Yangsan Korean restaurant for soy-marinated crab: Deodo Gejang

Deodo Gejang Yangsan for my parents' birthday

A friend had visited Deodo Gejang's Marine City branch and recommended it, saying the food was good. I normally love gejang (soy-marinated crab), so I had wanted to try it, and I kept it in mind after hearing that Deodo Gejang had opened in Yangsan, too. As it happened, I visited for my father's birthday.

We had already held a birthday meal with the whole family, so that day I decided to have a simple meal with my parents and sibling. Since I was taking my parents out, I put a little extra thought into choosing the menu—but to give away the ending, the food was more satisfying than I expected.

Deodo Gejang Yangsan (더도게장) is on Yangsan-daero in Habuk-myeon, close to Tongdosa Temple. It is in a nice spot for a drive from nearby Busan or Ulsan, and there was plenty of parking around the restaurant, which made getting there with my parents relatively easy.

A spacious, practical setting for family meals

The restaurant was fairly large inside, with generous space between the tables. It looked comfortable for a family meal or a gathering with several people.

Personally, though, because I had such high hopes for the food, I did wish the interior had a little more atmosphere. It is spacious and practical overall, but it felt a bit ordinary for a restaurant to visit on a special occasion. Once we started eating, though, the food more than made up for that small disappointment.

An introduction to Jeju yellow crab and assorted marinated seafood

Deodo Gejang specializes in Jeju yellow crab gejang and assorted marinated seafood. According to the restaurant information, it is run with the know-how of a chef with 20 years of experience and uses yellow crabs caught in Jeju. The crabs are opened and cleaned one by one, and the sauces used for the crab, shrimp, abalone, and more are aged with fruit and other ingredients.

A full spread of assorted marinated seafood and monkfish-and-octopus bulgogi

We tried the assorted marinated seafood platter, which let us taste several types, along with monkfish-and-webfoot-octopus bulgogi. With the table filled with food, it was lovely to slowly try this and that with my parents. When you order the monkfish-and-octopus bulgogi, you can choose a gejang, and we chose yellow crab in soy sauce. It was also possible to add crab on its own.

Assorted marinated seafood with many things to try

The assorted platter included blue crab gejang and yellow crab gejang, as well as marinated octopus, abalone, and peeled shrimp. Rather than eating just one item throughout, I liked being able to enjoy a good range of different flavors and textures.

Above all, the seafood on the platter felt fresh overall. The fishy aroma that can come with marinated seafood did not feel overwhelming, and the octopus, abalone, and shrimp each retained their own texture. It is a well-suited spread when you want to try small portions of various marinated seafood dishes, even if you are not only a crab lover.

Yellow crab gejang that tasted nuttier than blue crab gejang

The most memorable dish that day was, without question, the yellow crab gejang. I was not very familiar with yellow crab compared with blue crab, so I did not have huge expectations, but it was far nuttier than I expected. The rich nutty flavor of the crab meat paired wonderfully with the soy marinade.

Was yellow crab gejang always this nutty?

To my taste, the yellow crab gejang actually tasted better than blue crab gejang. I kept reaching for more, and my parents enjoyed it too. I feel like I truly discovered yellow crab's charm through this visit. If you are looking for a good gejang restaurant in Yangsan and have not tried yellow crab gejang yet, it is worth trying at least once.

It paired even better with freshly made nutritious pot rice. I scooped out the rice and ate it with the salty, nutty crab, then finished with nurungji (crispy scorched rice) at the end, making for a truly hearty meal.

Spicy monkfish-and-octopus bulgogi for a welcome change

The monkfish-and-webfoot-octopus bulgogi was also better than expected. Its savory sauce had soaked nicely into the monkfish and octopus, and the octopus was tender rather than tough, so it was easy to eat. Eating only gejang can make the flavors feel a little repetitive, but having bites of the spicy bulgogi in between made for a great combination.

The sauce was also delicious mixed with rice, and the seafood still had a lovely texture. Everyone in the family enjoyed it.

Hearty side dishes that work well with children, too

Another appealing point at Deodo Gejang is the lineup of side dishes. Family gatherings always seem to include children, don't they? When a restaurant serves side dishes children can eat, that alone makes you want to choose it.

At Deodo Gejang, the side dishes are substantial enough to feel like mains: soy sauce bulgogi, doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew), braised kimchi, grilled fish, braised tofu, and more.

The clearest memory left by the yellow crab gejang

It was a simple meal with my parents and sibling for my father's birthday, but the satisfying food made it such a pleasant time. I personally found the interior a little lacking, but the nutty yellow crab gejang, fresh assorted marinated seafood, and flavorful monkfish-and-octopus bulgogi fully covered that disappointment.

Most of all, what stays with me from this meal is that the yellow crab gejang tasted nuttier and better than blue crab gejang. It is a good place to visit when you want a comfortable Korean meal with your parents or want to sample a range of marinated seafood dishes. Next time, I would like to come with the whole family and try the grilled-fish and yellow-crab-gejang set, too.