I am a big fan of Japanese food, especially ramen, noodles, and soba.
I have only been to Japan once and to be honest, I was not surprised by the originality of their food, except for the UDON!
Udon in Japan can not be compared to anywhere in the world.
However, every other foods, such as sushi, ramen, okonomiyaki, and all the other rice dishes, they were pretty much as same as the ones that I have tasted in Seoul.
Probably it’s because Korea and Japan is so close and the ingredients are not that hard to get.
Anyhow… I would like to recommend you the most amazing Japanese noodles place that I have ever tasted so far in Korea.
The restaurant is located in Hongdae and it is called Butanchoo (부탄츄).
Here, as you see on the menu, they have the four main kinds of ramens:
Shio, Tonkotsu, Shoyu, and Miso.
And there is a simple three step way of ordering your ramen.
Once you choose your ramen soup, then you can choose your ideal noodles out of three kinds.
Basically, the first one, Hoso men, is thin and straight noodles.
The second men, Chiji men, is the most popular noodles and it is thick and curly.
And lastly, the Dragon men is extra thick and has a special texture.
After finish choosing your soup and men, you can either ask for more or less of sauce, garlic, bean sprouts, and green onions in your ramen. (Free of charge)
Unlike Korean noodles, Japanese noodles are considered as more healthy food, since they are generally made from stock based on chicken or pork, combined with a variety of ingredients such as kelp, skipjack tuna flakes, dried baby sardines, beef bones, shiitake mushrooms, and etc.
Another reason that I like to go to this place at lunch time is that they offer extra noodles for free during lunch hours.
The noodles come with a hot stone which is dumped into your soup and your soup will start to boil again within a couple of minutes.
*Please be noticed that it is a quiet busy restaurant and usually there are always lines.
You can also try their gyoza and other rice dishes, but as the restaurant is known for their ramen, I would not recommend having other dishes, plus I have never actually tried.
How to get there?
The nearest subway exit is number 8.
You will find the place by the small park, behind the Lotte Cinema and Uniqlo building.
The address is 서울 마포구 와우산로35길 75.
Please look on the google map for details.
8 Shots of Soju 