Seoul Ramen #1 - Oreno/오레노

As mentioned in yesterday's Bites post, in recent years Korea has seen its Japanese food develop in exponentially more delicious and reverential bounds. The bad renditions of izakaya food are fading away as the public's points of reference become better and better, and in their place are yoshoku, ramen, and yakitori places that wouldn't be out of place on the streets of Tokyo or Osaka.

More than any other imported idea of Japanese food, ramen is shining the brightest. Koreans already have their own "ramyeon", the instant packaged stuff which, while delicious, is pretty far away from the craft of making noodles, broth, and tare. Koreans do love their own more labor-intensive native soup noodz but mostly in the shape of clean tasting (see: non-greasy) sardine or beef-based broths. Having eaten ramen fairly extensively around Japan, I can say that Seoul's best ramen joints can stack up with most of what you'll find people lining up for in Fukuoka or Osaka.

A recent trend amongst ramen-ya's in Seoul's slurpiest neigborhood, the Hongdae-Hapjeong-Mangwon triumverate, has been tori paitan, a milky white chicken-based ramen. A bit lighter than the usual tonkotsu most international ramen eaters will default to, tori paitan carries a strong chicken-y essence like the best chicken noodle soup but instead of curing a cold this one battles on incoming hangover.

Oreno is a small shop (about 15 seats) that does a constant business about halfway between Sangsu and Hapjeong stations on Seoul Subway line 6. The restaurant purports that the owner has more than 20 years experience in the ramen business and it shows in the controlled pace and atmosphere of the dining area. You order outside from a machine and have a few options: tori paitan, tori shio, or tori shoyu. Beware that the tori shio is very much Oreno's own style (more on that in a second).

I opted for the tori paitan. Sitting at the bar, you can watch your ramen (literally) whipped up before your eyes as Oreno uses an immersion blender to froth their broth just before it's given to you. The white broth was a bit like the concentrated chicken flavor of the veloute you get in an American chicken pot pie even with porky undertones thanks to perhaps a bit of a mixed broth or just because of the pork chasyu. The noodles were thin and ropey like some of the best I've had in Fukuoka. Extra egg is a must, the custardy inside spilling out into the broth injecting extra umami. Another interesting twist is that Oreno uses carmelized onions to add a deep sweetness to the bowl. I really had to stop myself from downing all the broth.

My partner went with the tori shio. Shio ramen is inherently clean and lighter than most other tare styles. Oreno's is no exception but surprisingly, a twist of lime is supplied both before and after you receive your bowl. There was also more than a hint of pleasant fishiness, the combination of flavors somehow almost Vietnamese. While an interesting bowl of ramen, it wouldn't be my go-to bowl of shio. However, for those looking for a novel take on shio ramen, this is a must-try.

Oreno Ramen - 14, Dongmak-ro 6-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
오레노라멘 - 서울 마포구 동막로 6길 14