Incheon Nonhyeon ramen set with photo review freebie: Hongdae Gureume

This is Hongdae Gureume Incheon Nonhyeon Branch, an Incheon Nonhyeon restaurant where you can get proper Japanese food.

📍Address: 17 Nongogae-ro 123beon-gil, Namdong-gu, Incheon, Iflex Building 202 / ⏰Hours: 11:30 - 21:30, last order 21:00

My favorite food lately is tonkatsu. I went around trying every neighborhood tonkatsu spot and finally settled on this Incheon Nonhyeon restaurant, which I want to introduce to you. Let me share a review of this Namdong restaurant that's great not just for tonkatsu but also ramen, soba, and more Japanese dishes.

Where is Hongdae Gureume Incheon Nonhyeon Branch? 2 minutes from Exit 4

This is Hongdae Gureume, an Incheon Nonhyeon restaurant. It's located on the 2nd floor of the Iflex Building, a 2-minute walk from Exit 4 of Incheon Nonhyeon Station, with easy parking.

Among Incheon Nonhyeon restaurants, this is the one with the best Japanese food — the owner studied in Japan, so it's a place that recreates the authentic flavors of Japan.

How long is the wait at weekend lunch?

I arrived a bit after the weekend lunch rush, and it was already fully booked with no seats left.

Still, the turnover was fast and there was a waiting area set up, so I could wait comfortably.

Tablet ordering, printed menu, aprons and hair ties

Hongdae Gureume, this Incheon Nonhyeon restaurant, uses tablet ordering, but I liked that they also provided a menu board with detailed descriptions of each dish.

Soba, ramen, tonkatsu, hand-scooped sushi — you can find so many different menu items in one place that it was actually hard to decide what to order.

They also had aprons and hair ties ready in advance, which made it easy to enjoy the meal comfortably.

Hongdae Gureume is currently running a photo review event. You can choose from 2 pieces of salmon sushi, 4 pieces of Osaka-style takoyaki (grilled octopus balls), or a drink — definitely worth joining in : )

Kumamoto-style Premium Special Ramen Set with black garlic tonkotsu broth

The first dish to arrive was the Kumamoto-style Premium Special Ramen Set. It comes with generous toppings, making it a perfect order for adult men.

There's salad, inari sushi (fried tofu pouch rice), and shrimp tempura as sides beyond just the ramen, so I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to try a variety of things.

The Kumamoto-style ramen has a tonkotsu (pork bone) broth with black garlic sauce as its highlight. You could really taste the deep umami of garlic in the dark broth — a very appealing ramen.

There were also plenty of bean sprouts in it, so the broth was refreshing, and the noodles came cooked to just the right firmness, so I kept eating without stopping.

The meat topping in particular is a work of art — despite the large size, there was no gamey smell at all, and the texture was so soft it melted the moment it hit my mouth ~ There's clearly a reason this Incheon Nonhyeon restaurant has so many regulars!

Snow Double Cheese Katsu Set and its two dipping sauces

Next up was the Snow Double Cheese Katsu Set. I chose this one since I've been obsessed with cheese tonkatsu lately, and it came out looking just like what I've had in Japan, which made me feel like I was on a trip there.

True to its name, the double cheese katsu was really packed with cheese — and it was the stretchy kind, which made it even more satisfying.

Sometimes too much cheese can get overwhelming and hard to finish, but at Hongdae Gureume they provide two kinds of sauce — regular tonkatsu sauce and a spicy sauce — so I could enjoy it deliciously all the way through.

The combination of crispy fried katsu and savory cheese was so good that I couldn't stop eating.

As always, we ate every last bit — we're leaving happy and full today too!

Would I go back to Hongdae Gureume Incheon Nonhyeon Branch?

This is a place where you can enjoy the taste of authentic Fukuoka-style ramen right here in Incheon — apparently they sell over 30,000 bowls a year of their Kumamoto-style black garlic tonkotsu ramen. Built on skills honed in Japan and using honest ingredients, it's an Incheon Nonhyeon restaurant that competes on real quality, which is why it has quite a lot of regulars.

Beyond ramen, there's tonkatsu, hand-scooped sushi, soba, and more Japanese dishes, so it never gets old even if you visit every day — which is exactly why it's become one of my true go-to spots. Whenever you're craving proper Japanese food near Incheon Nonhyeon Station, give Hongdae Gureume Incheon Nonhyeon Branch a try. Highly recommend!