신구멍가게24 — seoul, south korea
i have quite the number of ramen reviews to catch up on, i think 3?! i really need to work on them… can’t just keep them in my head and scattering of notes, else i’ll forget them all.
anyways, i somehow found myself on a quick solo-trip to seoul this past week. i was pretty hesitant about it, especially as my outflow last month exceeded my net cash inflow by a bit over 100%. quite horrendous. but, it was forecasted to rain in chicago this past week + i wanted to see w/ my friend sooyeon + i haven’t been excited about or interested in solo-trips in a worrying while. needed to see for myself why that was the case. so, i pushed myself to go, even though that desire to stay home was bordering victory up until i received a seat on my korean air flight to incheon. it was only then that i actually committed mentally to go.
that’s the context behind why i was, and still am, in seoul. my dear friend sooyeon, when i asked her what ramen spot i should check out while i was here, directed me to convenience store ramen. truthfully, i also did not see any ramen places during my 4 days of city exploration thus far either. regardless, instant ramen seems to be such an integral part of the ramen culture in south korea, and it only made sense to experience it firsthand.
i went to this 24/7 unmanned instant ramen spot near sogang university. there were plentiful amounts of snacks, drinks, and other goodies all around the whole store; every purchase was reliant on trust, although i’m sure shoplifting has more serious enforcement and consequences in south korea. in the corner was the ramen booth—its walls infilled with columns and columns of different instant ramen brands and flavors. for my first ramen, i chose a pretty safe bet: 농심 사리곰탕면 (Nongshim Sarigomtangmyun). based on gomtang, a traditional korean beef bone soup, it tasted pretty decent. not as rich and flavorful as the real thing, but it was nice, clean, and soothing with notes of garlic, green onion, and pepper. definitely not a go-to option for visitors as it wasn’t even part of the instant ramen leaderboard (last photo) sighs. for my second ramen, i opted for a popular one on the board: 오뚜기 진라면 순한맛 (Ottogi Jin Ramen Mild). honestly, i could’ve and should’ve gone for the spicy version. the mild was quite mild, although packed much more flavor and richness. there was a little bzzbzz on the lips, but very mild spiciness overall, esp. for koreans i bet. noodles seem thicker, which i do like quite a bit!
overall, what a cool experience! it is still instant ramen though guys…
- noodle: 4
- broth: 4
- toppings: 2
- balance: 5
- satisfaction: 5
- overall: 4.0
refer: ramen review sheet
