Eunpyeong ramen restaurant with wood ear mushrooms: Oreno Ramen

A chicken-broth ramen stop after walking along Bulgwangcheon

This is Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong near Saejeol Station in Eunpyeong-gu. I used to have such a blast around Saejeol every weekend, and wow, it has been ages since I came back. The weather has been so nice lately that Bulgwangcheon was packed with walkers, runners, and cyclists. Walk a little way along the stream, get hungry, and this Japanese ramen spot with chicken-based broth is just perfect for a meal.

Tori paitan, kara paitan, and free cilantro

There are only two choices, tori paitan and kara paitan, but focusing on one thing is the hallmark of a restaurant with solid fundamentals that can absolutely win over food lovers! Extra cilantro for zero won~ At pho places or Southeast Asian restaurants, extra cilantro is usually ₩3,000 as standard... Really cheap places might occasionally charge ₩1,000, but they are hard to find. Here, extra cilantro is free, and I love that~!

Another sign of a good restaurant: the water tastes good. Green tea is set on every table here. It is just regular tea-bag green tea, but still, it tasted nice. When the water tastes good, the food tastes good too.

There is beet kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) on every table, in a vivid scarlet shade. It would be even better to come here when the cherry blossoms bloom along Bulgwangcheon.

My first taste of such deep, rich chicken broth

The main dish arrived~ I had seen in reviews that the broth here was incredible. I did not expect that much, but what is this?! This was my first time having a broth like it! It was so, so rich and deep. You can tell they simmered chicken for a long time; the body, I guess? was incredibly deep, and the finish lingered on and on.

There was plenty of chicken too. I thought that was kelp, so I asked for a little more kelp, and they told me it was wood ear mushroom and brought more. Such huge wood ear mushrooms! And that texture was no ordinary thing either. The combination of broth, noodles, and wood ear mushrooms—this could only have been made by a genius when it comes to food. The broth here has a one-of-a-kind flavor that is hard to find elsewhere.

Dropping cilantro into the ramen

Cilantro, yay cilantro~~~ Maybe cilantro is free because the ramen master made it with cilantro lovers in mind. I shook it all in the moment it came out. The staff were so kind too, and the working atmosphere was bursting with energy! You could feel that lively energy just by looking, and it came through in the flavor as well.

I ordered a highball for the first time in a while. Highballs are always good whenever I have one, but this one was especially tasty that day.

I alternated between the highball and beer. After one or two sips of highball and a glass of beer, the main dish came right out. The tiny beer glass made it feel like I was traveling in Japan. I also liked that the highball came with a thick slice of lemon.

The broth was amazing~ How do they get such a deep flavor from chicken broth? It tasted a little salty to me, so I did not feel like gulping it down, but even a few spoonfuls were enough to taste that deep flavor. And when I ate the noodles, the broth had soaked right in, so the seasoning was just perfect.

Cilantro in, cilantro in, yay, I am excited. I get so happy whenever cilantro is right in front of me. I feel like I could smell cilantro from 100 kilometers away and come running! Finding cilantro at a Japanese ramen restaurant was simply such a welcome surprise.

The crunchy harmony of thin noodles and wood ear mushrooms

The deep chicken broth soaks right into the noodles, making them seriously delicious. There is only one noodle thickness, but there is a reason for that. They truly suit it so well. The thin noodles and this deep broth make a wonderful match. Especially those wood ear mushrooms—their crunchy chew alongside the noodles was incredible, it practically took my breath away haha.

You can add as much rice as you want here, and at other tables, more than half the diners were calling out, “Rice, please~.” Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong was wildly popular. I am not usually someone who eats a lot of rice or noodles, but I think I ate more noodles here than anywhere else so far. Such a special flavor!

The egg was cooked perfectly. Exactly my style. It had a slight jangjorim (soy-braised meat) kind of seasoning soaked into it, and wow, the egg was something else too. The seasoning was so good, with a wonderful balance of saltiness and sweetness. This seems worthy of being featured on TV, but unlike other restaurants, I did not see any “We were on TV~” signs. So maybe it has not been featured yet, or maybe it has and they just did not put up a sign. A great ramen spot where you can really feel the owner’s ramen philosophy.

The chicken was very tender too. I have eaten so much meat lately that I thought I might not be into it, but no no~ It was so tender that it was amazing. It seemed like chicken breast, but it was the most tender chicken breast I have ever had.

Another feature was the foam. I wondered whether they made it deliberately or why they did not skim it off, but I am sure there was a reason. To keep it warm longer? I do not know, but since it was delicious, any love-it-or-hate-it feelings about foam could just get out of here. When it tastes this good, foam does not matter at all.

This seems like a place with lots of regulars. There was a woman dining alone and groups of two men, but everyone was so focused on their food that there was hardly any chatting. Everyone was too busy eating..

The bottle opener was so cute. On one side, there were even hair ties for tying your hair back—such thoughtful touches, such great food, and a place I want to visit again and again. I think so, so many customers would be sad if this place disappeared. I was too full for rice, but if you can eat a little more, mix some rice into the broth. I think it would bring out another flavor. This was a restaurant where the rich aftertaste of chicken broth stayed with me for a long time. Fighting!!!