Ilsan soy crab all-you-can-eat, weekday lunch with my wife: Deodeo

It was a weekday lunch, so I decided to take my wife out on a cozy date after a long time: cool, appetite-boosting crab and a bowl of rice.

Location and parking at Deodeo Ganjanggejang

After searching for a while, we settled on Deodeo Ganjanggejang Muhalliripil (더더간장게장 무한리필), a soy crab (ganjang gejang) place near Wondang in Ilsan with a reputation for meaty crab and great flavor. It's at 1118 Hoguk-ro, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, right by the road, so it was very easy to get to by car.

There's parking in front of the restaurant, so even at weekday lunchtime we parked without any fuss. When we arrived, the big yellow-and-red sign caught our eye right away.

The sign is visible from far away, so even on our first visit we found it without getting lost, and it already felt like a proper local favorite before we went in. The glass door at the entrance is covered with stickers showing it was listed in the Blue Ribbon Survey five years in a row, 2022 to 2026, which made us trust it even more as a verified Wondang spot.

Inside, it was a cozy, clean and neat space in wood tones.

A big poster on the wall shows the restaurant was featured on KBS 2TV's Saengsaeng Jeongbo (a TV information show), so you can tell right away that the media has praised it too. There was also an honest notice saying all the crabs are scrubbed with a brush under running water and leftover food is never reused, which was reassuring.

What's the atmosphere like on a summer weekday lunch?

Even on a weekday lunch, the place was already bustling with people enjoying their meals, and the staff guided us in with lots of energy. The air conditioning and fans were blasting, so the moment we stepped in, the humid summer heat outside vanished and it felt cool and comfortable.

It was the perfect setting to enjoy fresh crab on a hot weekday lunch, dry and without a single drop of sweat.

Ordering the all-you-can-eat set plus hot-pot steamed egg

We sat down and looked over the menu hanging on the wall. No need to think twice: we ordered the all-you-can-eat set with unlimited soy crab, spicy marinated crab and refreshing crab stew.

We also added a hot-pot steamed egg (ttukbaegi gyeran-jjim), which pairs wonderfully with crab and made the spread even more generous.

As soon as we ordered, a full table of neat, carefully made side dishes and the day's main dishes was laid out. There were seasoned bean sprouts, kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), stir-fried seaweed stems and seasoned cucumber, plus crispy gim (roasted seaweed) and flying fish roe.

Then came the glossy soy crab on a big plate, the spicy marinated crab (yangnyeom gejang) in its tempting red sauce, and crab stew simmering on a burner. Just looking at it made my mouth water. The saying "you eat with your eyes first" fit this setup perfectly.

Soy crab flavor and rice in the crab shell

First we went for the star of the day, the soy crab. The crab came already prepared, full of meat, with the roe and innards neatly placed in the shell, and the look of it alone drew a gasp.

I picked up a piece of meat with my chopsticks and tasted it: no fishy smell at all, not salty, with a sweet, nutty depth that filled my mouth. The sticky, chewy texture of the meat was honestly a work of art. I squeezed some meat onto rice, wrapped it with roe and gim and took a bite, and my wife kept exclaiming and praising it.

Mixing rice into the crab shell was so good it earned the nickname "rice thief" (bapdoduk), the kind of flavor that moves you.

How does the spicy marinated crab taste?

Next we tried the spicy marinated crab, generously coated in sweet and spicy red sauce.

The sauce had soaked deep into the meat, so every bite gave a sharp, addictive heat that clung to the mouth. It wasn't an artificial kind of spicy: the sweetness of the crab and the savory depth of the sauce blended beautifully, giving it a different charm from the soy crab.

The added hot-pot steamed egg

Between bites of crab, I also took a big spoonful of the piping hot steamed egg that we'd added. It puffed up softly over the pot and was sprinkled with nutty sesame seeds, and the moment it went in my mouth it melted like cream and soothed my palate.

Crab stew, finished with ramyeon noodles

Last, we tried the crab stew bubbling on the burner, loaded with bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms and perilla leaves. With crab in it, the broth was deep and rich, and with the Cheongyang chili peppers and vegetables it had a sharp, cooling kind of heat that opened up my chest. It was excellent.

We added ramyeon noodles and let it simmer down until it was thick, finishing the meal on a hearty note. The heat and fatigue just disappeared. It was a perfect lineup.

Overall verdict from our date with my wife

Everything exceeded our expectations: the clean, pleasant restaurant, the cool indoor temperature where we didn't sweat at all, the friendly staff, and the overwhelmingly good quality and flavor of the all-you-can-eat crab. It was a perfect weekday lunch.

My wife and I ate until we were stuffed, and we left feeling very happy and satisfied.

If you want to enjoy fresh, reliable crab and spicy crab stew to your heart's content near Ilsan, I sincerely and strongly recommend Deodeo Ganjanggejang Muhalliripil.

Restaurant info

• Name: Deodeo Ganjanggejang Muhalliripil (더더간장게장 무한리필)
• Location: 1118 Hoguk-ro, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00 - 21:30
• Features: Blue Ribbon Survey listing five years in a row, crab takeout and nationwide delivery, parking in front of the restaurant