Pohang crab restaurant with sashimi refills: Dongnam Hoe Sikdang

Since we were in Pohang, I wanted to eat snow crab, so I searched for crab places in Jukdo Market and ended up having the red crab set at Dongnam Hoe Sikdang (동남회식당). There were tons of crab restaurants on Jukdo Market's crab street, and I have zero regrets about choosing Dongnam Hoe Sikdang! Apparently it has also been featured on the TV shows "6 Si Naegohyang" and "Live Today." 🦀

Where is Dongnam Hoe Sikdang, and what about hours and parking?

Dongnam Hoe Sikdang is at 36 Jukdosijang-gil, Buk-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, South Korea, inside the crab street of Jukdo Fish Market. It is open 09:00–22:00 with no days off.

• Parking: the market parking lot and Kkachi parking lot are both available
• 1 hour of parking is covered (they give you a parking ticket)
• Discounts at the time of our visit (Naver coupon): ₩20,000 off for ₩300,000 or more, ₩10,000 off for ₩160,000 or more, ₩5,000 off for ₩70,000 or more
• Free seafood ramen if you book through Naver

Why I chose Dongnam Hoe Sikdang on Jukdo Market's crab street

When you walk into Jukdo Market's crab street, crab shops with identical-looking signs line up in a row. The sets and prices are posted outside each shop, so you can compare prices and pick one.

We had the red crab set for 2. Dongnam Hoe Sikdang charged ₩80,000, while some other restaurants charged ₩90,000.

Usually, restaurants in fish markets and raw fish centers have pushy touts that put me off, but Dongnam Hoe Sikdang didn't do that, which I loved! Maybe it felt even more different because the shop next door was aggressively calling people in... The gentlemanly owner definitely raised my opinion of the place.

At Dongnam Hoe Sikdang you can eat a set, or order just the crab by the kg. In that case the table setting fee is ₩5,000 per person (no table setting fee for sets). The tank was packed with fresh crabs. 🤤

Dongnam Hoe Sikdang menu: what sets are there?

There were four kinds of sets: bakdal crab / snow crab / red crab / lobster. Each party size has its own set, which made ordering easy, and I liked that!

Usually when there are only sets for 2 or 4 people, it's awkward if you go as a group of 3, but no need to worry about that at Dongnam Hoe Sikdang. And there were plenty of sashimi options too, not just crab.

Here's the country-of-origin sign for reference 📝

Red crab set for 2 at ₩80,000: what comes out?

We ordered the red crab set for 2 (₩80,000) and 2 extra bowls of rice (₩2,000). Once you order, they catch the crab right then, prep it and steam it.

You can see them preparing everything inside the shop, which boosts trust way up

Because we ordered a set, there was a huge amount of food...! The set description said "red crab + assorted sashimi + mulhoe + seafood + spicy fish stew," but even more than that came out.

• What the red crab set for 2 actually included: red crab + assorted sashimi + mulhoe + seafood + braised pollack + seafood ramen + assorted side dishes

Side dishes: whole soy-marinated crab, fried enoki mushrooms, corn cheese

For side dishes, the soy-marinated crab (ganjang gejang) comes out as a whole crab like this. Personally I'm not a fan because it's hard to eat, but when a whole crab comes out you can eat all the innards too, so some people may prefer this! The hot fried enoki mushrooms and corn cheese are the appetizers~ I don't know why I get so happy when a raw fish restaurant gives me corn cheese 😋

And then the mulhoe, seafood and braised pollack. Aren't we going to be full before we even touch the crab..?

Slushy mulhoe with icy broth for summer

The mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) included in the red crab set was a slushy mulhoe full of icy slush. In summer, a cold, tangy mulhoe is the best > < It had thin wheat noodles (somyeon) in it too, and for a mulhoe that comes as a standard part of the set, I was a little surprised by how much raw fish was in it..! The set works out to about ₩40,000 per person, and the lineup is so generous for the price.

Braised pollack served whole, as a side dish

And then the braised pollack (kodari jjim). Wait, do they normally give you a whole pollack like this as a side dish....? I'd never seen a place like this, so I was a bit flustered. You could mistake it for a Korean set-course restaurant... the crab is just a bonus. The seasoning was delicious so I picked every bit off, haha. The flesh was plump too, and it just begged for a bowl of rice!

