Ilsan ramen shop with ₩3,000 tamago bap and rich motsu ramen: Gyedan

Hi, this is Healthy Mentor. Whenever I go looking for Bamlidan-gil restaurants, the name Gyedan Ramen Ilsan Main Branch keeps catching my eye.

It's known by word of mouth as an Ilsan ramen spot, and visiting in person, the hype wasn't exaggerated. I was glad to find a ramen shop among Ilsan restaurants that's this serious about its broth. I really love Japanese ramen, and this is supposedly a place where you can taste the traditional flavor of Japanese ramen right in Ilsan.

Where is Gyedan Ramen Ilsan Main Branch on Bamlidan-gil?

Gyedan Ramen Ilsan Main Branch is located at 10 Yulcheon-ro 7beon-gil, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor. It's inside an alley off Bamlidan-gil, so first-time visitors need to head further into the alley.

Interior and seating — is it easy to eat solo?

Walking into Gyedan Ramen Ilsan Main Branch, the first thing you notice is how neatly kept the space is.

It has the counter-seat-plus-table layout typical of Japanese ramen shops, so it's comfortable alone and works well for two as well. You could feel right away, just looking around, that they care about cleanliness every single day of the year.

Signature motsu ramen, rich flavor — the taste of 14-hour tonkotsu broth

I ordered the signature motsu ramen in rich flavor and a chashu rice bowl at Gyedan Ramen. The broth here is a tonkotsu base simmered directly from pork bone and chicken for over 14 hours. The menu explained that instead of the intense, salty tonkotsu style you find in Japan, this is a milder version adapted to Korean taste — and after tasting it, that description was exactly right.

The moment the motsu ramen arrived, the broth had a deep, creamy color. Taking a spoonful, the savory, rich tonkotsu flavor hit first, but the aftertaste was clean. It wasn't greasy or heavy, so I kept drinking it. Unlike the salty, intense tonkotsu you get in Japan, this really suited Korean palates. I'd chosen the rich flavor, so the broth concentration was dialed up even more — each sip really did taste like 14 hours of effort.

The texture of the motsu (offal) and the noodles

There was a generous amount of motsu (offal) in the bowl, which gave the ramen its special character. The offal was well prepped, cooked soft with no trace of the usual gaminess, and the chewy texture alongside the noodles was genuinely delicious. The deep flavor of the motsu added to the rich tonkotsu broth gave it a distinctly different character from an ordinary tonkotsu ramen. The noodles were thin and springy, holding the broth well — every time I lifted a bite, broth came up with it.

The second flavor: spicy secret sauce

Partway through, I added a little of the spicy secret sauce. A distinctive feature of Gyedan Ramen is that you can enjoy it three ways: as served, with the spicy secret sauce added, and finally with rice stirred into the broth. Adding the sauce brought a sharp spicy kick that turned it into a completely different bowl of ramen. The spiciness blending with the rich tonkotsu broth made it addictive.

Tamago bap for ₩3,000 — this much for this price

The tamago bap (egg rice) at Gyedan Ramen was satisfying to a degree hard to believe for ₩3,000. Tender cooked meat sat on top of the rice, with a salty sauce soaked into the grains, making it the perfect side to pair with the ramen. Thickly sliced egg melted in the mouth, spreading a nutty flavor. Among Bamlidan-gil restaurants, it's rare to find tamago bap of this quality at this price.

Finishing with rice stirred into the broth

Stirring the tamago bap into the rich broth let me savor the depth of the broth even more through the rice!! The ramen itself is delicious, but I'd also recommend stirring the rice into the leftover broth once you're done.

To anyone looking for an Ilsan ramen restaurant or a ramen spot among Bamlidan-gil restaurants, I can confidently recommend Gyedan Ramen Ilsan Main Branch. Do try the rich-flavor motsu ramen, where you can really feel the depth of that 14-hour broth.