Euljiro ramen restaurant with adjustable tori paitan: Mentsuru

I visited Mentsuru Euljiro Branch, an Euljiro ramen specialist that is great for solo dining and serves rich ramen alongside a substantial beef offal rice bowl!

Finding it from Euljiro 3-ga Station and how ordering works

Mentsuru Euljiro Branch is a great Euljiro lunch spot, just a three-minute walk from Exit 9 of Euljiro 3-ga Station, so it is easy to reach by public transit! There is no dedicated parking, so if you are driving, I recommend using a nearby public car park, haha.

Honestly, parking around Euljiro is always so complicated that I tend to come by subway or bus.

There is a kiosk beside the entrance, and you order there before going in! If there is a wait, order at the kiosk first and then wait, haha. The number on your receipt becomes your waiting number!

Ramen and rice-bowl menu, plus cozy seating

There was a broad range of dishes, from shio ramen, shoyu ramen, tori paitan, and motsu ramen to cold tsukemen, abura soba, horumon-don, and gyudon, haha. They also had karaage, which would make a nice side! I ordered tori paitan (₩12,000), horumon-don (₩15,000), and a Sprite (₩2,500) to share.

Once inside, the clean bar-seating area gives it the feel of a Japanese restaurant. Along with the bar, there are about five two-person tables, so it would be nice for a visit with a friend or a date too, haha.

The space is cozy and the bar is long, so it looked perfect both for people eating alone and for nearby office workers looking for an Euljiro lunch spot, haha. It is such an approachable atmosphere for solo dining in Euljiro that customers eating alone kept coming in while I was there! You can also pay in various ways, including Alipay, Seoul Pay, and Onnuri gift certificates. Each table comes with danmuji (pickled radish) and pepper, so you can season things to your taste.

Today’s stars, Euljiro ramen and a rice bowl, have arrived!! My ramen cooldown had definitely run out, and since it had been a while since I last had it, I was even more excited, haha.

Tori paitan adjusted with unsalted broth

The tori paitan that came first is ramen made by simmering chicken bones for a long time. Just look at that milky broth!! It is seriously a substantial, intensely rich ramen, haha. When I first tasted the broth, it was rich with a deep savory flavor!

The broth was a little salty for my taste, so I mentioned it to the staff and they brought me a separate unsalted broth. I loved that I could adjust the seasoning to suit my palate, haha.

It was my first time having ramen served with chopped onion! It added a clean, refreshing taste to the broth and a crisp texture, making it a little extra kick while eating ramen, haha.

Adding a little more broth reduced the saltiness and brought out much more of the broth’s natural weighty, silky quality that coats your mouth.

The ramen noodles were slightly thick, so their springy chew came through even more, haha. I prefer fuller noodles to thin ones, so this was completely my kind of thing! The noodles held just enough broth that their nutty flavor came through nicely as I slurped them. The thinly sliced chashu was a leaner, lighter style. It was tender and clean-tasting with no unpleasant meatiness at all, and went beautifully with the broth, haha.

The soft bamboo shoots had soaked up the broth well, so they were delicious on their own or alongside the noodles, haha.

The soft-boiled egg in the ramen had a gently runny, moist yolk that added even more savoriness.

If you love ramen with a weighty, rich broth, I strongly recommend the tori paitan...! For an extra ₩500, you can switch it to spicy. I ordered the standard version because I wanted to taste the rich broth itself, but next time I want to try it spicy, haha. If you enjoy a warming, peppery broth, choosing the spicy option should suit your taste!

Horumon-don with beef offal and thin-sliced beef belly

The horumon-don, a beef offal rice bowl, was substantial because it came not only with daechang (beef large intestine) but also thin-sliced beef belly!

Mix the egg yolk on top well before eating, haha. It was drizzled with a sweet, savory house sauce, so even spoonfuls of rice on their own were delicious!

The daechang had no off smell, and it was such a good combination with a little wasabi, onion, and scallion! The house sauce and crisp onion were a stroke of genius. Sweet-salty rice, seasoned daechang that melted in the mouth, and wasabi and onion to keep the finish clean—what a combination.

The thin-sliced beef belly also paired well with the sweet, savory sauce, and it was nutty but a little lighter.

Usually, a beef offal rice bowl can start to feel a little heavy as you eat, but perhaps because the special sauce was tasty and it included thin-sliced beef belly too, I enjoyed it all the way to feeling full without getting tired of it 😋 From the ramen with its rich broth to the substantial horumon-don, I had such a satisfying meal at Mentsuru Euljiro Branch!