Uijeongbu Station ramen, pork-bone broth two ways: Aori’s Whereabouts

What kind of ramen restaurant is Aori’s Whereabouts Unknown Uijeongbu Branch?

Aori’s Whereabouts Unknown Uijeongbu Branch is a ramen restaurant near Uijeongbu Station. Its main dish is Aori ramen in a rich pork-bone broth, and it also serves miso ramen, mazemen (brothless mixed noodles) and TKG (egg-soy sauce rice). I was looking for somewhere to have dinner near the station and suddenly craved ramen for the first time in a while, so I went.

The seating is split mostly into solo seats, so it looked easy to visit alone, and there are separate seats for couples or two people too. This time I ordered the Aori SET (Aori ramen with TKG rice and a drink), the miso ramen, and fried eggplant meatballs.

How to get there from Uijeongbu Station, and parking

It took about 3 minutes on foot from Uijeongbu Station, Exit 5. The restaurant is on the 2nd floor of a building across from Yeokjeon Neighborhood Park, and there’s an Aori ramen sign by the entrance on the 1st floor, so it wasn’t hard to find.

• Address: 536 Pyeonghwa-ro, 2nd floor, Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi, South Korea
• Hours: daily 11:30–21:30
• Last order: 21:00
• Parking: no dedicated lot

There’s no dedicated parking, so if you drive, it’s recommended to use the underground public lot in Uijeongbu 1-dong, the multi-story public lot, or the Uijeongbu Station transfer parking lot. Being so close to Uijeongbu Station, it looked easy to reach when you’re hunting for a good ramen place there.

Atmosphere and partitioned solo seats

Climb the stairs and step inside, and the first thing you see is the kiosk.

You pick your menu and pay, then take a seat as directed.

Instead of ordinary open tables, the inner area has a long row of solo seats, each with its own partition.

There’s a small screen in front of each seat, so eating alone felt comfortable, and the layout meant I didn’t have to worry much about the person next to me.

You don’t have to call a staff member; the food you ordered is passed over to your seat, which looked like a good fit for anyone who wants a quiet meal.

Besides the solo seats, there are also couple seats where two people can sit together, so it seemed usable for anything from eating alone to a date.

The dark wood tones typical of a Japanese ramen shop, together with the seat layout, gave me a slight feeling of being in a ramen shop in Japan, even though it’s in Uijeongbu.

What we ordered and menu prices

• Aori SET ₩16,000 (Aori ramen + TKG egg-soy sauce rice + drink)
• Miso ramen ₩12,000
• Fried eggplant meatballs ₩3,500

The Aori SET comes with the signature Aori ramen plus TKG rice and a drink, so it looked good when you want to try a few things. The miso ramen is pork-bone broth with miso paste added, so its broth tasted different from the Aori ramen, and I added the fried eggplant meatballs as a side.

How does the Aori ramen taste?

The Aori ramen comes topped with 2 slices of chashu (braised pork), ajitamago (marinated soft-boiled egg), menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), seaweed and scallions.

I tried the broth first, and it had that deep flavor typical of pork-bone broth. It wasn’t a light style, but rather than being sharply salty, it leaned nutty and rich.

The chashu was quite big. When I picked it up with my chopsticks it had real thickness, and the fat and lean meat were nicely mixed, so it was tender and easy to eat.

I also grabbed noodles and scallions together and wrapped them in the chashu, and the savory meat on top of the rich broth went really well. The soft-boiled ajitamago also kept its yolk moist rather than overcooked.

If you like rich tonkotsu ramen, this seemed like the signature dish to try first when looking for a good ramen place in Uijeongbu.

Aori SET: TKG (egg and soy sauce rice)

The Aori SET also came with TKG rice. Egg yolk, meat, seaweed and scallions were on top of the rice, and before eating I drizzled soy sauce over it and mixed it well.

Breaking the yolk and mixing it in made everything moist, and with the meat and seaweed mixed in, it tasted richer than plain soy sauce egg rice.

For anyone who finds ramen alone a bit too little, ordering the set to eat together looked like a good idea.

Taking a bite of the TKG rice every now and then between sips of the ramen broth was a great combination too.

How does the miso ramen taste?

The miso ramen was generously topped with bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms, corn, ajitamago, seaweed and scallions. Put next to the Aori ramen, the difference in toppings was obvious right away.

When I lifted the noodles, the bean sprouts and scallions came up with them and added a crunchy texture, and there were plenty of wood ear mushrooms too, so it was fun to chew.

The broth is pork-bone broth with miso paste added, so it tasted nuttier and more savory than the Aori ramen. The sweetness of the corn came through here and there and went well with the rich broth.

If the Aori ramen suits people who love tonkotsu’s deep, nutty flavor, the miso ramen seems good for those who want something more savory with a variety of toppings.

If you go as a pair, ordering one of each to compare is a good idea too.

Side dish: fried eggplant meatballs

Lastly, the fried eggplant meatballs (₩3,500) I ordered as a side were bigger than I expected. The outside was fried golden, and when I bit in, the eggplant inside was cooked soft.

Crispy outside and moist inside gave a nice texture contrast, and dipping them in the sauce that came with them worked well. They’re packed full inside, so they were closer to a hearty side than a light fried snack. When ramen alone feels like not enough, adding one to share worked well.

Aori ramen or miso ramen: which should you order?

Aori ramen and miso ramen use the same pork-bone broth, but the direction of the flavor was clearly different.

The Aori ramen felt focused on the chashu and the rich tonkotsu broth itself, while the miso ramen added a variety of toppings like bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms and corn, plus the savory taste of miso paste. If you like rich, nutty tonkotsu ramen, go with the Aori ramen; if you like a savory broth and varied textures, the miso ramen is probably the better fit.

Ordering one of each like we did lets you compare as you eat, so it was a good combination for first-time visitors too.

Final verdict on Aori’s Whereabouts Unknown Uijeongbu

Aori’s Whereabouts Unknown Uijeongbu Branch was a ramen restaurant in Uijeongbu where you can enjoy different styles, from the rich pork-bone broth of the Aori ramen to the savory miso ramen. The Aori SET was filling, with TKG rice and a drink alongside the signature ramen, and the fried eggplant meatballs were a good side to eat with ramen.

Above all, the partitioned seats made it comfortable to visit alone, and being close to Uijeongbu Station makes it a handy stop when you’re looking for ramen there. If you’re craving rich tonkotsu ramen or want a restaurant in Uijeongbu where you can have a quiet meal alone, it’s worth a visit.