Sisters' lunch: shoyu ramen, gyudon, karaage at Mentsuru, Gwangjin

Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch

The day I went to hang out in Konkuk with my sister!! Nothing was really calling out to us, but we didn't want a skimpy meal either — so I went looking for somewhere simple that could satisfy both a rice person and a noodle person, and found this Konkuk date-lunch spot, Mentsuru.

30 seconds on foot from Children's Grand Park Station Exit 4

It's located 30 seconds on foot from Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station.

Come up Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station (Line 7) and it's the second building, first floor — super easy to find. It's also not a bad spot to find from Konkuk Hospital.

Hours are daily 11:00–23:00. Long hours, and no break time either, so it's a great Children's Grand Park Station spot to visit anytime. Mentsuru is a chain well known for ramen, and I'd visited another branch before — the clean facilities, atmosphere, and the flavor recreating an authentic Japanese feel as closely as possible were all very satisfying. So I walked into the Children's Grand Park branch with pretty high expectations.

The vibe and seating

Inside it's a cozy, warm Japanese ramen shop feel. The wood-tone interior stood out — going during the day, the sunlight streamed in nicely and gave it that snug feeling, like I was really in Japan, haha.

There's counter seating great for solo dining, 2-4 person tables, and group seating too, so this Konkuk date-lunch spot looked good whether you're coming alone, on a date, or with a group.

Even though we came a bit past lunchtime, the seats were nearly all full, and it seems like you might have to wait on weekend lunch or dinner hours. But since the menu doesn't take long to prepare and a lot of people dine solo, turnover seemed fast.

You order and pay at the table. If you write a Naver photo review, they give you fried gyoza or a drink as a review event.

The menu and what we ordered

The menu is ramen, soba, and rice bowls. It's small enough to fit on one screen — feels like they really focused on core menu items only! Being a well-known ramen spot, there were five types: shoyu, spicy shoyu, shio, tori paitan, and motsu ramen, which felt like a good lineup for picking based on your taste.

I usually go for rich, oily ramen so I was craving tori paitan, but it was sold out, so I ordered shoyu ramen instead! We also got gyudon and karaage.

On the table were pickled radish, pepper, water, and utensils, all kept clean overall, so it was pleasant to use — another point in favor of this Konkuk date-lunch spot.

Karaage, 6 pieces

The karaage came out first! The color of the batter alone looked exceptional. Six pieces came out total, the chicken pieces were bigger than expected, and it came with two sauces — chili/mayo and shichimi — so you could pick as you liked.

The batter was really crispy, not oily, with a nutty flavor, so it made a great side to the ramen and rice bowl! Sprinkling shichimi over the mayo was exactly how I had it in Japan, which I loved, haha.

Gyudon (with extra cheongyang chili)

Next up, the gyudon. The portion of meat was really generous, more than I expected. I added cheongyang chili, and they gave a generous amount of that too! The spicy kick added made it not greasy at all, which I loved.

The rice portion was just right too. Sometimes with rice bowls the rice and meat amounts don't quite match up and it feels oddly unsatisfying, but here the balance of rice and toppings was spot on, so it stayed neither too salty nor too bland until the last bite.

Shoyu ramen

Lastly, the shoyu ramen. It's a soy-sauce-based, clear and light ramen — the noodles were cooked just right and springy, and the chashu (braised pork belly) on top was tender and good.

The portion was more generous than I expected too, plenty for one meal — another win for this Konkuk date-lunch spot.

When you want rice and noodles together

The staff were super friendly too, and the warm atmosphere was satisfying overall. If you're looking for a ramen restaurant near Children's Grand Park, I'd recommend this Konkuk date-lunch spot, Mentsuru.

There's a full range of noodle dishes too — soup ramen, mazesoba, and abura soba — plus rice bowl options like hormone-don and gyudon, so it's an even better recommendation for this Konkuk Japanese restaurant when you want to eat rice and noodles together.