Busan crab restaurant for three adults, 3kg bakdal: Gijang Myeongpum

Why we chose Gijang Myeongpum Daegae on Gijang Market's crab street

Gijang Myeongpum Daegae is a snow crab specialist tucked inside the crab street of Gijang Market in Busan, and this time I went for dinner with my family of three. We were trying to figure out what to eat for a family meal, and I suddenly craved snow crab after a long while, so off we went to Gijang Market.

Gijang Market is famous even within Busan as a place where you can eat snow crab generously without breaking the bank too much — there's literally a whole crab street, so there are tons of options. When I want to eat a variety of side dishes too, I go for the crab-feast places, but on days when I want to focus on the crab itself, I head to Gijang crab street. This time, we all went together to Gijang Myeongpum Daegae, well known as a family-meal spot among Gijang Market restaurants — off we go!

Parking at Gijang Myeongpum Daegae: don't forget the exit coin

Gijang Myeongpum Daegae sits inside Gijang Market, but it's easy to spot thanks to the giant crab sign. Parking matters a lot if you're driving, and this place has its own dedicated lot.

Entry is automatic, but on the way out you need a coin from the restaurant to exit — make sure to grab one!

Picking your crab from the tanks at the entrance

At the entrance of Gijang Myeongpum Daegae there's a row of tanks so you can see the crabs in person.

The owner trying to catch one, and the crab dodging away — you could really feel how fresh they were.

Besides snow crab, there's also king crab and red crab, so it's easy to choose based on taste and budget.

Apparently they even have crayfish, which I've seen a few times in Southeast Asia.

How many kilos of snow crab do three adults need?

And so, three crabs were chosen. There were three of us, and the staff said about 3kg of snow crab is the right amount for three adults, so we went with that.

Gijang Myeongpum Daegae runs transparently — the price is openly posted as market price, and they subtract the basket's weight before calculating the final weight.

Lobster, hi there.

They also gave us a nice chunky abalone as a service, one per person.

Once you pick your crab, it goes straight into the steamer.

The dining hall and the 5,000-won self-serve bar

Once inside, the restaurant was huge. The tables were spaced generously and the place felt clean, making it comfortable for a group meal — pretty much perfect as a family-meal spot among Gijang Market restaurants.

The basic table setting here costs ₩5,000 per adult, but in exchange there's a pretty solid self-serve bar in the back.

There was a wide variety — stir-fried mushrooms, corn, fried vegetables, fried peppers, fried chicken, salad, macaroni, kimchi, pickled onion, and seaweed. Steaming the crab apparently takes a while, so this is perfect to snack on in the meantime. Especially with so many fried items, I thought it'd be great even if kids came along.

They also gave us disposable plastic gloves like this. Felt hygienic, which was nice.

How much meat bakdal crab yields, and mixing rice into the tomalley

And finally, the main event!! A huge plate piled high.

Gijang Myeongpum Daegae, a Gijang favorite, has staff clean the crab for you so you don't have to wrestle with the shell — it was easy to just pop the meat right out.

The leg meat came out moist and tender, and it was delicious even without dipping it in anything, T_T.

A giant claw.

The meat yield was really great. Highly recommend ordering bakdal.

Dipped in this mustard-based sauce, it was also delicious.

I especially love scraping out the body meat and mixing it a bit with the tomalley — this was truly the highlight.

As you can see in the photo, the tomalley was packed full — anyone who loves that rich, nutty flavor would definitely love this!

Finishing with crab-shell fried rice and crab doenjang stew

At the end, you absolutely have to get the fried rice. They mix it right into the crab shell, and the auntie here really knows how to cook — the fried rice had such deep, savory flavor.

Honestly, isn't this the whole reason you eat crab in the first place? Haha.

They topped the fried rice with more crab meat too, plus we finished off the lobster, along with the doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) that came with it.

This doenjang stew even had a few crab legs in it.

If you want to eat generously with fresh snow crab as the centerpiece, and you're looking for a place to eat with your parents in Gijang or a family-meal spot among Gijang Market restaurants, Gijang Myeongpum Daegae is well worth a visit.