Sokcho seafood jang restaurant with mild gejang kids love: Geu Badaro

Whenever we go to Sokcho I usually think of sashimi or snow crab first, but this time we went out for seafood jang instead, thanks to our kids who've been singing about gejang (marinated crab) every single day. And honestly... this ended up being the meal our family was most satisfied with on this whole Sokcho trip. 😆 On the way out the kids told the owner, "Please run this restaurant forever" hahaha (I wonder if the owner will remember that?! Please stay open a long, long time ㅠㅠㅠ ♥)

We have kids at home who really love seafood. I'm pretty into seafood myself too, so whenever we're in Sokcho we'll eat pretty much anything — sashimi, shellfish, crab. Lately the kids have been especially obsessed with gejang, chanting "I want gejang" before we even left for the trip. So this time we decided to specifically find a seafood jang specialty restaurant. That's how we ended up at Sokcho Geu Badaro.

What's the vibe at Sokcho Geu Badaro? A bright, clean Korean restaurant

Sokcho Geu Badaro is a seafood jang specialty restaurant on the 1st floor of 171 Expo-ro, Sokcho, Gangwon, and it also does takeout. The space was so clean, bright, and open — the whole tone and manner felt perfect for a family gathering or even bringing guests along.

Definitely order the seafood jang assortment set...!

What we ordered was the seafood jang assortment set for 2 (with 2 potato pot rice). Based on the current menu listing it's meant for 2–3 people, and comes with two potato pot rice bowls. The four of us — two adults, two kids — shared it, and since we're a seafood-loving family, it felt like plenty to pick through.

From the moment it arrived, I liked that the lineup was more varied than expected. Instead of a huge pile of just one seafood, you get to taste a little of several kinds, so you keep reaching for something different instead of getting tired of it.

My husband usually avoids gejang because he finds it heavy and cloying, but he said this one had absolutely none of that and was genuinely delicious haha. What I liked most was that every single seafood item, not just the gejang, kept its own texture and aroma while still being seasoned just right.

The basic banchan (side dishes) were so good too that we kept reaching for them — each one was neat and delicious, and they went so well with the pot rice that the pot rice itself felt even better for it.

Why the mild seasoning of the seafood jang made it even better

The seafood jang at Sokcho Geu Badaro was less salty than I expected. Seasoning is always something I pay close attention to with seafood jang. The first bite or two is savory and delicious, but keep eating and sometimes it gets so salty you can't manage without rice. That's especially a concern when eating with kids. But this place wasn't like that at all, so the kids ate without any hesitation.

Of course everyone's sense of how salty something is differs, but it really suited our family's taste. The kids finally got the gejang they'd been waiting for, and best of all, everyone could just pick out whatever they liked, which made the whole meal so much easier. Traveling usually means scrambling to feed the kids, but that day everyone just grabbed whatever seafood they liked on their own, so I actually got to eat at ease too. That kind of thing quietly matters a lot on a family trip. 😂

What seafood comes in the assortment set?

The biggest advantage of Sokcho Geu Badaro's seafood jang assortment is definitely getting to try several kinds of seafood at once. According to the listed menu description, alongside gejang it also comes with abalone, conch, salmon, shrimp, scallop, octopus and more. We tried them one by one, saying "this one's good" or "this one needs rice with it," and sharing this way was genuinely fun. I personally love this kind of assortment setup!! Even if you're not a huge eater, you still get to experience variety haha.

Order just one kind and the flavor is solid, but at some point it starts to taste the same. With several kinds arriving together, you can switch bite by bite, so it stays interesting until the very end. It's especially fun when you go with other seafood lovers who all like different things — in our family, the kids went straight for the gejang, I picked out abalone and shrimp, and my husband ate something else again. Everyone chasing after their own favorites, and before we knew it the bowl was nearly empty.

My daughter savoring it with her eyes closed hahaha — that's true devotion, right?! That day we really put one piece of seafood on each spoonful of rice, so the meal stretched on for a while. The kids ate well too, and honestly, that's the part that satisfied me most as a mom. When your kids eat well while traveling, it kind of feels like the whole trip was a success haha.

So after we finished eating, I told my husband, "Honestly, if this place were in our neighborhood, we'd probably go all the time." Some of it might be that traveling all the way to Sokcho made it taste even better, but this really felt like a place we'd want to take our seafood-loving kids to once in a while if it were nearby. Maybe not weekly haha, but the kind of place you'd think of whenever you're craving seafood jang!

Who is Sokcho Geu Badaro a good fit for?

Based on what we experienced firsthand, here's who I think this place suits well:

• 🦀 Families who love seafood
• 👧 Anyone traveling Sokcho with kids
• 🍚 People who love the gejang-and-rice combo
• 🐙 Anyone who'd rather try several kinds of seafood than just one
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Families who want a full spread to share together

On the other hand, if you're not really into seafood, there's no strong need to seek this place out. But like my husband, who isn't into gejang but likes other seafood, the assortment format might win you over more than you'd expect. For our family, it was definitely a place that suited our taste.