# Gwangjin ramen restaurant with cat phone stands at the bar: Mentsuru - By Danbi (https://superchart.com/en/@meals-in-ink/) - Written Sep 20, 2026 - Local places › Restaurants › Gwangjin, Seoul - Partially sponsored: This is a subjective review written honestly, based on photos I took myself and my own genuine impressions, despite receiving some sponsorship support. - English edition: https://superchart.com/en/@meals-in-ink/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/ - Also in: [한국어](https://superchart.com/ko/@meals-in-ink/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/index.md) ## In short Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch is a Japanese ramen restaurant in Gwangjin, Seoul, one minute on foot from Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station on Line 7. A weekend visit around 2pm found Mentsuru nearly full, but the turnover was fast enough that the wait stayed under 5 minutes, and two diners shared spicy shoyu ramen (with pork belly chashu, egg and cheongyang chili added), gyudon and housemade chicken karaage. With cat-shaped phone stands at the bar seats, Mentsuru is an easy pick for solo diners too. ## Good to know - **Location**: 1 minute on foot from Exit 4, Children's Grand Park Station (Line 7), just past the KFC - **Housemade chicken karaage**: 7,000 won - **Spicy shoyu ramen**: 11,000 won - **Pork belly chashu add-on**: 2,500 won - **Egg add-on**: 1,000 won - **Gyudon (beef rice bowl)**: 11,000 won - **Seating**: Bar seats and table seats, with a tablet for ordering at every seat - **Time of visit**: Weekend around 2pm, nearly full but the wait was about 5 minutes *as written by the visitor on Sep 20, 2026* ## How to walk to Mentsuru from Children's Grand Park Station Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch is one minute on foot from Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station on Line 7. With the nice weather lately, I stopped by for lunch after a weekend outing near Children's Grand Park. 🤤 It's right next to Sejong University and Konkuk University, so honestly part of the reason was to relive a little college-days feeling haha If you walk fast, one minute is more than doable haha (I'd seen a review claiming it was 30 seconds from the station, and turns out that was true,,) Come out Exit 4, turn around and walk just a little, then turn left — it's right there past KFC ![Exterior of Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch near Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-01-rb1ec-900.webp) ## Nearly full at 2pm on a weekend: how long is the wait at Mentsuru? I went a bit past the weekend lunch rush, around 2pm. I figured it'd be a fairly quiet time slot, but it was almost completely full! Since it's a noodle place with quite a lot of seats, the turnover was really fast. We got lucky and there were seats left so we went straight in, and people who came after us did have to wait — but even then it seemed like they got in within about 5 minutes. Turnover was seriously quick. ![Entrance of the Mentsuru restaurant packed with weekend afternoon customers](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-02-1tl5g-m-900.webp) The menu board you see right when you walk in! ![Menu board visible right at the entrance of Mentsuru](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-03-9njjb-900.webp) There's a kiosk by the entrance and aprons ready to go. There's a kiosk, but since every seat has a tablet anyway, you can just sit down and order from your seat ![Entrance kiosk and aprons set out for customers](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-04-16stf-900.webp) A packed restaurant,, seeing it this busy even past lunchtime, it must really be a popular spot 😮😮 There are bar seats and table seats. Great for eating solo, and it'd work nicely for a date or hanging out with friends too ![Interior of the restaurant with bar seating and table seating](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-05-1i5qn-899.webp) *This one I snapped for a moment after the people at the next table finished up and left* This one I snapped for a moment after the people at the next table finished up and left ## What we ordered at Mentsuru, and what it cost After being shown to our seats~ ![Table setting seen after being shown to our seats](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-06-jf71t-900.webp) Started browsing the menu on the kiosk ![Ramen menu screen browsed on the tablet at the