Pre-movie ramen and pork belly mazesoba in Incheon: Menya Seoul

A ramen restaurant where you get to pick your own broth? This is the place I visited for lunch before catching a movie at Lotte Cinema in the Incheon department store on the weekend! You can choose from three broths — mild, spicy, or mala — so it's easy to match your taste, and with a solid set menu that's great value too, this is a Menya Seoul restaurant I'd recommend if you're looking for a date spot or a solo-dining spot near Guwol-dong.

Where Menya Seoul Incheon is and where to park — straight from Incheon Terminal Station

Menya Seoul Incheon is on basement level 1, in the food court dining area. Incheon Terminal Station on Incheon Line 1 and the parking lot are directly connected to the restaurant, so accessibility is a full 100 points‼️ Thanks to that, getting there by public transit or car was really convenient.

But... I visited at 11am on a Sunday, and maybe because it was the weekend, the basement level near the food court had a lot of cars and parking was a bit complicated. If you want easier parking, it might be more comfortable to visit on a weekday or avoid weekend peak times, or just take public transit.

It's located right in front of Outback Steakhouse! It's also close to Gordon Ramsay's restaurant, so I found it quickly. Whether it's a solo meal before a movie or after work like mine, or a quick bite before or after shopping, the location works well.

Beside and behind the counter there are dedicated tables plus a shared dining area for when it's full, so there was no worry about seating. The bar-style tables also make it totally fine to go alone — actually, quite a few solo diners were there!

Menya Seoul menu: choose a topping, then choose a broth

There are three ramen types: dongpo pork, jambon, and lamb skewer. What sets Menya Seoul apart from other ramen restaurants is that you don't just pick the topping — you also choose the broth yourself.

You can also choose the broth to your taste from three options — mild, spicy, or mala — which made the whole experience much more satisfying.

• ✔ For a clean, light flavor, go for the mild broth
• ✔ If you want spiciness around the level of Shin Ramyun, go for the spicy broth
• ✔ If you love that distinctive numbing mala flavor, go for the mala broth

Right now, two new summer menu items have been added: a cool king prawn cold ramen and a warm whole pork belly mazesoba.

Prices start at ₩10,900 à la carte and ₩15,900 for sets, and choosing the set saves you about ₩3,900. Being in the ₩10,000s, it was better value than I expected for a restaurant inside a department store.

Dongpo pork spicy broth set — about as hot as Shin Ramyun

I chose the dongpo pork spicy broth. À la carte ₩12,900 / set ₩17,900. The broth was red so I expected it to be really spicy, but it turned out to be about the level of Shin Ramyun, which I like, so it wasn't too much.

The properly boiled noodles matched well with the broth — no floury taste, and the chewy texture was satisfying.

The thick dongpo pork had clearly been simmered for a long time — it was so tender my teeth sank right in. The meat is dongpo pork char siu, which made the broth's flavor even deeper and richer — a real Japanese specialty! Surprisingly it wasn't too salty, so even people like me who can't handle heavily seasoned food could easily finish this ramen.

The ajitama egg, aged in a special sauce for 48 hours, had absolutely no eggy off-flavor. You can get an extra one if you participate in the review event, so make sure to join!

Whole pork belly mazesoba set — add the kelp vinegar a little at a time

Since I don't prefer salty food, I tend to go for mazesoba at ramen restaurants, and at this Menya Seoul restaurant near Incheon Lotte Department Store, the unusual whole grilled pork belly on top made me even more excited to try it.

Adding the house-made kelp vinegar really brought the flavor to life — it was genuinely delicious. But the opening of the sauce bottle is bigger than you'd think, so the first time I tilted it without realizing, way too much came out at once 😂 The trick to enjoying it best is to add it a little at a time and taste as you go.

The noodles are bouncy like udon but a bit thinner, which made them much easier to slurp. Sometimes when you mix everything, the sauce runs short, but there was plenty of ground meat sauce here, so I could enjoy it fully down to the last bite.

That said, the whole pork belly pieces are quite long and a bit chewy, so it was easier to ask for scissors and cut them up. Aside from that, the overall flavor made me want to order it again next time.

Sides at Menya Seoul: crispy gyoza and sweet soy chicken rice bowl

For sides, we ordered crispy gyoza and sweet soy chicken rice bowl. The gyoza had a familiar taste you could get at home. If you're not into mixing rice into your mazesoba, definitely try the rice bowl once — sweet sauce with crispy-outside, juicy-inside chicken!

Is Menya Seoul worth it before a movie?

As someone who loves spicy food, I've often been disappointed elsewhere because there was no broth choice and I always had to eat a fixed flavor — so being able to choose the broth to my taste was the most impressive part here. In particular, Japanese ramen broth is usually quite salty and I've often left broth unfinished, but here the seasoning wasn't overpowering, so I could eat it all the way to the end. If you're finishing up shopping at Incheon Lotte Department Store or looking for a good ramen restaurant near Guwol-dong, this is a spot you won't regret. It's a Menya Seoul restaurant near Incheon Lotte Department Store I'd want to return to whenever I'm craving ramen!