Hanam Misa ramen restaurant hidden inside a bakery: Menji

Hi everyone! Here's my review after trying Menji, a famous ramen restaurant in Hanam Misa!_!

Why Menji Hanam Misa Branch's entrance is inside a bakery

Menji is a house-made noodle ramen restaurant on Misagangbyeonbuk-ro 30beon-angil in Hanam Misa. There are tons of great restaurants and famous cafés around this area, so it's always crowded. I actually came here with a friend several times earlier this year looking for nice-vibe cafés. A very familiar street for me.

Here's what Menji looks like from outside. The Menji sign and the Easy White Bread sign are together, and all I could see was the bakery — I wondered where the ramen shop was. Turns out you go into the bakery and there's a Menji entrance inside!! I've seen shop-in-shops before but thought this was unusual, so I asked, and the owner said yes, it's the same owner. Wow. I'll have to check out the bakery too after my ramen.

I marked the entrance with an arrow — that's the Menji entrance inside the bakery!

Menji Hanam Misa Branch hours and Chuseok closing day

Here are Menji's operating hours, plus the Chuseok holiday closure info haha. They're only closed on the 25th! No other regular closed day. Open daily 11:00–20:30.

Now let's go through the Menji entrance inside the bakery.

A full house at Menji: one open bar seat for solo dining

Menji Hanam Misa Branch was completely full, both tables and bar seats. As always, a good restaurant is crowded no matter when you visit. But there was exactly one open spot at the bar, and they said I could sit there if that was okay — of course it was fine with me haha. I sat down right away.

This is my seat — the interior is really well done, so let me show you around.

The character décor matches the restaurant's menu really well and left an impression — full of Japanese vibes.

This is the chopstick and spoon holder, and there's whole peppercorn and house-made la-yu chili oil on the side too.

According to the how-to-enjoy guide, after eating some, adding whole pepper and house-made la-yu apparently gives you a whole different way to enjoy it.

Menji's menu lineup and what was ordered

I mainly photographed the signature sets and ramen combos. The handmade ramen + mini pork loin tonkatsu set has ramen as the main with a small tonkatsu, and vice versa there's also a tonkatsu set with a mini ramen. And the ramen combo comes with either chicken karaage or mini rice. Looks great!!! Here's the menu.

I ordered the handmade ramen + mini pork loin tonkatsu set, and picked tantanmen for the ramen type!! Kara tantanmen!! And I also added cheese mini rice. Plus sous-vide pork neck chashu 4pc... and an egg too. I added a lot, ha. Since I heard Menji Hanam Misa Branch's broth is delicious, I wanted to mix rice with the broth and enjoy it like risotto!!

Mini pork loin tonkatsu with Menji's curry-scented special sauce

The mini pork loin tonkatsu came out first, and it was really delicious. The doneness and juiciness? Perfect. True to tonkatsu form, the coating was crispy outside and the meat was so juicy, incredibly delicious. The special sauce has a curry scent. So good. You absolutely must order the pork loin tonkatsu. It was so good I thought I could just make the tonkatsu the main dish.

Kara tantanmen broth and Menji's house-made noodle texture

Then out came the tantanmen and mini cheese rice. Following the how-to-enjoy guide, let me start with the broth.

They say it's a savory, spicy-yet-sweet broth made with a kara sauce of pork and cashew nuts, and it's really delicious. It's spicy in that satisfying way~~~.

The house-made noodles are firm and delicious too. Exactly the texture I love!!!

Adding the egg and the sous-vide pork neck 4pc was such a good choice, I think. Delicious. Since the broth is delicious, everything is delicious.

Cheese mini rice with 2–3 ladles of broth, eaten like risotto

Then I poured 2–3 ladles of broth over the mini cheese rice and enjoyed it that way. The parmesan cheese and broth go really well together.

Following the how-to-enjoy guide, I also added pepper and la-yu partway through. It was such a delicious meal. There are so many pretty cafés in Hanam Misa that I come here often, so I'm glad I discovered this great ramen restaurant too. I really recommend this ramen place to anyone visiting Hanam Misa. Genuinely delicious. The broth is so good that everything just tastes great here. Highly, highly recommend~~.