Gangnam ramen restaurant with free hair ties on the table: Oreno Ramen

🍜A ramen restaurant in Gangnam🍜 A great spot for solo dining in Gangnam

Today I went to a ramen restaurant that's great for eating alone in Gangnam🍜 Oreno Ramen Gangnam, near Gangnam Station!🍜

Location and hours of Oreno Ramen Gangnam

• 📍 Address | 28-9 Teheran-ro 1-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 2F
• 🕒 Hours | Daily 11:00–20:30 (last order 20:00)
• 🚘 No parking

Finding it from Exit 11 of Gangnam Station

Walk out of Exit 11 of Gangnam Station and keep going into the alley — you'll spot the Oreno Ramen sign right away!🍜 The restaurant is on the 2nd floor, so you go up the stairs next to the sign. It's tucked in the alley, but the big sign makes it easy to find✨

I visited during weekend lunch peak time, so there was a bit of a wait out front🥹 But with lots of staff and fast turnover, I didn't have to wait as long as I expected before getting in!✨

Inside: a spacious layout and bar seats great for solo dining

Once inside, the space felt bigger than I expected! Plenty of tables, and everything was clean and tidy overall, so it was comfortable to eat there✨

There are also bar-style seats facing the open kitchen, so it seemed like an easy place to eat ramen solo!

There's a separate waiting area set up inside too! When it's almost your turn, staff guide you in there so you can sit and wait a bit before being seated.

The menu: tori paitan and kara paitan

The two main menu items are tori paitan and kara paitan🍜 There's tsukune as a side, plus you can add a soft-boiled egg as a topping! If you like cilantro, you can add it for free🌿✨

The table setting — with hair ties included

Barley tea, radish, and hair ties are set out on the table as standard.

Crunchy radish is served alongside, and next to it were even hair ties! Long hair is kind of annoying when eating ramen, and this little touch was so nice🥹✨

Kimchi and pickled ginger come as the default banchan (side dishes). They went well with the ramen throughout the meal.

There's also a disposable apron and a coat hook set up on one side of the restaurant, handy to use whenever needed✨

Free refills on noodles, broth, rice, and kimchi

What surprised me most here: noodles (half or full portion), broth, rice, and even kimchi are all free refills!😳 You could order just one bowl of ramen and still end up more than full🍜✨

The food review

First, the Coke arrived🥤 and they served it with a chilled glass too! It's a small thing, but touches like this are subtly nice.

Tori paitan

Finally, my order of tori paitan came out🍜 Just looking at the pale, milky broth, you can tell it's rich..🥹 On top: chicken breast, soft-boiled egg, wood ear mushroom, and green onion, all generously piled on.

Tori paitan is apparently a white ramen made by deeply simmering chicken broth! Tasting the broth first, it was rich yet nutty, and went down smooth✨

What was a little surprising: instead of the usual chashu, it's topped with peppered chicken breast! It wasn't dry at all, actually really tender, and paired well with the ramen🤍

The noodles are thin, so the rich chicken broth clung to them well! They didn't go soft even after a while, easy to slurp, and I kept going back for more🍜

There's also a whole soft-boiled egg with a moist, runny yolk, which was even better eaten together with the noodles🥚💛 I really should have added another one..🥹

Kara paitan

True to its name, kara paitan has a red broth that's spicy with a slight kick — spicy but the rich chicken broth flavor still comes through, and the heat level is about Shin Ramyun, so it's easy to eat without much worry! If you like spicy ramen, kara paitan is worth trying🔥

Tsukune

Tsukune is apparently a Japanese-style dish of minced chicken meatballs✨ Each one comes with different sauces and toppings piled on, and they were bigger than I expected🥹💗

One was topped generously with mentaiko (spicy pollack roe) sauce, adding a salty, savory kick! It was tender and juicy, so good🥹💗 Tip: it's delicious on its own, but apparently a lot of people like dipping it into the ramen broth too!

In summary

• ✔️ A ramen restaurant known for its rich, deep chicken broth
• ✔️ Free refills on noodles, broth, rice, and even kimchi
• ✔️ From mild to spicy — pick what suits your taste
• ✔️ Good side menu items to pair with the ramen
• ✔️ A great spot for solo dining in Gangnam
• ✔️ Fast turnover means a relatively quick wait even when busy
• ✔️ Convenient location close to Gangnam Station