Garlic tonkotsu and fish-powder tsukemen near City Hall: Mentsuru

Where is Mentsuru City Hall Branch?

Mentsuru City Hall Branch is a Japanese ramen restaurant a 1-minute walk from Exit 10 of City Hall Station. It's known as a favorite among office workers around City Hall, and this time I tried the tonkotsu ramen, the tsukemen, and the handmade gara-age (Japanese fried chicken).

I came to Mentsuru City Hall Branch, a Japanese ramen restaurant loved by office workers just a minute's walk from City Hall Station.

It's a spacious ramen shop that's great for eating solo, with plenty of menu variety — good for a date too, or for grabbing a beer with a meal after work. Hours run from 11am to 9:30pm, with last order at 9pm. There's no break time, so it's fine to visit outside typical meal hours too.

Inside Mentsuru: basement and ground floor, three kiosks

The restaurant is split between the basement and ground floor and it's a pretty big space. There are three kiosks — one on the ground floor, one at the basement stairway entrance, and one in the basement — so you never have to line up to order, which is great.

Here's the basement. Since you only go down half a flight of stairs, it doesn't feel cramped at all, and there's plenty of bar seating and tables, so even during the crowded lunch rush you can eat without feeling squeezed.

And here's the ground floor. Judging by all the solo diners around, this is clearly a ramen spot that a lot of people come to eat alone.

What's on the Mentsuru City Hall Branch menu?

The menu board on the ground floor is slightly different from the one near the entrance — there were items not listed even on Naver Place. There's shio, shoyu, tonkotsu, tori paitan and other broth-based ramens, plus tsukemen and mazesoba for mixing or dipping, and donburi (rice bowls) like gyudon, chashu-don and hormone-don. A ramen shop with real variety.

Tapping a menu item shows the add-on options. It's not in the photo, but the ground-floor kiosk also had sides — gyoza and handmade gara-age — so I ordered the gara-age too.

The drinks menu, just for reference. Today's order was tsukemen and tonkotsu ramen. I'd already tried shoyu and mazesoba at a different branch before, so this time I went with something different.

Rich, savory tonkotsu and the thickest tsukemen at Mentsuru

The dishes from City Hall office-worker favorite Mentsuru City Hall Branch arrived. Ta-da. Seeing it all laid out felt like being back in Japan. Serving the tsukemen's dipping sauce in a stone pot is a really good idea — it kept the tsukemen warm for a surprisingly long time, if not all the way through.

On the side, danmuji (pickled radish) with a lemon touch.

Tonkotsu ramen: garlic-forward, first-generation broth

The tonkotsu ramen at Mentsuru City Hall Branch doesn't have that thick, heavy broth texture, but the aroma and flavor run deep. It's got that first-generation tonkotsu feel, packed with garlic flavor.

This broth is exactly the tonkotsu flavor I love. I actually used to work at a ramen shop because I loved this taste so much — and here I was, feeling it all over again at Mentsuru.

Two slices of soft pork-belly chashu come in, along with half an egg and crunchy wood ear mushroom — a nicely varied set of base toppings.

The noodles are low-hydration and pair really well with tonkotsu. So good. You can also adjust the broth seasoning, so if you're a ramen fanatic, I recommend trying it rich broth, extra garlic, noodles a bit underboiled. Personally, that's my favorite combination.

Tsukemen: thick dipping sauce heavy with fish-powder aroma

Next, the tsukemen. Again, loaded with base toppings.

One soft-boiled egg, three slices of sous-vide pork shoulder chashu, plus seaweed, green onion, and onion on top. The noodle portion is generous too — one bowl alone would probably fill up an average adult man completely.

The tsukejiru (dipping sauce) is thick, deeply savory, with a strong fish-powder aroma — the exact same taste as the tsukemen I had in Tokyo. You don't have to go to Japan; you can taste it all right here at City Hall favorite Mentsuru.

Handmade gara-age (Japanese fried chicken) and drinks

The handmade gara-age comes in big chunky pieces, seasoned sweet-and-salty just right — dip it in mayo and it's the perfect beer snack. So good!!!!

No beer this time, just zero-sugar cola, but I asked for a cup of ice and it was perfectly refreshing. That's my review of Mentsuru City Hall Branch, a City Hall favorite I enjoyed a lot!!!!