Private room family meal at a Gimhae seafood restaurant: Dosi Crab

Lately my father-in-law hasn't been eating well because his stomach's been upset, and it's been weighing on me. This time I wanted to properly treat him to something he likes, so my husband, our kid, and I went to Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch.

Honestly, I'm not that big a fan of snow crab haha. My husband loves it so we went together, but that day I ended up enjoying it more than expected — and best of all, my father-in-law ate really well, so I was glad we brought him.

Where is Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch, and what are its hours?

• Location: 5 Gusan-ro 19beon-gil, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea
• Hours: Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri 17:00–22:00, Sat/Sun 12:00–22:00, break time 15:00–17:00
• Closed: Tuesdays
• Parking: dedicated lot available

Private rooms and space: why Dosi Crab works for dining with parents

Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch has a large dedicated parking lot, so it was easy to visit by car. The interior was bigger than I expected too, with generous space between tables.

Besides the regular hall, there are separate private rooms, so we booked one in advance through Naver. Since we were dining with my father-in-law and our child, I wanted a bit more comfort, and having a separated space made it nice for the family to talk and eat together.

On one side of the store there's a big tank with snow crab and king crab. According to the store's signage, they handle everything themselves — importing, sorting, distribution, and sales — as a crab direct-sale outlet. You pick the crab you want to eat right from the tank, so if you're looking for a good crab restaurant in Gimhae, this is worth knowing.

Picking snow crab from the tank and having it steamed to order

After sitting down, the first thing we did was pick out the crab we'd eat. We chose Magadan snow crab and ordered it steamed in cypress wood.

After they weighed it and the order went in, it started steaming right away, taking about 20 minutes to arrive at the table. I liked that it wasn't pre-steamed crab sitting around — it's cooked fresh after ordering.

That said, you're not just sitting there for 20 minutes doing nothing haha. The basic table setting comes out course by course in the meantime, so you can start eating slowly while waiting for the crab main.

The 6,000-won table setting served while the crab steams

The adult table setting is ₩6,000 per person. Starting with a warm mushroom soup, it included sweet raw shrimp and shrimp sushi, cockle and water dropwort salad with vinegar dressing, crab-stick salad, two kinds of kimchi, and fried crab leg and shrimp — more variety than I expected.

I especially loved the shrimp. It was fresh enough that eating it raw was plump and juicy, and the shrimp sushi was soft, so I finished it quickly.

The cockle and water dropwort salad was sweet and tangy, perfect to reset the palate every so often, and the crab-stick salad was soft and nutty, pairing well with everything else.

The two fried items weren't just the same thing twice, either. The one on the left was fried crab leg, the right was fried shrimp, and even the batter was different between them. Crispy batter outside with moist meat inside made both delicious while warm. By the time you finish all this, the cypress-steamed crab is about to arrive.

For reference, the Naver menu listing shows the table setting including 2 pieces of boiled pork, but when I asked staff directly, they said it's currently not served. Worth knowing if you're planning to visit.

Also, per the store's policy, children under 14 and seniors over 80 get the table setting for free. For us too, our child and father-in-law didn't get charged for it. Good to know if you're visiting with parents or kids.

Magadan snow crab steamed in cypress, still hot at the last bite

Finally the cypress-steamed crab arrived. Seeing the big cypress box filled with bright red crab, the table really transformed once the main dish showed up. The Magadan snow crab we had was marked A++ grade on the info card that came with it.

The crab came pre-cleaned for easy eating, so all we had to do was crack the shell and pull out the meat. No need to cut it up piece by piece with scissors, which made it easy even for my father-in-law.

Another thing I liked was that the cypress steamer keeps the crab warm the whole time at the table. Normally crab cools down as you slowly eat, but since the warmth stayed until the end, it made enjoying the cypress-steamed crab a relaxed experience.

Lately my father-in-law says his stomach's been off every day and his appetite has really dropped, but that day he ate so well. Watching him keep going with the crab meat made me happier than I expected.

When I tried it myself, it was moist and soft with a subtle sweetness — really good. Of course, after about five bites I slowly stopped haha. My husband, as usual, ate way more than me.

I don't usually eat crab innards either, but that day there was almost no fishy taste, just a nutty flavor, so I even mixed in crab meat and ate it together.

At the end we also added the Sanhae crab innard fried rice for ₩5,000. With the nutty innards plus seaweed flakes and popping roe, I kept taking one more bite even though I was full. Strawberry yogurt came out for dessert, wrapping things up nicely.

Bakdal snow crab at Dosi Crab: my first in 13 years

Thirteen years ago, back when my husband and I were dating, we went all the way to Yeongdeok for bakdal snow crab. I remember two of them cost nearly ₩300,000. The problem was, in front of that expensive crab, I barely ate any of it haha.

Watching me eat, my husband said,

"Next time let's just go get beef."

I still remember that. After that I had red crab or cheaper snow crab here and there, but it had been 13 years since I had bakdal snow crab.

This time the total bill came to about ₩150,000. We received partial sponsorship support and paid the excess ourselves, but remembering the price of that bakdal crab in Yeongdeok 13 years ago, this felt like a decent deal.

More than anything, the reason I came to this Gimhae crab restaurant was to treat my father-in-law to a good meal, and the best part was seeing him — who hasn't been eating well lately — eat so heartily.

Being able to pick the crab yourself and have it steamed fresh right after ordering, plus the varied basic table setting, made it a good family meal option with parents or kids. 😊

※ This visit included partial sponsorship support; any cost beyond that was paid by the writer.