Solo dinner with kiosk ordering at City Hall: Mentsuru soy sauce ramen

Today I came to City Hall Station to eat alone :) These days once evening hits, there's a bit of wind and the weather's turned pretty chilly, right? On days like this I can't resist hot broth... and I heard there's a spot near City Hall with great ramen, so I trotted over by myself — Mentsuru City Hall Branch!

Honestly I'm pretty good at eating alone, so when I'm looking for a solo meal near City Hall, as long as the menu's good, going by myself is never an issue haha.

Where Mentsuru City Hall Branch is — how close is it to City Hall Station?

Mentsuru City Hall Branch is near City Hall Station, so it looked like a great spot for nearby office workers to grab lunch or dinner after work. It's located at 2 Seosomun-ro 11-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, so if you're looking for ramen near City Hall Station, it's easy to get to. Feels like it could be a real favorite among office workers around City Hall!

While looking for it, I noticed it's not far from Deoksugung Palace either, so on a nice day for walking like this, doing a course of touring the palace and then grabbing a warm bowl of ramen sounds pretty good. If you're searching for ramen near Deoksugung's night opening, this could be a good candidate too!

So many types of ramen — a look at the menu

Before heading in, a quick peek at the menu. Mentsuru has quite a variety of ramen. There's soy sauce ramen, spicy soy sauce ramen, tori paitan, shio ramen, motsu ramen, plus abura soba, tsukemen, beef bowl, and chashu bowl, along with sides like karaage (fried chicken) and gyoza — more options than I expected.

I usually love eating my way through the sides too, so I wanted to try the karaage as well... but since I hadn't eaten properly that day, I figured I should start with the main meal first lol.

Ordering happens at the kiosk

You order first at the kiosk near the entrance. Pick your menu, pay, and then just sit wherever you like — staff will bring your order to your table. These days, this kind of system is honestly more convenient than calling over a server, especially when eating alone. So for anyone looking for a solo dining spot near City Hall, I found this pretty convenient.

My pick: soy sauce ramen! With the weather turning chilly, hot broth was a must that day. Plus I'd heard the ramen here was good, so I was set on getting a broth-based ramen from the start. And since I wanted rice too, I added a mini rice bowl!

"If I have room left after this, I'll get a side too~" I thought... but after finishing everything, turns out I had no room left in me to order more.

Easy solo dining at the first-floor bar seats facing the open kitchen

The first floor has this kind of atmosphere. There are window seats and regular tables further in, but I sat at the bar seats facing the kitchen. I've always liked open kitchens. Watching the food get made is fun, and when I'm alone, bar seats are the most comfortable.

Sure enough, there were other solo diners that day too, and the bar seats stretched on long enough that there was zero awkwardness about eating alone. If anything, it felt exactly like a spot for office workers near City Hall Station. Seemed great for popping in alone during lunch and slurping down a quick bowl.

Before the food arrived, I dutifully snapped a photo of the table setting like a proper blogger hahaha.

What does the soy sauce ramen broth taste like?

After a short wait, the soy sauce ramen arrived! The moment I saw it, I thought, oh... there's more meat than I expected? The broth had meat, egg, green onion, and onion in it, and as the warm broth's aroma rose up, I thought, glad I came before the walk lol.

First, a sip of the broth. True to soy sauce ramen, it has that savory soy-based depth, but it wasn't as salty or heavy as I expected. One sip of hot broth on a chilly day and my whole body relaxed instantly. I was so hungry, and having ramen plus rice made it totally satisfying~

The mini rice bowl is mini in name only

The mini rice bowl. I hadn't eaten properly since morning, so I desperately needed carbs lol. At first, since it's called a mini rice bowl, I figured it'd come out genuinely tiny, but paired with the ramen it turned out to be pretty filling. Mix the sauce and rice together well and it's salty and savory in a way that keeps you reaching for more.

My original plan was ramen → rice → karaage if there's room, but it ended up being ramen → rice, game over. Hahahaha. I was so full that the side dish got postponed for next time. Actually, I was almost in danger of not finishing the rice either, but there were two MVPs that helped me finish both the rice and noodles...

Watermelon cider and yuzu-marinated pickled radish

Here they are — the watermelon cider I ordered alongside my meal, and the pickled radish tossed in yuzu syrup. The watermelon cider has such a cute design, and since I love watermelon, it's a drink that puts me in a good mood every time.

And this yuzu pickled radish... total magic. How is it this good? It's so refreshing that I privately thought — Koreans usually say kimchi is essential, but this is basically kimchi-level. Since I was alone, talking to myself felt weird, so I just thought it quietly to myself haha.

Does the basement floor have a different vibe?

After eating my fill and paying, I thought, "oh right, I'm a blogger," so I went down to check out the basement floor too haha.

The basement has a slightly different atmosphere from the first floor. Upstairs, you can see the open kitchen directly and watch customers coming and going, giving it a livelier feel, while the basement has more spacing between tables and an overall calmer mood.

Since I came alone and love watching the kitchen while I eat, the first-floor bar seats were exactly my style, but if you're with two or more people or want a quieter meal, the basement seats would be great too.

Next time, as a Deoksugung date course

Honestly, the weather was really nice that day. Walking out after eating, looking around City Hall, the sunlight was lovely and the breeze was pleasant... and I suddenly thought, "I really need to come here for an evening date with Mr. Robot." Walking together toward Deoksugung and grabbing a meal nearby sounds like the perfect date course. That time, since it won't be solo dining, I'll order the sides I couldn't get to this time, like the karaage haha.

When you're craving warm broth on a chilly day, or want a bowl of ramen near Deoksugung, I'd recommend Mentsuru City Hall Branch~ Especially with the simple kiosk ordering and bar seating, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a solo dining spot near City Hall. Next time, I'll bring Mr. Robot along for a Deoksugung date + Mentsuru course :)