Ilsan soy crab all-you-can-eat on Saturday, kids 10,000 won: Deodeo

I hadn't had marinated crab in a while and went looking for a good soy sauce crab place nearby. I found one close to us where you can eat gejang (marinated raw crab) all-you-can-eat, and lots of reviews said the crab quality and refills were good, so our family of three went. Both the soy sauce crab and the spicy marinated crab were fresh, and the side dishes were generous too, so we left full and happy. 🙂

Location and parking at Deodeo Ganjanggejang in Ilsan

The Ilsan branch of Deodeo Ganjanggejang Muhalliripil (더더간장게장무한리필) is on Wondang-ro in Deokyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi.

We came by car, and the big parking lot in front of the restaurant meant no trouble finding a spot. Even when the food is great, a popular place with awkward parking makes you hesitate to come back, but here there's plenty of room, so it's easy to visit with family by car 😊

Weekend lunch atmosphere and waiting

We arrived around 1pm on a Saturday. It was lunchtime and the restaurant was full of diners, but luckily we got in right away with no wait.

Customers kept coming in while we ate 😮 There were quite a lot of tables, and I saw many families. When guests left, the staff cleared tables quickly, so turnover seemed fairly fast. I was also impressed by how the owner and staff handled customers. Even at a busy time, they answered every request kindly, so we could eat comfortably.

With so many seats, it looked like a good spot for family or friends' gatherings too!

All-you-can-eat soy sauce crab and spicy crab menu

You choose between the all-you-can-eat set and the one-crab set meal (hanmari jeongsik). We ordered the all-you-can-eat set, with unlimited soy sauce crab, spicy marinated crab and crab stew! Kids aged 6 to 10 cost ₩10,000 each. That's less than the adult price, which makes it easier to come with children. And if kids like gejang, they eat it better than you'd expect, right? haha

They gave us generous portions of soy sauce crab and spicy crab from the start.

The crabs come already cut up so they're easy to eat, and you can just pick them up by hand. After finishing the first round, you can ask for as many refills as you want. I liked that you can request soy sauce crab or spicy crab depending on your taste. We asked for refills while eating and they brought them right away. There was no feeling of being given a look for asking, and the staff were kind about it, so we ate happily.

The side dishes were each carefully made and we enjoyed them with the crab, and I was glad steamed egg (gyeranjjim) came out too 😍

Soy sauce crab that's not too salty, with plump meat

I tried the soy sauce crab first.

It looked packed with meat! The meat wasn't mushy and kept a firm, springy texture.

Look at all that crab meat!! They really use meaty crabs 👍

There was plenty of roe inside the shell and no fishy smell at all!! It had great savory depth, and the soy sauce wasn't too salty, so it was perfect for eating with my child haha. Strong saltiness can make it hard to eat a lot, but the seasoning here isn't excessive, so it went well with rice haha. Mixing rice in the crab shell is delicious, but I also recommend the gim (dried seaweed) and flying fish roe that come with it!

I put rice, soy sauce crab meat and flying fish roe on a sheet of gim and ate it in one bite. The savory crab, the nuttiness of the gim and the popping texture of the roe made a great combination 👌

They say the claw meat is the tastiest meat haha. They give you both scissors and tongs, plus two bowls to throw the shells in. Hygiene gloves and disposable aprons are provided too, which made eating gejang convenient.

Sweet, not-too-spicy marinated crab

The spicy marinated crab (yangnyeom gejang) hits you with sweetness first, then a mild heat follows. The seasoning isn't very hot or harsh, so it's easy to eat.

The seasoning didn't bury the flavor of the crab meat, and this one too was springy rather than mushy, so it felt like they use fresh crab 😉

There's plenty of seasoning on the spicy crab too~!! Being able to pick either flavor and keep refilling felt like Deodeo Ganjanggejang's biggest strength. I've heard some all-you-can-eat gejang places make you choose just one of soy or spicy when you refill! But... choosing one is so hard haha. Both are so good!!

Refreshing seafood stew and free ramyeon noodles

The seafood stew that comes with the crab was tasty too. The broth from the seafood was cool and clean-tasting, great to spoon up between bites of gejang 👍

Alternating between soy sauce crab and spicy crab, then taking a spoonful of warm broth, left my mouth feeling nicely reset. They also gave us ramyeon noodles for free.

After eating plenty of crab, we put them in the leftover seafood stew and boiled them. The refreshing broth soaked into the noodles, and it was a hearty way to finish 😆

Overall verdict from our family of three

The gejang was fresh and refills were easy, so the whole family left satisfied. If you're looking for a generous soy sauce crab meal in Ilsan, Deodeo Ganjanggejang is worth a visit. 🙂