Seafood: sea squirt, abalone, conch, shrimp and lotus leaf rice

There's still so much left to eat... Now the seafood. It has sea squirt, abalone, conch and shrimp. In the middle there were white wood-ear mushrooms and fruit, and I wondered whether they just meant for us to eat the mushrooms plain..? Later I put them in the seafood ramen and they were delicious, haha, just like malatang!

The abalone sashimi was crunchy and delicious! Maybe because they sliced it from something that was clearly alive, it tasted so fresh. And I wondered what was wrapped in that banana leaf..? It turned out to be lotus leaf rice, something like sweet medicinal rice (yakbap)! It was chewy and lightly sweet, so good that we each finished one in no time.

How much sashimi is in the set, and the owner's sashimi refills

The red crab set for 2 at Dongnam Hoe Sikdang even has this much assorted sashimi..! It's not even a standalone sashimi order, just one part of the set, and I thought this amount was excellent. If two people go to a raw fish restaurant and order a small plate, it costs around ₩30,000 per person, so the value really seems great!

There was quite a variety and it was tasty. The slices weren't thick, just a moderate thickness. Sushi rice came out too, so we happily made our own pieces.

And the crazy part... the owner went around the dining room telling every table to let him know if they wanted more sashimi, and he sliced up this much extra for us. Wait.. a place that refills sashimi the way others refill side dishes..? I've never seen that before. I was amazed and asked if he always does this, and he said he goes around the tables and always tries to give more to any table that looks like it needs it.. 🥹 His generosity was seriously incredible... And the owner is super kind! If you go to Dongnam Hoe Sikdang and want more sashimi, you could try asking him.

The star red crabs: how were the size and meat?

Finally, today's star arrives!!! It took so long to get here. Freshly steamed red crab appeared, red and appetizing. It's a set for 2, so two red crabs 🦀🦀🦀

Being red crab, they were a bit small, but the meat inside was packed. They had also cut them up with a knife so they were easy to eat, and we just cracked them open and ate comfortably! 👍🏻

The leg meat came out easily too. At places that steam crab badly, water just drips out and a lot of them are salty, but the red crab at Dongnam Hoe Sikdang was just moistly right and not salty at all, so it was super tasty. As with any fish market crab restaurant, there's no warming device so it cools quickly, so you need to eat it fast while it's warm and good!

They scored the claws too, so one tap and the meat slides right out. The body was packed with meat as well! Small, but full of meat. 😋😋

Definitely add the crab shell bibimbap

At Dongnam Hoe Sikdang, if you add a bowl of rice and ask the staff to mix it in the crab shell, they bring it out as crab shell bibimbap (gedakji bibimbap)! The crab shell bibimbap here is seriously delicious! I highly recommend adding it.. I'm not a huge fan of the innards' taste, so if there's too much fishy innard flavor I eat it with kimchi flavor, but here there was no fishiness, only nuttiness, which was perfect for me. My boyfriend also said the crab shell bibimbap here is good and ate it up!

Spicy fish stew with no MSG

The spicy fish stew (maeun-tang) at Dongnam Hoe Sikdang was super good too... The moment we took the first bite of the bubbling stew, we looked at each other and said, this place does a great maeun-tang..! haha. And after eating a bit more we said, wow, we have to order rice, and added another bowl. It totally begs for white rice!

While we were enjoying it, a staff member came by and asked whether our stew was good, and we said yes, super delicious. She proudly told us they use no MSG at all in the stew, and it tasted like something you could well be proud of.

Finish with seafood ramen you boil yourself

Now the really, truly, finally last one... After the stew I was so full, but I couldn't skip the seafood ramen, so I boiled it up diligently. The seafood ramen is included by default in the set! They give you a pot with mussels and snow crab legs, and when you want ramen you add water and boil it yourself.

Once the ramen was done, the meat from the snow crab legs in it just slid out and we happily ate it, hahaha. Even the final ramen made it a perfect course T_T

Dongnam Hoe Sikdang red crab set: overall review

A review of going to eat red crab and eating more of everything else.. I really felt the lineup was incredibly generous and great value! And above all, the owner and staff were sooo kind that I had a really pleasant meal. With so many dishes in the set, you stay at the restaurant for a long time, but the owner and staff treated us so kindly to the very end that we could enjoy the meal in a good mood until the last bite ♡

• Taste ★★★★☆
• Friendliness ★★★★★
• Comfort ★★★☆☆
• Lineup ★★★★★
• Value for money ★★★★★

The red crab is a bit small, so paying ₩10,000 more per person for the snow crab set might be a good idea too!