen Mokdong Branch, is open 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM, with last order at 8:30 PM. Notably, it's a rare no-break-time shop these days — maybe because broadcast station workers have flexible lunch hours..? (Honestly not sure)

Free parking is available for up to a whopping 3 hours at the SBS Mokdong building lot. Plenty of time to eat at leisure even with a long wait. If you consider yourself a ramen otaku, I'd definitely recommend a visit to this Mokdong ramen spot, Gyedan Ramen.