Gwangjin ramen restaurant for tori paitan before a workout: Mentsuru

A ramen restaurant one minute from Children's Grand Park Station

Konkuk University and Children's Grand Park are basically my turf, so I’ve been making my way through all the good places around Konkuk University and Children's Grand Park. Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch was always along my usual route, and I kept telling myself, One day I’m going to try it..! Then one day..! I suddenly got hungry and thought, Shall I have ramen before going to work out~? So I popped in.

Mentsuru is a one-minute walk from Exit 4 of Children's Grand Park Station, so the access was sooo good. Sejong University is also about a 5–7 minute walk away, so I thought it might be a popular lunchtime ramen spot for Sejong University students.

Kiosk and table ordering, plus solo seats

When you enter, there’s a kiosk where you can order right away, but every table also has a tablet. Our legs are precious, after all~ so you can sit down and order comfortably.

As you’d expect from a popular Konkuk University-area spot, it had solo dining seats and tables for four, and the inside was much larger than it looked from outside. When I came in around 6:30 PM on a weekday, there were about ten people there; by 7 PM it was full and almost at the point of a waitlist.

Ramen and side-menu prices

• Shoyu ramen (soy sauce) ₩11,000 / spicy shoyu ramen ₩11,000 / shio ramen (salt) ₩11,000
• Tori paitan (rich chicken broth) ₩12,000 / motsu ramen (beef offal ramen) ₩15,000 / abura soba (oil-tossed noodles) ₩12,000
• Horumon-don (beef intestine rice bowl) ₩15,000 / gyudon ₩11,000
• Fried gyoza, 6 pieces ₩5,000 / house-made chicken karaage ₩7,000 / takoyaki, 5 pieces ₩5,000

There were so many menu options that I had a tiny case of decision paralysis, but I ordered tori paitan ramen made with chicken broth and fried gyoza.

• Rich tori paitan ₩12,000
• Spicy add-on ₩500
• 2 pieces pork belly chashu add-on ₩2,500
• Egg add-on ₩1,000
• Fried gyoza, 6 pieces ₩5,000

Oh! Mentsuru Children's Grand Park Branch currently has a late-night special deal, apparently. From 9 PM, a 420 ml Asahi draft beer goes from ₩8,000 down to ₩4,000!!! I had to work out, so I resisted with all my might, but it seemed perfect for a solo drink after work or a light drink with dinner.

They were running a review event for Konkuk University and Children's Grand Park students. Leave a photo review and get five pieces of fried gyoza or a drink free!! These fried gyoza are the real deal, you know? Be sure to leave a review and try them.

Each seat had Japanese-style pepper and danmuji (pickled radish) tossed with yuzu. This yuzu-seasoned danmuji was sweet and tangy and went so, so well with the ramen that I kept piling it onto my plate ㅠㅠ. Pickled radish is a must with rich ramen.

This is the open kitchen you can see from the solo dining table. You can watch all the ramen being made, which really made it feel hygienic.

How the rich chicken-broth tori paitan tasted

Had it been about three minutes after ordering..? My tori paitan ramen arrived. I had searched beforehand and agonized over which ramen to get, but tori paitan was described as ramen made with chicken broth, so it sounded fresh and I ordered it. First things first: as a pepper fanatic, I gave it a few shakes of pepper.

Worried chicken broth might taste gamey? Don’t be. It had a savory, clean flavor that tasted like it had been simmered for ages. When the tori paitan first came out, the broth looked pale, so for a second I thought, Hehe, chicken broth really is pale. It feels like baeksuk (Korean boiled chicken soup), doesn’t it? But then it looked like normal ramen broth.

It looked quite salty, but it wasn’t salty at all, so to someone like me who compulsively leaves ramen broth behind, it felt light(?). So I happily kept spooning it up.

I added egg and pork belly chashu too, so it was seriously protein-packed. The chashu was half lean meat and half fat, and honestly felt like eating samgyeopsal (Korean pork belly). A harmony of Korean food and Japan, perhaps? Now I want kimchi. You know boiled eggs absolutely have to be soft-boiled, right? The yolk popped right out and worked wonderfully with the broth and ramen noodles. The chashu’s aggressively good visuals.

Adding fried gyoza

You know how ramen alone can sometimes feel a little lonely? That’s why I ordered fried gyoza (₩5,000). It could feel rich alongside ramen, but it came with shichimi seasoning and scallions, which made it nice to eat together.

A burst of meat juices. If you think fried gyoza aren’t worth paying for, definitely join the photo-review event.

Slurp, munch.

You may have to wait at 7 PM on weekdays

This was around 7 PM on a weekday, photographed just before I left after eating. Around 7 PM, you may have to wait! That’s how well-known this ramen place is among Konkuk University and Sejong University students..! There were lots of people dining alone, lots with companions, and a really wide range of ages. It felt just like a real Japanese dinner restaurant scene.

If you’re looking for a good place near Children's Grand Park Station or Konkuk University, I recommend this ramen restaurant as an easy choice for lunch or dinner. An absolute top recommendation especially for solo-dining fanatics!