Gwangjin ramen restaurant for spicy motsu ramen: Mentsuru

If you're looking for great ramen near Children's Grand Park, this is the spot! It's Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch (멘츠루 어린이대공원점)~ The exterior already had that popular-restaurant feel, and the cozy interior looked perfect for a date or an outing. It's near Sejong University and Konkuk University too, so it seemed like a great lunch spot 👏🏻 As a ramen specialist, it has five kinds of ramen, plus bibim ramen (mixed ramen), rice bowls, sides, and such a solid menu lineup.

How close is it to Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station?

Exterior

The exterior looked just like a delicious ramen specialist, with so much good atmosphere. It's within a 30-second walk from Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station, and within an eight-minute walk of Sejong University and Children's Grand Park too. It's on the main road near the crosswalk, so it was easy to find.

Parking isn't available around the restaurant, and Gwangjin Public Parking Lot across the street was the closest option.

A cozy interior with jazz and bar seating

Despite the dark mood, upbeat jazz was playing, making it such an atmospheric restaurant. It really felt like I'd come to Japan!

Even though I visited early on a weekday evening, there were lots of people inside, so I guess I really had found a good spot 👏🏻

This was the bar table by the entrance. It was screened off in front, so it was perfect for eating alone. It looked nice for quietly enjoying a meal. Best of all, the lush park view through the floor-to-ceiling window was so pretty…🫧

Ramen menu ordered by kiosk and tablet

There's a kiosk by the entrance, but every table also has a tablet, so ordering is easy.

• Shoyu ramen (regular/spicy)
• Motsu ramen (beef intestine ramen)
• Shio ramen
• Tori paitan
• Aburi soba, horumon-don (beef large-intestine rice bowl), gyudon, and simple sides

Ramen was priced around ₩11,000–₩15,000.

Trying the shio ramen and motsu ramen

• Shio ramen ₩11,000
• Motsu ramen ₩15,000
• Takoyaki (service) ₩5,000

The food took about 5–10 minutes, and they brought it to our table when it was ready.

Shio ramen with a clean chicken broth

This ramen has a clean chicken broth seasoned with salt, and I loved how mild and clear it tasted. The floating onions gave it a crisp bite, which was the key. I recommend it if you're looking for a clean broth.

Spicy motsu ramen with beef intestines and beef brisket

They say this is a spicy ramen especially suited to a hangover cure, with a rich chicken broth simmered for 12 hours, beef intestines, and thin-sliced beef brisket. If you want it spicy, I recommend level 2 or above. Maybe I've become weak with spice lately, because it was super hot at first, but as I kept eating, it was just right.

It also came with bean sprouts, and their crisp bite with the noodles was seriously delicious,

It wasn't just beef intestines—there was thin-sliced beef brisket too—so it was a hearty meal that could double as hangover food.

I didn't realize there would be this much meat, so I added pork belly chashu. Two pieces came out, and they were so thick…! The chashu's smoky char went perfectly with the spicy broth…🫧

There was pepper at every table, so I added some midway through and wow…! I recommend trying it with pepper 👏🏻 It was whole peppercorns, so the little bites of pepper worked so well.

You can also set up notifications to receive takoyaki (octopus balls) as a service.