Gwangjin ramen restaurant with pork belly chashu: Mentsuru

I tend to visit the area around Children's Grand Park quite often. I remembered really enjoying the tori paitan at Mentsuru before, and just as I was about to go again, I luckily received a discount—so I was really happy to visit :) Let’s get into my honest review!

Mentsuru in front of Children's Grand Park Station Exit 4

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch (멘츠루 어린이대공원점) is right in front of Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station, just a one-minute walk away, so it was incredibly easy to reach 👍 It is a great stop when you are looking for ramen near Children's Grand Park, and it is also close to Konkuk University, making it an easy place to pop into.

An interior suited to solo meals and family dining

Once inside, the restaurant was spacious and clean. It has an open kitchen, so I could see the cooking in progress, which made me trust it even more, haha. There were plenty of counter seats for eating alone, and there were also high chairs on one side, so it looked fine for families too. It felt like an easy place to stop by for a solo meal, a drink alone, or a family meal!

Restroom inside the restaurant

The restroom was conveniently located inside the restaurant and was shared by all genders. It was kept clean overall, so it was pleasant to use!

Ramen and side-menu prices

• Spicy shoyu ramen ₩11,000 / motsu ramen (beef offal ramen) ₩15,000 / shoyu ramen ₩11,000 / shio ramen ₩11,000
• Tori paitan ₩12,000 / abura soba (mixed ramen) ₩12,000 / horumon-don (beef large-intestine rice bowl) ₩15,000 / gyudon ₩11,000
• House-made karaage ₩7,000 / chicken-skin gyoza ₩5,000 / takoyaki ₩5,000

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch was convenient because I could order straight from the table kiosk! They were also running a review event: if you write a review, you can receive either a drink or fried gyoza for free. If you go, make sure to check out the review event too, haha.

Motsu ramen and tori paitan with extra pork belly chashu

The gyoza came in six pieces with pickled ginger on the side. There was a little soy sauce underneath, so I did not need to dip them separately! When I took a bite, the filling was so moist that the juices burst out, haha. Crispy outside and moist inside, these were seriously delicious gyoza.

We ordered the motsu ramen and tori paitan, and added pork belly chashu to both, haha. The motsu ramen had such a generous amount of beef offal that I kept finding more throughout the meal 👍👍 The spicy broth paired well with the offal too, making it a satisfying meal. For me, the tori paitan at Mentsuru Children's Grand Park is the real standout...!!

The motsu ramen toppings are incredibly generous...!!

Actually, I tried Mentsuru’s tori paitan once before and it was so delicious that I came back for it again this time, haha. Personally, I think Mentsuru is a place that does tori paitan really well. If you are visiting Mentsuru, this is the menu item I would recommend first!!

After thoroughly enjoying my Mentsuru ramen, I noticed on the way out that Moon Sang-hoon from Bbangdeoneoseu and Jogon from Oyster seemed to have visited too!! I visited as well!!! Hahaha.

If you are looking for great ramen near Children's Grand Park, stop by Mentsuru sometime, haha.