Solo beef intestine rice bowl near Konkuk Univ.: hormone-don, Mentsuru

I was looking for a good ramen and rice bowl place near Children's Grand Park Station where I could eat alone, and ended up going back to Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch (멘츠루 어린이대공원점), a Konkuk University-area spot I'd visited before! I liked it enough to return, so here's my honest review.

Where is Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch, and what are the hours and parking?

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch is at 394 Gwangnaru-ro, 1st floor, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 57 m from Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station. It is open daily 11:00–23:00, with last order at 22:30.

• Address: 394 Gwangnaru-ro, 1st floor, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul (57 m from Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station)
• Hours: daily 11:00–23:00 / last order 22:30
• Parking: no free parking; the Gwangjin Plaza public parking lot across the street is recommended (paid)

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch is just 30 seconds from Children's Grand Park Station, which makes it a super-duper station-front location!

Is Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch comfortable for eating alone?

There were more than 10 bar seats that are comfortable for solo diners! The atmosphere makes it easy to eat alone, and lots of people were actually dining solo.

There were four 4-person tables and two 2-person tables. Groups of students come in for lunch too, and I hear there's a wait at lunchtime.

Water, cups, tissues and so on are already set at each seat. The side dish is danmuji (pickled yellow radish) with yuzu in it, and you serve yourself as much as you want.

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch menu and prices

Ramen at Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch costs ₩11,000–15,000, and the rice bowls are gyudon (beef bowl) at ₩11,000 and hormone-don at ₩15,000. I've listed them with the descriptions from the menu.

• Spicy shoyu ramen ₩11,000 – light, clean clam and chicken broth ramen. Also good as a hangover cure
• Motsu ramen (beef small intestine ramen) ₩15,000 – a spicy hangover ramen generously loaded with beef small intestine and thin-sliced beef brisket
• Shoyu ramen ₩11,000 – light, clean clam and chicken broth ramen
• Shio ramen ₩11,000 – chicken broth ramen seasoned with salt
• Tori paitan ₩12,000 – rich, heavy ramen made by simmering chicken bones for a long time
• Abura soba (mixed ramen) ₩12,000 – oil ramen flavored with Mentsuru's own five secret oils (be sure to ask for the finishing rice)
• Hormone-don (beef intestine rice bowl) ₩15,000 – a special rice bowl with beef intestine and thin-sliced beef brisket in Mentsuru's secret sauce
• Gyudon ₩11,000 – beef bowl using thin-sliced beef brisket in Mentsuru's special seasoning sauce
• Handmade karaage ₩7,000 – Japanese-style fried chicken, with fresh chicken thigh meat battered to order
• Chicken-skin gyoza (4 pieces) ₩5,000
• Takoyaki (5 pieces) ₩5,000

How does Mentsuru's hormone-don (beef intestine rice bowl) taste?

Last time I had a ramen and it was delicious, so this time I got curious about the rice bowls and ordered the hormone-don (beef intestine rice bowl).

Hormone-don (beef intestine rice bowl) ₩15,000

Hormone-don is a special rice bowl with beef intestine and thin-sliced beef brisket in Mentsuru's secret sauce, and it comes with raw onion, scallion, pickled radish, chili, wasabi and an egg yolk to go with the special sauce, intestine and brisket!

Dip the beef intestine in the egg yolk

The beef intestine in the hormone-don was plump and cut into easy bite-size pieces. When the food came out, the owner recommended dipping it in the egg yolk, so I tried it, and it was richer and smoother, so good! Recommended!!

Is the hormone-don special sauce spicy?

I scooped up a big spoonful of rice and topped it with pickled radish and yolk-dipped intestine! I was worried the special sauce would be spicy, but it wasn't spicy at all, just a really sweet sauce like teriyaki! I love beef intestine anyway, so I enjoyed it a lot.

The hormone-don has not only beef intestine but thin-sliced beef brisket too!! Getting two main ingredients in one dish was actually a bonus!

Is the takoyaki worth ordering as a side?

I saw reviews saying the takoyaki (5 pieces, ₩5,000) at Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch is good, so I ordered it as a side too, and the bonito flakes looked like they were alive and dancing, which made it look even tastier!

The octopus was quite plump and it felt like real takoyaki from a proper takoyaki shop, so I recommend it as a side dish!

Naver review event

If you join the Naver review event, they give you a drink or fried gyoza as a freebie, so I recommend taking part!!

I recommend Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch near Konkuk University: tasty Japanese-style ramen and beef intestine rice bowls, and a great place to eat alone!!