Red snow crab set at Yeonggwang Hoe, a Pohang seafood restaurant

A full red snow crab course at Jukdo Market, Pohang

A while back I went on a food trip to Jukdo Market in Pohang, craving some sea breeze and a serious seafood binge. Pohang means fresh sashimi and snow crab first and foremost, right? Among the countless Jukdo Market restaurants, I picked Yeonggwang Hoe Daegae Center, famous for its expert crab-prepping skills, and demolished a red snow crab (hongge) set for two haha.

Seriously, from the side dishes to the main crab, ramyeon, and maeuntang (spicy fish stew), the table was so packed it nearly collapsed — I left completely satisfied.

Where is Yeonggwang Hoe Daegae Center, and where do you park?

It's at 34 Jukdo Sijang-gil, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, right along the crab-and-sashimi street inside Jukdo Fish Market. Hours are 10:00–22:00, open every day of the year, and you can park at the Jukdo Fish Market public parking lot.

Finding the restaurant: the storefront and the dining room

Yeonggwang Hoe Daegae Center sits inside Jukdo Market. It wasn't hard to find at all — the sign stands out right away. The tank at the entrance was packed with plump, fresh snow crab, red snow crab, and live fish, which had my expectations soaring before I even walked in.

Stepping inside, the interior was much bigger and cleaner than I expected. The tables had generous spacing and everything felt well organized — a comfortable atmosphere for a meal. I thought it'd be great for group gatherings or family outings too.

This sign cracked me up haha. 'Give generously and we'll thrive' — a place bound for TV, honestly. We arrived around 7:30–8pm. It was near closing so there weren't many diners, but takeout orders kept steadily coming in.

Why order the hongge set? Snow crab was out of season

The menu is really varied. Sashimi, seafood, mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) — you could have a full meal, plus tons of snow crab and red snow crab options!

Here's what I ordered — so excited ⤵️⤵️ I wanted regular snow crab, but they said it was out of season. So I went with the red snow crab (hongge) set for two instead.

The banchan and mulhoe that kept coming

You guys, the banchan (side dishes) here are insane. So many kinds, all delicious, and the whole spread is amazing. The first thing that caught my eye was pufferfish skin! Sweet-and-sour seasoning with a chewy, springy texture — absolutely perfect for whetting the appetite.

One shrimp sushi per person — honestly, no need to say more, it just hit.

Yakbap (sweet rice), squid muchim, fries, and baby crab all came out in a full spread. The baby crab fritters were a surprising standout! Whole tiny crabs fried crisp and coated in a sweet-salty glaze — savory, with more umami the more you chewed. Kept reaching for another.

No sashimi restaurant visit is complete without the classic crowd-pleaser: corn cheese haha. It came out sizzling golden-brown on a hot plate, and scooping up a big spoonful — the savory sweetness, just wow. The owner said baby crab tastes even better with corn cheese, so I tried it that way. Wow, this guy knows food.

🧊 The ultimate in refreshing, spicy-cool: a slushy mulhoe comes standard too. Genuinely amazing — mixed it up and took a bite, and the tangy sweetness with that icy chill blew the heat away instantly!! Loaded with sashimi too, so the chewy bite was on point 👍🏻

The visuals alone are gorgeous. Pear, cucumber, sashimi, gochujang broth — all a hit. And the lotus-leaf yakbap was a surprise! I don't eat yakbap so I skipped it, but my friend who came along said it was delicious!

And the banchan still isn't over, folks. Nakji tangtangi (chopped live octopus) and whole live octopus too — a truly massive full course. Dipping it in sesame oil sauce is just so good. Hadn't had live octopus in a while — real treat.

Still, still, the side dishes kept coming — next up was the assorted sashimi platter. Genuinely gorgeous — since it's part of the set, I expected it to be an afterthought, but it looked freshly caught, clear and glossy, wow. Dipped it in wasabi soy sauce and chogochujang, and the chewy, savory texture unique to fresh sashimi was insane with every bite!! Anyone who loves raw fish will have zero complaints here.

The red snow crab main: pre-cleaned and easy to eat

Finally, the main event — honestly, this was all I was waiting for. The owner, true to their expert-cleaner reputation, had already prepped it so well that all I had to do was pull out the meat — so convenient. The red color alone was mouthwatering, and the meat yield exceeded expectations — every single leg was packed full!

Clams came steamed on the side as a complimentary extra — that sweet, salty umami unique to red snow crab was insane.

A bite of sashimi wrapped in lettuce, then a chunk of crab body meat — you guys, this is paradise. ????? There's no way soju isn't involved. Pour, drink, repeat.

Free hongge ramyeon, crab-shell rice and maeuntang to finish

Already stuffed with crab and sashimi, but you can't skip this part. Ramyeon loaded with red snow crab — and it's free! Insane.

Half a whole crab goes right into the pot, so the broth is deeply infused with rich hongge flavor from the start — genuinely a work of art. The noodles have a good chewy bite, and the broth is cool-spicy enough to double as hangover food. I ate it with real admiration.

If you're eating crab, you have to eat the shell too — no question. The crab-shell rice, stir-fried with rich crab tomalley, seaweed flakes, sesame seeds, and sesame oil, is next-level — a genuine rice thief. The savory tomalley flavor runs so deep that even full, I inhaled it without thinking.

After the hongge ramyeon, the finale — maeuntang! One great thing about Pohang sashimi restaurants is that maeuntang comes free! Plenty of places in Busan or Yangsan don't include it. Truly the perfect close to the meal — maeuntang! The longer it bubbled, the more the fish bones and spicy seasoning melded into something rich and full-bodied. The broth was clean yet deep, so mixing in the leftover crab-shell rice or a bowl of plain rice was game over — in the best way.

The hongge set was 90,000 won. Seriously such a steal, right? Truly a steal at this level. Jukdo Market in Pohang has plenty of great restaurants, countless sashimi and crab spots, but Yeonggwang Hoe Daegae Center is genuinely one I'd recommend.