I am beginning to approach the end of my reports from our time in Seoul this spring. By which I mean that I think I now have less than 10 reports to go. Who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to get them all done before the end of the month. Oh, who am I kidding? Anyway, here’s a quick look at a lunch we ate in early-June, just a few days before our stay came to an end. It features one of our very favourite Korean delicacies: ganjang gejang or soy-marinated crab. We’d been talking about eating it at a famous old ganjang gejang place in Anguk but somehow never got around to it. With time and opportunities running out, we ended up just visiting a place in Myeongdong that we were near for other reasons toward the end of the trip. Here’s how it went.

Myeondong Sejong Ganjang Gejang is located down an alley just a few steps from Exit 9 of the Myeongdong subway station and is quite easy to spot. It’s a cheery spot with a number of tables and also some counter seating. As it’s in Myeondong it seems to be quite popular with tourists. One large wall is covered entirely by messages from past guests and near the entrance is another bit that features selfies taken with the proprietor. And the menu has a fair bit of English on it. We grabbed a table and got down to business quickly.

Crab is the main thing here but they’re also known for their juk or rice porridge, which comes with various seafood options. They also do a striking Instagram-friendly presentation of 12 banchan. We were there for the crab. Or rather, the missus and I were there for the crab. The boys, I am sorry to say, were suspicious of soy sauce-marinated raw crab and opted to eat other things instead. And so they shared an order each of japchae and shrimp juk. They liked both. That left the missus and me to eat the medium-sized order of ganjang gejang, which gave us a crab each. I wouldn’t say it was the best ganjang gejang I’ve ever had but it was creditable. And the banchan was fine too, which is to say the presentation was more striking than the banchan themselves—we weren’t moved to ask for more of anything.

For a look at the restaurant and everything we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much the meal cost and to see what’s coming next.

Service was extremely friendly, which is not the most Seoul thing for small restaurants like this one. I’m not complaining about that, just noting it. Cost? I failed to preserve the receipt but as per my credit card statement we paid130,000 won, which is just short of $98 at the current exchange rate. Not super-expensive for crab but there’s probably better value for the money to be had in the city. The next time we’ll pursue it.

Alright, I hope to get another backlogged report out this weekend. That’ll either be another from Seoul on this trip or another from Delhi in July/August. Let’s see how it goes.