Who doesn’t enjoy a good Ramen, and whilst it is actually the first Ramen that I have tried since being here, I can’t say that I was disappointed.

You will all be relieved to know that upon entering this restaurant, which you can find down a cute little side alleyway in Jung-gu (Seongnam-dong or Old Downtown) right near the fire station, you are greeted at the table with pictures on their menu! Whilst a majority of restaurants here have become wiser to this (due to the increasing number of foreigners expatriating to Ulsan) and adopted this format, it is still always a relief when you sit down and are presented with a menu where you don’t have to google images of the listed item.

This is one of the better laid out menus that I have seen, allowing you the option to “upsize” your Ramen in a sense. The Ramen itself, whilst inexpensive at 6,000 Won per serving, comes with only one slice of pork, half an egg and a modest serving of noodles, which is probably enough to satisfy the ladies, however for the gentlemen (well, my husband at least), I wouldn’t be surprised if it took two extra servings of the pork (at 1,500 Won each extra serve), one extra serving of the egg (1,000 Won) and one extra serving of the noodles (1,000 Won), which would bring his dish to 11,000 Won for his belly to be satisfied. This defeats the purpose of a “cheap eat”, but the quality of this establishment will not disappoint, and the flavours are just delightful.

시오라멘 (si-o-ra-men)

Like many other restaurant in the area, Oishi Ramen will not deny you a serving of Kim Chi, of the cabbage variety, as your side dish. The perfect accompaniment for those of you who, like me, enjoy a little flirt with spice, but don’t want to have the love affair burn my entire mouth for ages after. Besides, I can’t think of anything more unglamorous than breathing like you’re in a Lamaze class practicing for child-birth when you’re just trying to enjoy a civilised meal. For those of you who do enjoy the sting of pepper, they would not make the mistake of leaving a spicy soup Ramen off the menu – in fact, Oishi Ramen offer two. After all, we are in Korea.

Also included on their menu are the Japanese curries, as well as rice dishes with the same pork they use in the Ramen – absolutely delicious, and a good alternative to satisfy your roast meats craving, like the kind that you find hanging in the window of a Chinese restaurant. My husband was exceptionally pleased as he has been craving Char Siew (the roasted strips of pork covered in a red glaze) since we arrived in Ulsan.

Oishi Ramen has two locations, Jung-gu (old downtown, also referred to as Seongnam-dong, which is the one that I visited), and Nam-gu (new downtown or Samsan-dong).

The following addresses can be entered as shown into Google Maps to give you a precise location.

Old Downtown Address: 9, Meokja-geori, Jung-gu, Ulsan, South Korea

Alternative Old Downtown Address: 232 Seongnam-dong, Jung-gu, Ulsan, South Korea – (This is the address that you can usually use for your car GPS)

Old Downtown Phone Number: (052) 244-5232

Trading hours: 11:30am – 9:30pm

I have not yet tried the Oishi Ramen in new downtown (Nam-gu), but in case any of you would like to visit, here is how you can find it. It is about 100 metres from KFC, if you head west on that street away from Hyundai Department store and pass the Guam (or Kuam) stationery store immediately after KFC.

Street address: 20 Wangsaeng-ro66beon-gil, Nam-gu, Ulsan, South Korea

Alternative address: 1363-8, Dal-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan, South Korea

Phone number: (052) 267-5232