Pro Soy Crab — Restaurant in Seoul

Went for a visit on a Wednesday for lunch with my friends. As soon as we stepped into the restaurant, we were quickly seated at one of the empty booths and given the menu book to look through while one of the staff placed six different banchans and two bowls of seaweed soup on the table. After we placed our order, all the food came up pretty quick so the service was really swift at this restaurant.

What we ordered:

🐙 Sliced Live Octopus 산낙지 • 8.5/10

The octopus was fresh and seasoned nicely. It wasn’t fishy and the texture was soft and chewy. I also really like the fragrant sesame dipping oil that was served with it. If you haven’t had this before and want to try a good one, I’d recommend this place to try since this is one of the better sliced live octopus that I’ve had in Seoul.

🦀 Soy Sauce Marinated Blue Crabs 간장게장 (Medium) • 8/10

Their famous Ganjang-Gejang (Soy Sauce Marinated Blue Crabs) was actually pretty good. The crabs were definitely fresh with a good amount of meat and roe in them. They were also marinated and seasoned well with the salty soy sauce flavor being up front and prominent in every single bite. Also worth noting, if you are not a big fan of seafood or sensitive to the fishy or briny taste of seafood, this might not be your cup of tea. There was a good amount of fishiness and brininess that I tasted when eating the crabs so if you’re really sensitive, you might not like this dish.

🦀 Sweet and Spicy Marinated Blue Crabs 양념게장 (Medium) • 9/10

For their Yangnyeom-Gejang (Sweet and Spicy Marinated Blue Crabs) the yangnyeom sauce was seasoned well. It’s a bit spicy for me who has a low tolerance of spicy food, but the spice level was still manageable when I ate it with rice. I also think since the flavor of the yangnyeom sauce is a bit punchier than the ganjang sauce, it did a better job at masking that fishy taste from the crab meat. I actually didn’t really taste the fishiness at all on this one. For you who’s more sensitive to that fishy seafood taste, definitely would recommend to try the Yangnyeom-Gejang. I think you’ll enjoy it more than the Ganjang-Gejang (at least I did).

🍚 Crab Roe Bibimbap 게알비빔밥 • 8.5/10

The Crab Roe Bibimbap was also pretty good. The bibimbap itself isn’t strongly seasoned. You mix the crab roe, egg yolk, seaweed and the rice together and you’ll get a creamy bowl of rice that’s actually a perfect pair for the stronger flavored marinated crab meat. A good side dish for the crab meat.

If you’re looking for a good place to try a good Ganjang-Gejang, Yangnyeom-Gejang or Live Octopus, I think this place is...

As a tourist I always wanted to try Soy Crab in Korea and when I was doing some Googling, I came across this restaurant. I was contemplating to try or not because it seems quite commercial with branches overseas so I have this worry of whether the price would be more "touristy". Decided to give it a try anyway, 1st experience and not sure what to expect and also how to go about eating it. When I looked at the menu, I kinda thought the prices were really quite expensive based on the quantity and the size of the crabs I presume. Decided to go ahead and order the Soy Crab as well as the Crab Bibimbap. For the price of 25000 won, I would say the Crab Bibimbap is probably too expensive and nothing really fantastic to talk about. Probably it sounds interesting to me because I have never tried crab on Bibimbap other than the normal ones. Quite disappointed that there wasn't any surprise or interesting flavours from the dish. The Soy Crab is really the BOMB! I could totally justify for the price when the dish was served, looking at the amount of roe on the crab. The size is small but decent and I think sufficient for me for a meal so it was okay. I can only say it was so good, I never expected it to taste so fresh! I didn't really know how to eat it so I just tried to bite and let the meat come out itself, and I did notice some Koreans actually doing something similar but enjoying it with plain rice. I also saw the chili version but I didn't try because that would be too much and I thought it would be nice to try the original flavour for the 1st time. I see this place has been frequented by many celebrities, so it should be quite okay to visit to try...

From the moment we arrived, the man at the front desk gave us a warm welcome, setting the tone for a great dining experience. It was almost 9 PM, so there was no line, but the restaurant was still lively with diners.

We ordered quite a feast for four: three medium-sized marinated soy crabs, fried belt fish, monkfish stew, and steamed egg. With the generous selection of banchan (side dishes), it was more than enough. Be prepared to eat plenty of rice with the crab—it’s incredibly flavorful. Even the kids, who were hesitant at first because of how it looked, ended up enjoying it!

Service was good, and there were English-speaking servers, which made ordering easier. When we were leaving, the friendly staff at the front desk let us wait inside for our taxi and even offered to take our pictures. If we spoke the same language, I feel like we could have had a great conversation.

Overall, a wonderful experience with delicious food and warm hospitality. Would...