Cheonan crab soup restaurant with reserved window seats: Huni Gejang

Crab soup at the entrance to Taejosan in Cheonan: Huni Gejang Cheonan Main Branch

This is a well-known restaurant in Yuryang-dong, Cheonan, famous for its skill with gejang (soy-marinated crab). I stopped by this Cheonan favorite known for its refreshing soy-marinated crab and crab soup (꽃게탕). It's right at the entrance to Taejosan, so it's also a great spot to pair with a mountain walk.

I stopped in on my way to an autumn walk — the restaurant sits along a cozy little path. This Yuryang-dong, Cheonan favorite is known for its generous, delicious crab soup and soy crab set menu, and I figured there'd be something good in the crab soup too — but it exceeded expectations, packed with so much crab. So much meat yield, thumbs up.

The broth is incredibly refreshing and delicious — clean yet deeply savory, full of the flavor of the sea. It's part of a full Korean-style set meal, and with fresh seafood throughout, the whole meal tastes great.

Where is Huni Gejang, and what about hours and parking?

Huni Gejang Cheonan Main Branch is located at 52-6 Taejosan-gil, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, 1st floor, open daily 10:50–21:00 (last order posted as 22:00). Parking is available, and the lot is very spacious, so parking is easy.

Past the first door and then through a second, golden-colored door, you find a clean, pleasant dining hall.

Walking in, the clean, pleasant interior stood out. The tables are long with wide spacing, great for group dining. Sure enough, the place was full of families and had a steady stream of guests coming and going — a restaurant with a nice turnover rate.

Visiting with a child and reserving a window seat

There are high chairs on one side of the restaurant, so families with young children can dine comfortably too.

Since I'd reserved ahead, they had already set up a window seat for me.

Huni Gejang uses nationally recognized specialty ingredients — domestic blue crab from Yeonpyeong-do and shrimp from Sinan. Yeonpyeong-do blue crab is famous for firm, deeply sweet meat, while Sinan shrimp is known for its springy texture — I was looking forward to it even before eating.

Huni Gejang crab soup prices and how to order

Ordering is easy with a kiosk right at the table. The soy-marinated crab and roe-filled crab set stood out on the menu. What surprised me was that the baby rice menu item is sold for just ₩100 — really perfect for a family outing with kids.

There were two of us, so we ordered the ₩70,000 small crab soup and two bowls of rice at ₩1,000 each. Note that crab soup does not come with rice included, so you need to order plain rice or hot-pot rice separately!

The receipt review event at Huni Gejang

The receipt review event is a nice touch — writing a review donates ₩1,000 to a Cheonan childcare center, so it's worth doing. Plus you get a free shrimp jang, half portion of seasoned crab, or a drink — a nice two-birds-one-stone deal.

Plastic gloves, a spoon-and-chopsticks set, and wet wipes were all perfectly prepared. Since you eat crab with your hands, having these neatly prepared tools makes it much easier.

What side dishes come with the crab soup?

I first tasted the neatly arranged banchan (side dishes) one by one, and every single one was really delicious! Clean and refined, yet with the warm taste of homemade cooking — the word 'tidy' fits perfectly.

• Kimchi
• Salted seafood (jeotgal)
• Seaweed (gim)
• Seasoned seaweed stem salad
• Bracken fern
• Soft tofu (sundubu)

Kimchi, jeotgal, gim, seasoned seaweed stem, bracken, soft tofu — each side dish was made with real care. After tasting the array of banchan, the crab soup arrived.

The pot was so much bigger than expected, packed full of crab. How are two of us going to eat all this? Isn't this too much? — that's how the meal started, but in the end, it was so delicious we finished it all.

The 5-minute hourglass: why you wait before eating

There's a 5-minute hourglass on the table at Huni Gejang. Of course the crab soup already arrives at a full boil, but letting it simmer for about 5 minutes with the pretty hourglass makes it even more delicious. The crab soup looks stunning next to the side dishes too.

Watching the 5-minute hourglass on the table, time slipped by.

The friendly owner told us to eat right when the sand ran out, so we waited a bit.

While waiting for the sand to finish falling, the delicious smell kept wafting over, building anticipation even more.

This is the Yuryang-dong, Cheonan crab soup and soy crab favorite, known for its spicy yet deep, refreshing broth. Other tables were visible here and there, and since it was lunchtime, a lot of people were ordering the soy crab set.

The red shells are a sign it's well cooked — I picked one up to check.

Not light at all — heavy, packed full of meat inside. So good.

Seeing how heavy and full the meat was, all I could think was: eat it, now.

The bubbling broth is hot, so be careful. Above all, using the scissors and tongs well to cleanly pick meat from the hard shell and pop it straight into your mouth is key.

The rice on the side was something we ordered separately.

How much meat was in the Yeonpyeong-do blue crab?

Crab soup doesn't come with rice on its own. The yield was so good that even just the crab meat alone was satisfying.

It felt even softer because it was so packed full. Pulling out the soft meat inside, it just melts.

The meat was packed all the way through, so there was plenty to pick out — pale, springy crab meat along with rich, savory yellow roe made it delicious.

You really taste the essence of fresh crab soup here — freshness and vitality coexisting. Meat kept coming out from inside the shell, a full feast of crab.

Carefully using the tongs, I had fun picking out meat and already polished off one crab in no time.

I tried it with the soft, refreshing radish that came alongside.

With the pocket hygiene gloves on, you can dig into the crab properly — using sharp scissors to cut and pick, I lost all track of time.

No fishy taste at all — just the deep, rich umami of Yeonpyeong-do blue crab, well seasoned with a spicy broth soaked all the way through.

Eating it with rice and the side dishes brought everything together well. The broth is the real deal, and the crab meat is full of sweet flavor too.

Is Huni Gejang good for a family or group meal?

Huni Gejang Cheonan Main Branch has a spacious dining room with plenty of tables, so it works great for families or groups — perfect for a gathering or a work dinner. Simmering the crab soup at the table draws out great flavor from the crab broth. No matter how much you eat, the meat-packed crab soup doesn't seem to run out, refreshing and clean yet distinctly fresh. Good atmosphere, spacious and comfortable — a real Yuryang-dong, Cheonan favorite.