Spicy tori paitan ramen with first-booking takoyaki: Mentsuru

The scorching summer seems to be giving way to fall little by little. Mornings and evenings have that cool breeze now, and the sky was a cloudless, deep blue — perfect weather for heading out, don't you think??

So today I went out to Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch (멘츠루 어린이대공원점)!! I'd visited another branch of this ramen restaurant not long ago — the City Hall branch, I think it was. Turns out it's a ramen chain with branches in all the hot spots — City Hall, Children's Grand Park, Hongdae, and more. My memories of the Mentsuru City Hall branch were so good that I was really looking forward to this Children's Grand Park branch too!!!

Right outside Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station

Can you see the map?? It's literally right outside Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station!! If you keep heading down from there you'll hit Konkuk University, right?? I think this is a perfect spot for a meal when you're out around Children's Grand Park or Konkuk in this kind of weather!!

Following the signs from Exit 4, this is what the storefront looks like. But here's the important part — if you don't know the hours, you might miss out on delicious ramen right in front of your eyes!!

Hours: open daily 11am to 11pm

• ⭐️Hours⭐️ Every day!!!
• 11:00 - 23:00
• Last order: 22:30

Wow!!! Open every single day, that's great, isn't it??? Whenever a ramen craving hits, you can just head to Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch!!!

Book on Naver for a first-reservation takoyaki coupon

You can search on Naver and make a reservation like this! If you book ahead, you won't have to wait, right??

And if it's your first reservation, you even get a coupon for 4 pieces of takoyaki..!!! Make sure to show the takoyaki coupon when you order~~ Is there really any reason not to go?~~

It says that during lunch peak (1-2pm) and dinner peak (6-8pm) there might be a wait!! If you need parking, it says to use the Gwangjin Plaza public parking lot! Now let's head inside~~

Kiosk ordering and bar seating

There's a kiosk at the entrance where you can easily browse photos and order!

If you're solo, want a bar seat, or are a pair wanting a bit more room, there's plenty of bar-style seating! Each seat has an ordering pad, so even without using the kiosk you could order right from your seat!! That seems really convenient~

What we ordered and the prices

Here's the menu you can order from~~ Photos and prices together make it really easy to browse. Everything looks delicious!! I want it all..!!!! And they even have Japanese beer and highballs to go with the ramen, which is a huge plus 👍👍

• Hormone-don (grilled offal rice bowl) ₩15,000
• Tori paitan ramen ₩12,000 (spicy add-on +₩500)
• Side: house-made chicken karaage ₩7,000
• Zero Coke ₩2,000

Tori paitan is a chicken-broth ramen — I fell for the rich, milky broth at Mentsuru's City Hall branch, so I ordered it again here!

Once seated at the table, there was a water pitcher, paper cups, a chopstick holder, a pickled radish container, and a pepper shaker all neatly arranged. Everything was set up so you could serve yourself right from your seat. Since I'd skipped breakfast, I was even more eager for the food to arrive!!

While waiting for the food, I glanced toward the kitchen and saw steam billowing up?? Showing off such a clean, open kitchen really gives me confidence in their hygiene and pride in their food...!! And finally, the food arrives, drumroll—

Tori paitan ramen (spicy add-on)

My favorite menu item, tori paitan!!! The milk-white broth is packed with rich, deep flavor~~ This time I added the spicy option and it went down smoothly with no heaviness at all — an addictive flavor.

Hormone-don (grilled offal rice bowl)

And hormone-don!!! (grilled offal rice bowl) I've had gyudon and oyakodon before, but this was my first hormone-don — I was curious since it's supposedly the best-seller, so I ordered it. Along with the beef intestine, it also had gopchang (small intestine) and beef, so it came out generously loaded. Thinly sliced cheongyang chili was topped on it too, which kept what could be a heavy dish spicy and never tiring.

House-made chicken karaage

The chicken karaage I ordered as a side!! It comes with 4 pieces. This was the dish that wowed me with its size and flavor at the Mentsuru City Hall branch too, and the Children's Grand Park branch was just as delicious and generously portioned~!! Highly, highly recommend 👍👍

The 4-piece takoyaki from the coupon

This is the 4-piece takoyaki I got with the store coupon! Even though it was free, the balls were huge and packed with meaty octopus — genuinely delicious~~

Here's a shot of the whole spread once everything arrived~~ The portions were so generous the table barely had room~~

There's a review event too

On the kiosk there's a review event like this too!!! I thought about doing it, but I'd ordered so much already that there was no room left for fried gyoza~~ I was a little sad since I was curious about the taste, but I can just come back next time~~~?!!

The staff were kind and the food came out fast, so I ate very satisfied~~ If you're planning a meal after visiting Children's Grand Park or Konkuk University, I highly recommend Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch~~