Two-floor bar seats and free rice at a City Hall ramen shop: Mentsuru

📍Mentsuru City Hall Branch ⏰ Daily 11:00–21:30 (last order 21:00)

Is there a wait at Mentsuru near City Hall Station after work?

There's a ramen place I'd always noticed had a long line whenever I passed by, so I finally decided to check it out! Looking at all the office workers there on a weekday, it seems like a real workplace-crowd favorite near City Hall Station. Even though I went during after-work hours, there was still a bit of a wait haha.

The place already looked pretty big from outside, and inside it was even bigger, split across the ground floor and basement. A server greeted us kindly right as we walked in, which was a nice touch!!

Ordering at Mentsuru's four kiosks: what we picked that day

Mentsuru City Hall Branch has four kiosks total, which was great since orders could get processed quickly even when people flooded in!! And you guys... they had my favorite Kirin beer there too, ㅠㅠ I was tempted to have a glass, but my friend was off alcohol that day so I held off in solidarity ^0^

Here's what we ordered:

• Spicy Shoyu Ramen (hangover ramen): ₩11,500
• Tori Paitan: ₩12,000
• Handmade Karaage: ₩7,000

We tried these three menu items!!

Mentsuru's basement bar seats and indoor waiting area

I liked that the basement floor also had bar seating just like upstairs.

There's a separate waiting area, so even if you end up waiting, you can stay cool inside. At other small restaurants you sometimes have to wait outside in the middle of summer, right? Here you can wait comfortably in the air conditioning, so it's worth the wait.

I got the bar seat I really wanted haha. There were quite a few people eating solo too? I think I'll come back for a solo ramen mission next time I'm craving it.

One perk of the bar seats is getting a front-row view of the cooking. Watching them wok over a flame way stronger than anything you'd have at home is honestly impressive ㅠㅠ I love watching cooking like this, which is why I'm partial to places with bar seating — my friend, who often eats alone, said the bar seats felt comfortable too!

You can get a drink or fried gyoza with a Naver receipt review, so make sure to write one and enjoy the fried gyoza.

Every table had danmuji (pickled radish) like this. Having danmuji set out separately at each table means the owner has to bother with keeping it hygienic and refreshed — and the side dish containers weren't sticky at all, they looked cleaned and cared for daily, which I liked.

Why Mentsuru is easy for solo diners: phone holders and outlets

Given the location and the fact that this place is famous among City Hall office workers, there must be a lot of solo diners, right? So there were phone holders set up to make sure they could enjoy their lunch break properly. I've never seen phone holders at a ramen place before!! The owner's attention to detail is next level~

Huge win... you guys, there were even outlets at the Mentsuru City Hall bar seats.. Sure, cafés often have outlets (though not always), but a ramen place.. with outlets too, is basically inviting you to just come alone and eat all three meals here~ This alone makes me want to be a City Hall office worker (?)

And of course, aprons were tucked away in a corner too ^0^

I already knew the owner had great taste, but their connections are impressive too — did Jennie and SuperBee, famous celebrities, both stop by here..? There were quite a few autographs on the wall!? Next time I hope to have a celebrity encounter here..

Handmade karaage, 7,000 won: worth the price

The first dish to arrive was the handmade karaage! Unlike frozen karaage, it was really big in size, with a batter that was just crisp enough on the outside and chicken inside that was moist with no off odor at all. It came out freshly fried and was a bit hot, but that's how karaage should be enjoyed anyway. I wondered if it was pricier than karaage at other ramen places.. but honestly, even if it's a little more expensive, expensive really tastes different! haha.

Tori paitan, 12,000 won: rich broth that never feels heavy

Last year in Tokyo I had what I'd call the tori paitan of my life? I used to be strictly a tonkotsu ramen person, but after tasting that life-changing tori paitan, I've been going around Seoul searching for a truly delicious version. Mentsuru had tori paitan on the menu too, so I ordered it!

And wow, it was really delicious. The rich, creamy-smooth broth of the tori paitan paired perfectly with the well-cooked noodles. This kind of broth can easily tip into greasy territory, but Mentsuru's tori paitan was completely clean with none of that!! There was a big chunk of meat in it too, and I portioned it out carefully so there was still some left by the time I finished the ramen ㅠㅠ I had extremely high expectations for tori paitan, and there was nothing to be disappointed about.

Can you see the amount of noodles..? The portion was really generous.

Spicy shoyu ramen (hangover ramen), 11,500 won: a cure even without drinking

I used to be strictly tonkotsu, but these days I like branching out and trying different kinds of ramen, so I ordered the spicy shoyu ramen too. I don't usually eat shoyu ramen so I was hesitant, but honestly, don't overthink it — if you're a City Hall office worker the morning after drinking, just get the spicy shoyu ramen. It had that clean, spicy, refreshing taste that would sober you up even if you hadn't been drinking.

I really care about clean flavor when it comes to soup, and this one was spicy in a bright, non-heavy way — the kind of clean spicy that automatically cures a hangover..

Free rice at Mentsuru, split between the two ramen bowls

Right around when I started craving rice, the owner mentioned rice was available for free if we wanted it, so I ordered some!! I split it in half between the tori paitan and the spicy shoyu ramen and mixed it in properly, finishing everything off before leaving!! Don't be shy — order the rice confidently like I did and enjoy your ramen twice as much.

Location-wise it's so convenient near City Hall Station, and it'd also make a great spot for a date after strolling along the Deoksugung stone wall path nearby~