Mapo ramen restaurant with seafood pork broth: Ramen Truck

Ramen Truck Sangsu Main Branch near Sangsu Station

My husband is such a huge ramen fan, so we went to Ramen Truck Sangsu Main Branch in Sangsu for dinner haha.

It was right near Exit 4 of Sangsu Station on Line 6, so it was incredibly easy to find—and you can park in front of the restaurant too!!

• Address: 31 Dongmak-ro 14-gil, 1F Ramen Truck, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울 마포구 독막로14길 31 1층 라멘트럭)
• Hours: 11:00–21:30
• Recommended for solo dining ♥️

A clean bar counter that was great for solo dining

Right at the entrance, there was a CESCO certified-safe-business sign, which made for such a hygienic and reassuring first impression haha. And the restaurant was really spotless ^^ The owner and staff were constantly cleaning too!!

Once inside, I loved that the compact space still had that distinct cozy Japanese ramen-shop feel!! It also had a well-designed bar counter, making it the perfect atmosphere for eating alone near Sangsu Station haha.

Apparently, Ramen Truck began as a tiny food truck late at night in Hongdae! You could feel the history of an owner who left a comfortable corporate life to pursue one dream—ramen—so I was already so excited before we ate haha.

They started the food truck in 2013, opened this Sangsu main branch in 2014, expanded to a second Sangsu branch, Mok-dong Omokgyo branch, and Jang-an directly operated branch, and celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2023! They have also released new Iekei Ramen and Shin Iekei Ramen, so you can really feel how serious they are about ramen haha.

Ordering Kyokai Tonkotsu Ramen and Shin Ramen

After debating what to get, my husband chose the Kyokai Tonkotsu Ramen, while I was craving something spicy and ordered the Shin Ramen!! While waiting, I took a slow look through the menu. Starting with basic Tonkotsu Ramen, there were the Kyokai Tonkotsu Ramen and Shin Ramen we ordered, plus Iekei Ramen, so it was really nice to choose according to your taste haha.

As we sat talking, the dishes we ordered finally arrived on the table!!

Kyokai Tonkotsu Ramen packed with seafood umami

First, my husband’s Kyokai Tonkotsu Ramen was absolutely striking from the visuals alone. Its pork-bone and chicken-stock-based tonkotsu broth had a flavor that seemed to burst with deep seafood umami!!

They make the broth themselves using know-how built up over 10 years. Rather than forcibly blending in pork fat, they tailored it to Korean eating habits, creating a naturally oily yet clean broth without heaviness haha.

It was rich with perfectly balanced depth, without pools of grease floating on top, so it was so easy to spoon up without feeling burdened!! And the Kyokai Tonkotsu Ramen was piled high with their special sous-vide pork belly chashu.

The chashu is simmered for a long time in a special soy-based sauce until tender and thick, then grilled directly over high heat at the end, so the smoky aroma and savory flavor were no joke haha. I wrapped the noodles and chashu in the crispy nori (seaweed) served alongside it and took a bite—it was truly a special treat and one of the highlights!! The noodles were very special too,

They make the noodles in-house, and you could definitely tell the difference! Two types of flour are blended just right; the noodles are 1.3 mm in both width and height, with over 30% moisture, so they do not snap easily. Egg-white powder keeps them springy until the very last bite!!

The noodles were slightly thick and soaked up the broth so beautifully, with a unique, appealing texture that felt somewhere between udon and ramen haha. My husband kept exclaiming that the broth was so rich and delicious from his very first sip!!

Fiery Shin Ramen and its seasoned egg

The Shin Ramen I ordered adds spicy dadegi seasoning paste to the rich broth of the basic ramen, making it warmly spicy and peppery!! The moment I took that first spoonful, the bright, spicy broth spread through my mouth, with the clean heat that any Korean would love haha. It was not an aggressively artificial, capsaicin-like heat; the rich broth and warming spice came together for that classic, perfectly delicious spicy flavor!!

Especially, the ajitama seasoned egg in the Shin Ramen was absolutely amazing!!

Apparently, they soft-boil the eggs, then soak them in Ramen Truck’s secret special sauce for a full three days so the seasoning gradually reaches even the yolk through osmosis! Maybe that is why there was no dryness at all; the yolk was sweet and wonderfully chewy, and eating it with the ramen broth was total heaven haha. The seasoned eggs were such incredible quality that they could call this place Egg Truck!!

The pork belly chashu in the Shin Ramen was amazingly thick too, so it had such a satisfying bite! The tender yet thick, savory pork belly paired with the spicy Shin Ramen broth so well that it kept going down without ever becoming rich or greasy haha. The portion was so generous that I felt like my stomach might burst when I finished!!

Ramen Truck is a real ramen restaurant that does not use commercial sauces or factory-made products, making both its broth and noodles completely by hand. You could really feel the care and effort in every bowl haha. The clean broth is seasoned so that anyone, regardless of age or gender, can enjoy it comfortably without it being too salty or greasy, and I instantly understood why it has been loved as one of Hongdae’s representative ramen spots for 10 years!!

By the way, they were also running a free chashu coupon event for customers! If you plan to visit, I think it would be great to check the Naver Place coupons or updates section and make sure to claim those worthwhile benefits too haha.

For anyone wanting to try genuinely Japanese ramen with 10 years of tradition, rich yet clean, around Hongdae and Sangsu—or anyone looking for somewhere comfortable to have dinner alone after work—I strongly recommend visiting without hesitation!! The combination of rich Kyokai Tonkotsu Ramen and peppery Shin Ramen is one I want to run back and eat again whenever I think of it haha.