Guwol-dong blue crab stew with two crabs: Veteran Fish Market

The weather's been getting noticeably cooler lately, and I keep craving hot soupy food. I'd specifically been wanting crab lately, so while searching for kkotgetang (spicy crab stew) I ended up visiting Veteran General Fish Market Incheon City Hall Branch.

Where Veteran General Fish Market Incheon City Hall Branch is and when it opens

Veteran General Fish Market Incheon City Hall Branch is located at 120 Guwolnam-ro, 1F 102-104, Namdong-gu, Incheon, South Korea. It's 386m from Exit 1 of Yesulhoegwan Station.

Hours are Monday–Thursday 11:30–00:30, Friday–Saturday 11:30–01:30, and Sunday 11:30–01:00. Even on a weekday lunch when I visited, there were quite a few customers dining in.

Inside Veteran General Fish Market: seating and atmosphere

The place was bigger than I expected, with a clean, pleasant overall vibe. It's conveniently reachable from the Guwol-dong side, and it's walkable from both Incheon City Hall Station and Yesulhoegwan Station, so it seemed like a good option even by public transit.

There were plenty of tables, so it looked good for family meals or hangouts with friends — a solid pick when you need a place for a group.

With the weather cooling down like this, a lot of people probably start looking for outdoor-patio sashimi restaurants in Guwol-dong. If you're after a spot with a good vibe for raw fish, seafood, and a shot of soju, this could be a solid choice.

What we ordered: small blue crab stew and mini mixed fritters

We ordered the small crab stew (kkotgetang), mini mixed fritters, rice, and a Sprite that day. Ordering just the crab stew felt like it might not be quite enough, so we added the mini mixed fritters as a side — and in the end, I was glad we did.

What side dishes come with the meal?

After a short wait, the banchan arrived first. Salad, seaweed, kimchi, pollock roe, and a sample of hoe-muchim (spicy raw fish salad) all came out together. It was nice being able to nibble on a bit of everything before the main dish arrived.

The seaweed and pollock roe went especially well with rice, and the sample hoe-muchim had a tangy kick that whetted the appetite.

There were more banchan variety than I expected, so it was nice to try a bit of each while waiting for the crab stew.

Mini mixed fritters: onion, kabocha, sweet potato, shrimp and perilla leaf

A little later, the mini mixed fritters came out first. There were onion, sweet pumpkin, sweet potato, shrimp, and perilla leaf fritters — with so many kinds, it was fun picking through them.

Above all, the batter was crispy, not soggy. The onion fritter had a nice sweetness, and the pumpkin and sweet potato had soft, naturally sweet insides. The shrimp fritter was my personal favorite — biting through the crispy batter into the plump shrimp inside kept me reaching for more.

The perilla leaf fritter had that distinct, subtle perilla aroma, giving it a different flavor from the rest. With so many types of fritters, they were great to pair bite by bite while eating the crab stew.

Two blue crabs in the small stew: enough for two people?

And finally, the long-awaited crab stew arrived. It came out in a pot, cooked tableside as it bubbled away.

As it started to boil, a spicy, sharp aroma rose up — exactly the kind of crab stew I'd been craving.

I took a first spoonful of the broth, and the refreshing flavor drawn from the crab blended well with the spicy broth. With cooler weather, this kind of hot soup somehow tastes even better.

The small size of the crab stew came with two crabs. Between the two of us, picking apart the crab and eating it with the broth and rice, there was plenty to eat.

The crab had quite a bit of meat inside, so it was fun to pick apart, and the meat itself had a sweet, soft texture.

Dipping the picked crab meat lightly into the broth or eating it with rice both worked really well.

The water dropwort and onion added to the pot also smelled great. The dropwort's distinct fragrant flavor paired well with the spicy broth, and the onion softened as it cooked, going well with the crab.

Personally, I think the broth matters just as much as the crab in a stew like this, and this one had me spooning up broth again and again — it really suited my taste.

Piling crab meat onto a spoonful of rice with a bit of broth on top confirmed it for me: crab stew is meant to be eaten with rice.

Final verdict on Veteran General Fish Market's blue crab stew

Veteran General Fish Market Incheon City Hall Branch also sells raw shrimp sashimi and salt-grilled shrimp alongside sashimi, so it seemed like a good spot to pick a seasonal menu. A lot of people search for raw shrimp restaurants in Guwol-dong these days, so if you're after fall seafood in season, it might be worth checking the menu before you visit.

I went looking for this place on a sudden crab stew craving as the weather cooled, and I came away well-fed with a spicy, refreshing broth and plenty of crab meat. If you're suddenly craving crab stew or a spicy seafood soup like I was, this is worth a visit. Veteran General Fish Market Incheon City Hall Branch — 100% would revisit.