Japanese noodle restaurant in Nowon, Seoul: Torikokoro tsukemen

We went to Torikokoro Gongneung Direct Store in Gongneung for an early weekend dinner. I’d heard it was famous for tsukemen (dipping ramen), so I was curious, and thought it should be okay if we went early—so we timed our visit for the end of the weekend break.

But... we arrived at 5:10 p.m. and there were no seatsㅜㅜ

Torikokoro Gongneung Direct Store (토리코코로 공릉직영점)

It opens at 5, and there was already a wait!

On weekends, they start serving again at 5 p.m. after break time, and when we arrived around 5:10, there were already quite a few customers. We put our names down as number one on the waitlist, then went on a date walk along the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail right next door. We came back after about 30 minutes, and oh my goodness...

The waitlist had grown to six parties, haha. They say it’s a popular place with a long wait, and now I could see why.

Kiosk ordering and the bar-table atmosphere

There’s a kiosk as soon as you walk through the door, so you order there before going in. Inside, the seating is all bar tables, and it had the overall feel of a Japanese ramen shop. The seats aren’t especially spacious, but honestly, that atmosphere felt like a great match for tsukemen!

There was also a water dispenser right in front of us, which made it easy to refill our water.

My first tsukemen

We ordered one tsukemen and one mazesoba (mixed noodles). It was actually my first time trying tsukemen. Unlike regular ramen, where the noodles arrive in the broth, tsukemen comes with the noodles separately and you dip them into a rich broth. The restaurant had instructions on how to enjoy it, so even as a first-timer, I had no trouble.

You can choose either 150 g or 200 g of noodles. My boyfriend chose 200 g, and I chose 150 g. I picked 150 g because I was worried it would be too much, but once I started eating, it went down more easily than I expected, haha.

My boyfriend had tried tsukemen in Japan before, and he said it felt almost exactly like what he had there from the first bite. I haven’t had it in Japan, so it’s hard for me to compare, but I really enjoyed it despite it being a new dish for me. Dipping the noodles let me appreciate their texture, and the rich broth clung right to them—it had a charm completely different from regular ramen.

We added an egg topping, too

We added toppings to the tsukemen, too, haha.

We added chicken breast and egg toppings, and the meat topping was delicious as well.

I especially tried the chicken thigh, and it was tender and tasty, making it great with the noodles. If you keep eating only noodles in that rich broth, it can start to feel a little heavy, but having meat or egg along the way changed up the flavors and made it even more enjoyable.

Adding vinegar to the mazesoba

And then there was the mazesoba we ordered alongside it! It was totally different from the tsukemen, so sharing the two was really nice. I added a little vinegar partway through the mazesoba, and personally, that was seriously delicious. The tanginess cut through its rich, nutty flavor and kept me coming back for more.

The appeal of tsukemen is the combination of rich broth and springy noodles, while the appeal of mazesoba is getting all sorts of flavors at once as you mix it. I was so glad we ordered both to share.

A place worth a 30-minute wait

At first, I was a little taken aback that there was a wait even though we arrived at 5:10, but waiting while we walked the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail made it feel more like a date course, haha. Once we ate, I could understand why so many people were willing to wait.

Especially if you’ve never tried tsukemen, I think it’s worth giving it a go at least once. If I visit again, I’ll probably wonder whether to get tsukemen or mazesoba—but since both were so good, I think we’ll end up ordering two again, haha. If you’re looking for Japanese-style noodles in Gongneung, or a tasty meal after a Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail date, I recommend Torikokoro Gongneung Direct Store!