Gwangjin ramen restaurant for shoyu and tori paitan: Mentsuru

It’s at 394 Gwangnaru-ro, 1st floor, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul—just a 1-minute walk from Exit 4 of Children’s Grand Park Station on Line 7! Children’s Grand Park is nearby and the station is right in front, so the access is good good.

Open daily 11:00–23:00, with last orders at 22:30.

A ramen-bar atmosphere right by Children’s Grand Park Station

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch (멘츠루 어린이대공원점), a popular ramen spot near Children’s Grand Park Station, serves authentic Japanese ramen. Inside, the wood tones, soft lighting, and Japanese-style lattice décor give it exactly that Japanese ramen-bar feel.

There are table seats and counter seats too! At lunch, it gets bustling with Sejong University and Konkuk University students, plus office workers~ It’s open year-round with no break time, so it’s easy to pop in whenever.

From ramen to rice dishes, sides, and drinks

There’s spicy shoyu ramen for ₩11,000, motsu ramen (beef intestine ramen) for ₩15,000, shoyu ramen for ₩11,000, shio ramen for ₩11,000, tori paitan for ₩12,000, abura soba for ₩12,000, and more. As you’d expect from a ramen spot, the menu centers on ramen, but there are rice dishes such as hormone don and gyudon, plus sides like house-made karaage, chicken-skin gyoza, and takoyaki. They also have sake, highballs, and beer, so it seems great for everyone—from solo diners to drinks with friends or a work get-together.

• Shoyu ramen (extra chashu)
• Tori paitan (extra chashu)
• Watermelon soda

Clean and comforting shoyu ramen

First up, Mentsuru’s signature shoyu ramen! As befits a signature dish, the broth is deep and delicious in a way that should please just about anyone.

It’s a light, clean chicken-and-clam broth ramen, but one sip and ahh~ it has that hangover-curing flavor, haha.

The noodles are just the right thickness too, and before you know it, you’ve slurped down the whole bowl.

I added chashu. The meat that comes with it is thinly sliced, while the extra chashu comes in thick pieces, so if you like a thick cut, I highly recommend adding chashu!

The soft-boiled egg was moist and delicious too, and a few shakes of the pepper at the table make it even better. I wanted to pour rice into the broth, haha.

Even deeper, heartier tori paitan

Mentsuru Children’s Grand Park Branch’s tori paitan! This one is even richer than the shoyu. They say the chicken bones are simmered for a long time, and the broth really is much deeper and more substantial.

Just look at it—white and creamy, it looks seriously delicious, right?ㅠㅠ The rich chicken broth is so satisfying.

If you love a super rich broth, this is an absolute recommendation! Personally, tori paitan was more my style, haha.

Shoyu is light and clean, while tori paitan is deep and hearty... so choose according to your taste. Ordering both and eating them together was absolutely perfect for me >< hehe.

Yuzu pickled radish and watermelon soda

And Mentsuru has pepper and yuzu pickled radish at every seat >< Having one while eating ramen refreshes your palate, so you can keep eating without getting tired of it.

The drinks at this ramen spot near Children’s Grand Park are special too, haha. I loved that they have harder-to-find drinks like watermelon soda and peach soda.

It was my first time trying watermelon soda, and it was so good >< The combination of ramen broth and cool soda was good good.

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch is an authentic Japanese ramen spot where you can eat everything from light shoyu to rich tori paitan according to your taste! You can feel the care in both the noodles and broth, so it’s great for a Konkuk University date lunch, a solo meal, or a work dinner.