Jinmi Sikdang

Knowing my love for Korean soy crabs, my colleagues decided to bring me to a hidden gem which is mostly known by locals only. Also a Michelin award restaurant, this restaurant has been serving raw soy-marinated crabs and nothing else for the past decade

With limited crabs prepared daily, there are limited orders per day so we made a reservation for lunch. When we arrived close to 1pm, the restaurant was still packed with locals having their lunch. Located in a small alley, the restaurant was really quite the hidden gem for tourists

The restaurant was a humble and traditional Korean restaurant with minimal decorations. The space is quite limited so everyone is packed closely together but with enough privacy between tables. I am not sure if there was an English menu since my colleagues did the ordering

We were first served a couple of simple side dishes like seasoned mushrooms, seasoned green vegetables, spicy seasoned chives, kimchi, seasoned sprouts, jelly as well as radish. At first glance, I do think the portion of some side dishes looked pathetic but when we went into the meal, we didn’t really have a stomach for dishes other than the crab so I was also glad we did not waste food

We also had a side of steamed egg which was very fluffy but light in flavours. This was great when paired with the crabs which are salty and savoury

When the crabs were served, my eyes lit up once again as each one was bursting with roe. Slightly different from the other ones I have tried, there is hardly any sauce served with the crabs and in addition, chopped chillis were sprinkled across the crabs for an additional spicy punch. The soy flavour is well balanced for this restaurant with the original flavour of the crabs still infused into each bite. Compared to the one at Keunkiwajip, this one was just slightly more salty but still palatable

Another dish we ordered or maybe was given as part of service was the Nurunji soup which is burnt rice mixed with water and boiled down to a light porridge. I found this very comforting to wash down the heavy crab meal

Overall, I liked the crab here as well and I would rate it a close 2nd to Keunkiwajip the only downside was that the location is not as accessible. For those who really love Ganjang Gejang like me, do visit for a different flavour profile

Address: 186-6 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Operating hours: 12 to 3.30 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm ( closed on Sun)