Apgujeong spicy marinated crab rice bowls: Aemo Kkotgejang

I had errands in Apgujeong last week, searched for a good crab restaurant nearby, and ended up dropping into Aemo Kkotgejang Apgujeong Main Branch on the spot. Writing this up as a recommendation for anyone craving something spicy in the middle of Apgujeong.

Where is Aemo Kkotgejang Apgujeong Main Branch, and is there parking?

Aemo Kkotgejang Apgujeong Main Branch is at 27 Nonhyeon-ro152-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (1st floor), walkable from Exit 3 of Apgujeong Station, Line 3. It's open daily from 11:00 to 24:00, and there's parking right in front of the restaurant.

• 📍Address: 27 Nonhyeon-ro152-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (1st floor)
• Walkable from Exit 3, Apgujeong Station, Line 3
• ⏰Hours: Daily 11:00–24:00
• 🚘Parking: Available in front of the restaurant

It occupies the entire first floor of a standalone building. There's room for about 2-3 cars to park out front.

A brand-new restaurant that landed in Seoul in September, and they had an opening celebration event running too.

Supposedly the spiciest yangnyeom gejang (spicy marinated raw crab) in the whole country, tier 1 🔥 — free if it snows or rains apparently, but I visited on a bright sunny day 🌞. Walking in, I debated whether to order the nationwide top-tier spicy crab and risk setting my stomach on fire, or compromise on something mild, roughly Shin Ramyun level of spicy. Apparently fast-moving celebrities have already been here too — I was curious how good it could actually be, haha.

Inside Aemo Kkotgejang: seating and how solo dining felt

Since Aemo Kkotgejang Apgujeong Main Branch just opened, the interior was completely modern and the whole place felt very clean. There are partitioned room-style seats, which work well both for solo dining and for nearby office gatherings.

The restroom inside was clean too.

Finally seated —

I went at an awkward hour right after work and got lucky enough to sit in one of the partitioned room seats. The space division is well done, so it would work great for nearby office workers' lunch or dinner get-togethers too.

Aemo Kkotgejang menu, one-person orders and what daejeopbap is

Since Aemo Kkotgejang lets you order the yangnyeom gejang as a single portion, I ordered one mild serving, plus daejeopbap (a rice bowl), the owner's recommendation. You order via tablet, on trend these days, and every menu item is available for takeout too.

Since single-serving orders are possible with the yangnyeom gejang, I got one mild serving and added daejeopbap on the owner's recommendation. It's priced the same as a regular bowl of rice, but comes topped with flying fish roe, seaweed flakes, and sesame oil — so it's a better deal.

They gave a bottle of water as standard. Getting your own separate bottled water these days feels like the most hygienic and tidy way to do it. There were also plastic gloves so you could dig into the crab with your hands, which made it even easier to go all in.

The 8 side dishes and the mild seaweed soup

Aemo Kkotgejang's standard side dishes came to 8 in total, and among them, the baechu-jeon (cabbage pancake), a Gyeongsang-do dish, was crispy outside and soft inside — good as an appetizer to whet the appetite. The seaweed soup that came with it was barely seasoned, very mild.

Today's main event, the mild yangnyeom gejang

The daejeopbap I added on! A bowl packed full of rice!!

Maybe it's meant to counteract the strong seasoning, but the seaweed soup that came along wasn't salty at all, barely seasoned, and mild in a good way. I don't usually like seaweed soup, but it was so good I finished the whole broth (I'm usually someone who skips the solids in soup). The owner personally cut the crab up for me so it'd be easy to scoop out. Looked so good....+_+

How the mild yangnyeom gejang tastes: crab meat and spice level

Aemo Kkotgejang's mild yangnyeom gejang had meat packed all the way down into the legs — spicy marinade outside, sweet crab meat inside. Zero fishy taste, so it's a 'deliciously spicy' level even someone sensitive to fishiness could handle.

That deep red marinade... looking at it again now, my mouth is watering—

They call it 'meat yield' when picking crabs, right? The meat was packed all the way down to the legs! Spicy marinade outside, genuinely sweet crab meat inside — the crab wasn't fishy at all, and had that deliciously spicy quality, so even I, sensitive to fishiness, thought I should definitely try their soy crab next time.

Two bowls of daejeopbap, mixed into spicy crab bibimbap

The single serving of crab at Aemo Kkotgejang was generous enough that even after finishing one whole bowl of daejeopbap, there was still plenty of crab left. So I ordered a second bowl of daejeopbap and, per the owner's suggestion, picked out the crab meat and mixed it all together.

Cleared a whole bowl of daejeopbap without breaking a sweat; so much for running the Han River once a week lol. My appetite just gets better and I really eat well when something's tasty — but even after finishing a full bowl of rice, that much crab was still left. Generous portion for a single serving, and such generous hospitality too... so I ordered another bowl of daejeopbap lol.

Second bowl of daejeopbap lol...

Look at that meat yield on the crab legs — is it crab season right now or something? I'm normally more of a 'dip separately' person than a 'mix it all together' person with pretty much every food, but the owner said this crab tastes best picked apart and mixed into the rice, so for the second bowl I went with the owner's recommended bibimbap mode. Having already demolished one whole bowl of daejeopbap, I figured I'd just eat a little more the recommended way — and made yangnyeom gejang bibimbap (spicy marinated crab mixed rice), and—

Hahahaha, cleared it even more completely 🫶🏻 Aside from side dishes I just don't eat, I finished everything else too... Broad daylight, no alcohol involved, and I put away two servings of daejeopbap lol... total 'Snoopy girl in front of food' moment. Koreans really do need to eat something spicy on a regular basis. So grateful that in Apgujeong, a neighborhood full of rich, heavy food, they're serving up this kind of Korean soul food...❤️

Does Aemo Kkotgejang offer takeout and nationwide shipping?

Aemo Kkotgejang Apgujeong Main Branch offers takeout if you're nearby, and apparently ships nationwide too. I'll have to come back soon with a friend to try the soy crab.