Anniversary snow crab dinner in Gusan-dong, Gimhae: Dosi Crab

I've been craving snow crab so badly, so I used my upcoming anniversary as an excuse to drag my fiancé to Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch 🦀 This place only just opened and it's already known as a snow crab spot?

Where is Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch, and is there parking?

Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch is located at 5 Gusan-ro 19beon-gil, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. There's a large dedicated parking lot right beside the building — clap clap.

Pride in their crab, clearly. The exterior alone makes Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch look huge — for reference, there are also Gwangan and Yangsan branches.

What is the Dosi Crab Special Event?

They were running a wild event at the time — spend what you'd pay for a Jeju flight plus rental, come eat crab here instead, and get benefits for free.

The inside was really spacious, with plenty of hall seating and rooms too. And the place was packed with customers. As expected... a Gimhae crab hotspot!!!

Naver reservation perk: a welcome letter with your name on the table

Since I booked through Naver Reservation before visiting Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch, the table was already set up when we arrived.

What really touched me was finding a welcome letter (?) on the table with my name printed on it. It genuinely felt like being treated as a guest of honor.

After a long deliberation over the menu, we ordered the recommended Magadan snow crab (박달대게) at 1.5kg!

Picking your snow crab from the live tanks at Dosi Crab

Before the food arrived we walked around the hall, and since Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch is a crab direct-sale market, we could actually see the snow crabs in person.

Huge crabs moving around alive — so cool. The meat looked plump and fresh. The origin labeling was also clearly displayed.

Great selection of drinks and alcohol too. Seeing this, I couldn't not order it — the Dosi Crab highball (that I ordered the moment I saw it is not a secret).

Aprons and baby chairs were of course available in the store. There were also restrooms inside the hall, which was convenient — not one stall but two, nice.

Dosi Crab has three branches total — Yangsan, Gwangan, and Gimhae — and all three seem to be doing well.

What the ₩6,000 per-person table charge at Dosi Crab includes

Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch charges a ₩6,000 per-person table fee, and there's a good reason for it. The scale of the basic side dishes was no joke.

First I tried the warm mushroom soup — soft and savory, perfect as a pre-meal appetizer. It felt like it warmed up my stomach before the crab, so I finished the whole bowl in no time haha.

Then came sweet shrimp plus shrimp sushi, and since it's a shrimp dish, it really got the seafood appetite going even before the crab. The sweet shrimp's signature soft, sweet flavor was great, and the sushi was clean and easy to eat too. (Personally I love sweet shrimp.)

One dish that stood out to me personally was the fried crab leg plus fried shrimp! Since it's a snow crab specialty restaurant, they serve fried crab leg. First time trying it, and it was genuinely delicious — crispy outside, with the clean, mild flavor of crab inside. The fried shrimp was crispy too, and I kept reaching for the fried food even before the crab arrived lol.

There was also a cockle and minari (water dropwort) vinaigrette in between to refresh the palate! The tangy seasoning plus the fragrant minari paired perfectly with the seafood dishes.

The crab-stick salad was relatively plain and soft, so it was good to eat in between the fried food and the crab. Having a salad made the whole spread feel a bit cleaner overall. White kimchi also came along — crunchy, and I basically ate all of it myself.

A spread and flavor that instantly justify the ₩6,000 per-person table charge.

Dip the fried shrimp into the sauce that comes with it, and it makes this crunchy crackle sound with every bite.

The unusual fried crab leg — take a peek at the meat inside, plump and full.

Does the Dosi Crab highball pair well with snow crab?

The refreshing taste of the highball paired really well with the crab. Crab can get a bit heavy the more you eat, but the highball cut right through that. Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch has quite a few highball varieties, and it's clearly not pushed for no reason. Paired with the crab, it was a match made in heaven! Recommended!

1.5kg Magadan snow crab, served fully prepped

Finally, the Magadan snow crab (박달대게) arrived! It came pre-prepped for easy eating, so there was no hassle of cracking it apart myself before diving in.

My first snow crab in ages — and it looked so good it made me tear up. It's not cheap, so I can't eat it often, but when I do, I'm going all in... The innards in the shell were incredible too. Time to start the eating show.

A visual that makes you gasp!!! The crab leg meat was packed in solidly, and pulling it out in one clean piece was the best part. Mild but with a subtle sweetness. It was delicious plain, and just as good dipped in chili sauce or soy sauce. The claw meat especially was thick and meaty — personally my favorite part.

Crab innard fried rice from the receipt review event, plus dessert yogurt

Oh, and Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch was running a Naver receipt review event — write one review and get crab innard fried rice, write two and get crab ramyeon. Mixing rice into the crab innards after finishing the crab is basically an unwritten rule, right haha. I joined right away and ate the innard fried rice haha. Do I even need to describe the taste — savory, sweet, everything all at once.

Just as we were about to get up after finishing, a staff member said, "Excuse me!!! We have dessert too!!!" So we sat back down haha. Finished off cleanly with dessert yogurt. Overall, nothing about the basic side dishes felt thrown together — every single dish felt cared for, and I was very satisfied.

Is Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch worth it? Final verdict

Looks like plenty of celebrities have already been here. Dosi Crab Gimhae Branch isn't just about the crab — the whole lineup, from the basic side dishes to dessert, was well put together. Especially since the basic dishes were all genuinely tasty, my mouth was never bored even while waiting for the crab lol.

Overall verdict: for snow crab, it has to be Dosi Crab!!!