Ramen shop near Saejeol Station: 7:30 pm dinner, no wait, Oreno Ramen

Why Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong instead of the Hapjeong branch?

Oreno Ramen is a ramen shop that has reportedly been selected for the Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand several years in a row🍜 The Hapjeong branch is always packed, so today I went to the calmer Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong (오레노라멘 은평점) instead.

• 📍Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong
• Flexible parking near the shop, about 3 cars at most
• Weekend waits; usually no wait on weekdays

What are Oreno Ramen's tori paitan and karai paitan?

Oreno Ramen's signature dishes are tori paitan and karai paitan. Tori paitan is a chicken-based ramen in a very rich white (paitan) broth🍜 It's incredibly creamy and savory..! This is Oreno Ramen's signature. The broth comes topped with ramen noodles, kelp, sous-vide chicken breast and an egg.

Karai paitan is this same tori paitan with chili oil and a spicy seasoning added to cut the richness even more.

Best time to avoid the wait at Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong

Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong sits right in front of the Bulgwangcheon stream walking path, so there's usually a wait on weekends. When I visit on a weekend, I usually go right after the break time. This time we came around 7:30 pm and got in straight away with no wait.

Kiosk ordering and free extra cilantro

As soon as you walk into Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong, you look at the menu and order at a kiosk. We wanted to taste both, so we ordered one tori paitan and one karai paitan, and added chashu and an egg too.

Extra cilantro is free, so I asked for it on a separate plate and added just one. The chicken broth is so rich that if you normally love cilantro like I do, I think you'll be happy adding it..! After ordering, you sit wherever you like and the staff bring the food to you.

Next to the kiosk there's also a rack for hanging coats and disposable aprons.

Seating at Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong: good for solo dining?

Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong has counter seats as well as tables. You can sit down and eat alone without any pressure, and in fact I saw lots of solo diners. We sat at a table, where every seat came with water, a cup and pickles as a basic setting.

The "water" is lightly brewed green tea. It's refreshing and does a good job of cutting through the rich, creamy chicken broth. The pickles were radish, beet and chili pickles.

Free noodle, broth and rice refills, plus kimchi

At Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong, noodles, broth and rice all come with free refills, and if you ask separately they'll give you kimchi too. The chicken broth is so rich that I thought it would go pretty well with rice, like a chicken soup (dakgomtang). I got the kimchi too.

Tori paitan: flavor and toppings

I ordered the standard tori paitan, and my husband ordered the karai paitan with the spicy addition. We each added one chashu and one egg to taste🍜

The tori paitan is so rich that the thick chicken broth feels creamy. It comes with slightly firm noodles and well-cooked kelp with a pleasantly crunchy bite. An egg and sous-vide chicken breast come on top as toppings too.

Oreno Ramen's tsukune-style chashu

Oreno Ramen's chashu isn't the typical sliced kind. It's more like tsukune (a Japanese chicken meatball skewer): finely minced chicken shaped into pieces, with 3 pieces on a skewer. It was so soft it felt almost squishy, with no chicken smell or off-putting taste at all.

Tori paitan vs karai paitan: what's the difference?

Until I scooped up the broth, both sat there looking creamy, so I thought tori paitan and karai paitan wouldn't differ much. But once I tasted the broth, there was quite a difference. The karai paitan is definitely red.

The karai paitan clearly had spiciness that cut the richness, and so it felt less creamy than the tori paitan. It was also spicier than I expected, so if you don't handle spice well, I'd recommend ordering the standard tori paitan and having it with the pickles!

If you like cilantro, try putting it on top of the tori paitan!! The combination was really good.

Adding a soft-boiled egg, and how big are the portions?

Isn't Oreno Ramen's soft-boiled egg just perfect? Adding one more was worth it. With kelp, noodles, egg and chicken breast, the portion is pretty big, and I couldn't finish the chicken breast topping🥹 You can also get noodles and rice free if you want, so even big eaters should leave very full.

On weekends, choose Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong

Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong even has a separate waiting area in front of the shop. Even when there's a fair wait on weekends, it's more relaxed than the Hapjeong branch, so for anyone planning Oreno Ramen on a weekend, I recommend Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong🍜