what to eat at jeju island. best things to eat at jeju island

Have you tried all 16 of Jeju Island’s speciality food? According to Korea Tourism Organisation, they include Abalone Porridge, Jeju Black Pork, Hairtail Soup, and more. You’d expect Ganjang Gejang, also known as Soy Marinated Crab, to be one of them, considering it’s one of the most popular foods in Korea, and Jeju Island is known for their fresh seafood. Even if it’s not, you must include this restaurant in your itinerary; $10 per person for soy marinated crab? You can’t find that deal elsewhere.

Head down to Jeju Dongmun Soy Sauce Marinated Crab for one of the best dining experience in Jeju Island.

The restaurant is located beside Dongmun Traditional Market, one of the most popular tourist attraction on the island, which is located 15 minutes away from Jeju International Airport by bus.

Different types of crabs

The menu has four types of soy sauce marinated crabs: Female Crab (₩20,000), Male Crab (₩18,000), Jeju Yellow Crab (₩20,000) and Spicy Marinated Crab (₩12,000).

The most commonly eaten crabs are the female and male crab soy sauce marinated crab. Both have the same taste, except the female tends to have more roe than the male. Personally, that was the best part. It was creamy and rich, balanced by the salty and spicy marinate which is a mixture of sliced chili, sesame seeds and soy sauce.

Most of the roe are attached to the body of the crab. You can use it as a bowl and mix in rice, crushed seaweed, and an egg yolk. You can also add in other side dishes such as kimchi and bean sprouts, but we kept it simple to fully enjoy the nature flavours of the crab.

There is no additional cost for rice and egg yolks.

Each portion of crab comes with two of these roe-filled shells.

Meanwhile, the Jeju Yellow Crab was slightly more bitter. I preferred the sweeter undertones of the Female Crab.

Once you’re done with the best part (in my opinion), proceed with the legs and claw. The store owner will crack the claws before serving, which makes it really easy to eat. Meanwhile, for the legs, you can just squeeze the meat out of the thin parts of the shell. You can add the meat on a piece of seaweed along with rice, kimchi, and beansprout and roll it up.

Personally, one crab was enough for two people to share. It’s a rich and flavourful dish. Hence, even if you aren’t technically full, it might be difficult to stomach more than half a crab per person.

Location: 5-2 Dongmun-ro 6-gil
제주 제주시 동문로6길 5-2
Opening hours: 10am-9pm (last order 8:30pm)

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Colman Cheung

There are pros and cons when being friends with Colman. You get good food recommendations and the occasional candid shots between taking snaps of the food. But there’s also the mandatory 15-minutes waiting time and the constant whining of how your noodle pull sucks. He’s also a sucker for coffee.

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