table](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-07-1xgcn-900.webp) ![Rice bowl menu on the tablet ordering screen](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-08-1w802-900.webp) ![Side dish menu and topping add-ons on the tablet ordering screen](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-09-9bib5-900.webp) On Naver the signature menus listed were spicy shoyu ramen and motsu ramen (offal ramen). The motsu ramen let you choose from 3 spice levels, which was tempting, but today I wasn't really in the mood for something that rich, so I went with shoyu ramen. Picking things out one by one and adding extras here and there, the cart filled right up! What we ended up ordering was~ ✨️✨️😀😀😀 - 🥰Housemade chicken karaage ₩7,000 - 🥰Spicy shoyu ramen ₩11,000 - +Pork belly chashu add-on ₩2,500 - +Egg add-on ₩1,000 - 🥰Gyudon ₩11,000 We ordered a lot of toppings so the two of us could share nicely 💓💓 ![Cart screen showing the full order details](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-10-pax3g-810.webp) We added cheongyang chili too, for that sharp spicy kick. Cheongyang chili goes well with anything anyway ## How does the spicy shoyu ramen taste with cheongyang chili and pork belly chashu? The food came out fast! ![Spicy shoyu ramen topped with cheongyang chili and pork belly chashu](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-11-e9fgv-900.webp) Spicy shoyu ramen. The cheongyang chili and chashu were already added in, and the egg came served separately! The soy-sauce-based chicken broth blended with the spicy kick, so it was easy to eat without feeling greasy at all. A flavor that made it very clear why this is the popular menu item. Adding the cheongyang chili gave off a subtle chili aroma too, which made it even tastier, nice. The menma (bamboo shoots) were tasty too — wished I'd added extra of that as well. Would recommend adding it!!! ![A chopstick-lifted bite of noodles from the spicy shoyu ramen](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-12-1wukf-900.webp) ## Gyudon at 11,000 won: how much beef is in the bowl? ![Mentsuru's gyudon piled high with thin-sliced beef](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-13-13ljp-1200.webp) Gyudon. The amount of thin-sliced beef was quite generous, so it's great for eating until you're full!! Something to order when noodles aren't really calling to you. The seasoning was spot on, and the beef, scallions, onions, and other ingredients came together for a nice chewy bite too ![Close-up of the gyudon with beef, scallions, and onions mixed together](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-14-15b75-900.webp) ## Housemade chicken karaage at 7,000 won ![Housemade chicken karaage served with sauce and mayo](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-15-16q38-900.webp) ![A large chunk of chicken thigh meat from the karaage](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-16-1ufwf-900.webp) Karaage. Strongly recommend it as a good way to fill up on protein. Crispy, with big chunks of meat, delicious!! The chicken thigh meat is really substantial hahaha. It comes with sauce and mayo on the side, and the fact that it was fresh out of the fryer and still warm was great Even the ramen alone would've been enough to fill us up, but the karaage was so hearty too that we ended up really, really full ![Cat-shaped phone stand placed on the table](https://img.superchart.com/images/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon-17-gnupj-900.webp) ## Cat phone stands at the bar seats for solo diners While eating I kept wondering why this cat seemed to be staring at me, and it turned out to be a phone stand. Such a thoughtful touch — set up so solo diners can prop their phone comfortably and watch something while they eat 👍👍 Recommending this as a great spot to grab a meal near Children's Grand Park, Konkuk University, and Sejong University!! 💓 Noting it down as a place to revisit next time I'm in the area 😃 ## Where it is - Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch (멘츠루 어린이대공원점) - 394 Gwangnaru-ro, 1st floor, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea - 서울특별시 광진구 광나루로 394 1층 - 37.547275, 127.0734369 - Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/search/%EB%A9%98%EC%B8%A0%EB%A3%A8%20%EC%96%B4%EB%A6%B0%EC%9D%B4%EB%8C%80%EA%B3%B5%EC%9B%90%EC%A0%90/@37.547275,127.0734369,17z --- Superchart · https://superchart.com/en/@meals-in-ink/mentsuru-childrens-grand-park-spicy-shoyu-gyudon/ · https://superchart.com/llms.txt