Dog-friendly Pohang crab restaurant: butter-grilled Dokdo shrimp heads

If you're in Pohang, you've got to eat bakdal crab, right?! So that's exactly why we came! This is Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang in Pohang's Jukdo Market, a dog-friendly spot famous for both bakdal crab and Dokdo shrimp!!

How to find Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang in Jukdo Market, and where to park

Since Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang is inside Jukdo Market in Pohang, there's no dedicated lot — just use the Jukdo Market public parking lot. It's a dog-friendly sashimi restaurant, so our Ongsimi and I could park and head in without any worries!!

Turn right out of the parking lot and you'll spot the big sign marking the start of Jukdo Market. Walk past it and you'll quickly reach the crab and sashimi street center. Walk in, and the third shop on the left is — Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang!!! The sign is big, so it wasn't hard to find.

Can you see Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang's menu and prices in advance?

From the entrance to inside, Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang has menu boards up everywhere, easy to spot.

At the entrance there was a big banner and menu board too, with a huge variety of options! And honestly, the prices were noticeably reasonable. Nice to be able to check prices before going in!

Live seafood tanks and takeout

A lot of people were getting takeout at Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang. The tank out front had crab, king crab, flounder, shrimp and more, all moving around actively — clearly fresh. If you're ordering by the kg, you can pick your own and they'll steam it right away!!!

Tables inside and the review event

The inside of Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang was huge. Even past dinner rush there were quite a lot of customers, including many families.

They're running review events on Naver, Instagram, and Kakao Navi — worth keeping in mind if you want a little something extra!!!

Waterproof aprons provided

An apron is essential for someone like me who spills often — and badly! But Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang had waterproof aprons ready, so seafood smell wouldn't wreck our clothes?! Such a nice touch 🍒

My husband, Ongsimi and I sat down and ordered the bakdal crab set for two (₩200,000)!! (Today I felt like the third wheel between those two ^_^...)

What comes with the bakdal snow crab set for two?

Not long after ordering the bakdal crab set for two, the basic spread arrived — and the lineup was this. More varied than I expected!!

• Flounder sashimi, abalone, whelk, pufferfish skin, sea squirt
• King oyster mushroom and seasoned whelk
• Corn sauce toast
• Mixed sashimi salad, mulhoe (cold raw fish soup), clam soup
• Sweet potato fritters, baby squid
• Pickled vegetables, soy-marinated crab, etc.

Flounder sashimi

First up: flounder sashimi! Flounder's pretty common so I figured it'd be basic?! But it was so chewy and plump... genuinely delicious. First bite dipped in soy sauce, then in chojang (vinegared chili paste), and naturally something else came to mind that I needed to add...?

Soju!!!!!!! Hahahaha. Since we were in Pohang, we had to try the local soju, so we ordered a bottle of Chamsoju and cheers'd!!

After that, drinks poured and it was straight into snack mode hahaha. Wrapping the flounder in chojang and garlic, then in ssamjang and garlic — before I knew it the soju was going down real smooth...?!

Abalone, sea squirt, turban shell and spicy sashimi salad

After that chewy texture, time for something different!! The abalone was so fresh, with a crazy crunchy texture. Dipped it in soy sauce and chojang both — beyond the texture, that subtle sweetness of abalone was so good!!

Then sea squirt and whelk!! The sea squirt was super fresh but not too salty, genuinely great 😝 And the whelk — chewy and sweet, no question. The mixed sashimi salad had a good amount of fish in it too.

Soy-marinated crab and pickled vegetables

The soy-marinated crab was sweet and salty, the kind of flavor that makes you want to mix it into rice... and in the end I did mix a bit of it into fried rice at the end haha. The julienned carrot and onion next to it were bright and tangy, just like Korean-style carrot rapée.

Baby squid and corn sauce toast

The baby squid had zero fishy taste and was really nutty! Dipped in chojang — perfect. And dipping the bread into the cheese sauce tasted just like the sausage salad bread from my school snack shop days growing up — total nostalgia hit haha.

Mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) and clam soup

The mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) is technically just part of the basic spread, but it had so much fish in it that every spoonful was packed ..ദ്ദി(☆⸝⸝•̀ᴥ•́⸝⸝)

The clam soup had well-degritted clams, mussels, and bean sprouts inside, so I sipped the broth spoon by spoon and dipped the clam and mussel meat in chojang. The dishes in Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang's spread weren't just there for show — every single one was genuinely high quality.

How do you eat the Dokdo shrimp in the crab set?

The Dokdo shrimp 🦐 included in the bakdal crab set finally arrived! They showed us the shrimp's freshness first, then cut off the heads right there — and apparently if you ask for grilled heads, they'll grill them for you on the spot!!

Gotta taste the Dokdo shrimp itself first, right? Dipped in chojang, one bite in, and unlike the usual crunchy shrimp texture, this Dokdo shrimp was soft and sweet ㅜ.ㅜ so good

Butter-grilled Dokdo shrimp heads

I asked for the shrimp heads grilled right away and tried them. You grab the sharp spike at the front and lift it up, and just the spiky shell pops off — then just pop the rest straight into your mouth. Grilled not too salty, so it was incredibly nutty and delicious.

The bakdal snow crab and dining with a dog

Finally the main bakdal crab 🦀 arrived. Turns out bakdal crab isn't a different species — it just refers to snow crab with a good meat yield, packed full of flesh.

Ongsimi wanted some too, sniffing away. Starting with the legs first! They grabbed one and pulled out the meat with a crab fork. Ongsimi wanted a bite too, aww.

Our Ongsimi waited patiently and well. From the moment we walked in to the moment we left, Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang lived up to its dog-friendly name and doted on Ongsimi the whole time. We got to enjoy the whole meal totally at ease because of it!

Spicy fish stew and crab fried rice to finish

The spicy fish stew (maeuntang) at Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang wasn't huge, but it came in a pot that was just the right size for two. Normally maeuntang tastes mostly of the seasoning paste, but this one had an actual broth base rather than plain water — the flavor was on point from the first sip!!! I wanted rice, but I held off since we'd already ordered fried rice!!~~

Basics are the foundation, so I put some kimchi on top of the fried rice first and tried it... genuinely just the right seasoning, nutty and delicious.

Honestly the fried rice was already great on its own... but then we dropped in the bakdal crab meat we'd picked out earlier!! Eating it together was genuinely next level.

See that fried rice loaded with crab meat?! Man, today I felt rich — crab meat fried rice rich haha.

Is Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang a good pick for dog owners?

And that's how we ate our way through a delicious meal! —from Team Ongsimi— From start to finish, Gallilli Daegae Hoe Sikdang doted on Ongsimi, which put us in a great mood, and every single dish was delicious enough to make us gasp. Most of all, a place where you can taste crab, sashimi, and even Dokdo shrimp at such affordable prices?! It's a great-value crab restaurant you can visit with your dog, so if you're heading to Jukdo Market in Pohang, I definitely recommend stopping by!