Rainy-day ramen with refillable yuzu radish at Mentsuru, Gwangjin

Near Konkuk University, Sejong University, Children's Grand Park A great ramen spot for dates or solo dining 'Mentsuru' 🎋🍜🍥🥟🥢

📍 394 Gwangnaru-ro, 1F, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul (220 Hwayang-dong) 🚟 Children's Grand Park Station Exit 4 🚗 No parking at the restaurant Use Gwangjin Plaza public parking lot across the street (₩250 per 5 minutes) 🕖 Daily 11:00 - 23:00 Last order 22:30 No break time

A ramen restaurant near Children's Grand Park I visited on a rainy day

It drizzled on and off all day, and I really wanted something hot and soupy, so I went to Mentsuru near Children's Grand Park~! I drove there, but since there's no parking at the restaurant, I used the Gwangjin Plaza public parking lot across the street. It was cheap at ₩250 per 5 minutes, haha.

You could order either at the kiosk by the entrance or at the tablet on each table.

A comfortable atmosphere and seating for solo diners

There was a mix of customers — students, office workers, and couples eating alone — but the solo diners made up a particularly large share.

There were 2-seat and 4-seat tables, a bar table, and a free-seating 8-person table, so it felt like a comfortable place to eat alone too!

If you need an apron, you can grab one yourself~

What's on the Mentsuru menu?

• < Ramen > Shoyu ramen (soy sauce), Spicy shoyu ramen, Shio ramen (salt), Tori paitan (rich), Motsu ramen (beef offal ramen), Abura soba (oil-tossed noodles)
• < Rice bowls > Hormone-don (beef intestine rice bowl), Gyudon
• < Sides > Fried gyoza (6pc), Handmade chicken karaage, Takoyaki (5pc)

Six kinds of ramen plus rice bowls and a solid lineup of side dishes too 🍜🍛🥟

For drinks, besides cola and sprite, they even had melon soda, peach soda, and ramune?!

They even have Asahi and Sapporo beer, kyaha,, Mentsuru is great for pairing ramen with beer.

✔️ Leave a Naver photo review and you get a free drink or fried gyoza — highly recommend.

< What we ordered > 🍜 Spicy shoyu ramen (₩11,000) 🍜 Tori paitan (rich) (₩12,000) 🫧 Ramune (₩4,000)

The yuzu radish I refilled four times

The pickled radish here was seriously delicious!!! Not plain radish but yuzu pickled radish, mixed with yuzu — the bright, tangy flavor went so well with the ramen. It was so good I think I refilled it four times >,<

Ramune for the first time in ages — such Japanese vibes, love it.

Press down on the lid and 🫧🫧 the marble pops in~~🫧🫧🫧

How different are the spicy shoyu ramen and tori paitan?

Spicy shoyu ramen / tori paitan ramen Both come with the same basic toppings — chashu and a soft-boiled egg.

🍜 Tori paitan (rich) Made from chicken bones simmered for a long time, so it's rich and heavy. The milky white broth was almost like gomtang (Korean bone soup)! It's the kind of broth that's even better with rice stirred in.

🍜 Spicy shoyu ramen Made with clam and chicken broth, so it's clean and light, with spicy seasoning added for a sharp, fiery broth that really clears you out — this would make great hangover food too!

Free rice, stirred into the broth

🍚 Rice (provided free) One thing about Mentsuru — rice is free. * Once you finish the noodles, stirring the rice into the broth makes it even better~!!

Rice into the leftover broth, stir it around~ the combo of rich broth and white rice, what more is there to say,, My friend who came with me doesn't usually eat like this, but it must have been good — after finishing the noodles she stirred in the rice and basically cleaned the bowl to the point I could've washed the dishes, lol. So proud I brought her 😎

I visited with a small number of complimentary meal vouchers provided, but I ate so well that we decided to go again next time paying with our own money! Next time I'm planning to demolish the beef offal ramen, abura soba, and draft beer too. Great for a Konkuk University date or a ramen restaurant near Children's Grand Park — I really, really recommend Mentsuru 🍜🍺