Pro Soy Crab Sinsa • 프로간장게장 신사본점
Pro Soy Crab Sinsa (프로간장게장 신사본점) is one of the most famous crab and seafood restaurants in Seoul that’s well-known for their Ganjang-Gejang 간장게장 (soy sauce marinated crabs). They use premium grade blue crabs that are caught fresh from the west sea of Korea and marinated them with their own special sauce made from fresh ingredients. Since the opening of this first flagship location in 1980, Pro Soy Crab is considered one of the pioneer of marinated crabs restaurants in Seoul.
If you have watched your fair share of Korean variety shows and K-dramas, you probably have seen a Ganjang-Gejang eating scenes on your screen before. And I bet most of you are probably curious if those soy sauce marinated crabs are really as good as how these Korean idols, actors and actresses who are eating them made them look like to be. At least in my case, me and my friends were definitely really curious, especially since every single one of them always boast on how good, expensive and special Ganjang-Gejang is. And that is how me and my friend found ourselves going to one of the most famous Ganjang-Gejang restaurants in Seoul to try these crabs for ourselves.
Pro Soy Crab Sinsa (프로간장게장 신사본점) is located 153 meters from Sinsa Station (신사역), a short 2-minute walk from Exit 4 and close to the famous Garosugil (가로수길). The restaurant occupies 5 floors of a tall building and accommodates about 320 seats for visiting patrons. My friend and I went for a visit on a Wednesday for lunch. As soon as we stepped into the restaurant, we were quickly seated at one of the empty booths and were given the menu book to look through while one of the staff placed six different banchans and two bowls of seaweed soup on the table. After we placed our order, all the food came up pretty quick so the service was really swift at this restaurant.
Sliced Live Octopus 산낙지 ₩30,000 | 8.5/10
Sliced Live Octopus with Sesame Oil and Salt
The octopus was fresh and seasoned nicely. It wasn’t fishy and the texture was soft and chewy. I also really like the fragrant sesame dipping oil that was served with it. If you haven’t had this before, the moving octopus pieces might look scary. But honestly, after you put it in your mouth and start chewing, you’ll get over the sensation of the pieces sucking and sticking to your tongue pretty fast. Just make sure you dip the octopus in the sesame oil and chew thoroughly. If you haven’t had this before and want to try a good one, I’d recommend this place to try since this is one of the better sliced live octopus that I’ve had in Seoul.
Soy Sauce Marinated Blue Crabs 간장게장 ₩78,000 | 8/10
2 Female Crabs (Medium Size)
Their famous Ganjang-Gejang (Soy Sauce Marinated Blue Crabs) was actually pretty good. The crabs were definitely fresh with a good amount of meat and roe in them. They were also marinated and seasoned well with the salty soy sauce flavor being up front and prominent in every single bite. You’ll definitely have to eat the crab meat with rice and/or banchans to balanced out the flavor if you don’t want it to taste too salty. Also worth noting, if you are not a big fan of seafood or sensitive to the fishy or briny taste of seafood, this might not be your cup of tea. There was a good amount of fishiness and brininess that I tasted when eating the crabs so if you’re really sensitive, you might not like this dish.
Sweet and Spicy Marinated Blue Crabs 양념게장 ₩82,000 | 9/10
2 Female Crabs (Medium Size)
For their Yangnyeom-Gejang (Sweet and Spicy Marinated Blue Crabs), I actually like this more than I like the Ganjang-Gejang. The yangnyeom sauce was seasoned really well. It’s a bit spicy for me who has a low tolerance of spicy food, but the spice level was still manageable when I ate it with rice. I also think since the flavor of the yangnyeom sauce is a bit punchier than the ganjang sauce, it did a better job at masking that fishy taste from the crab meat. I actually didn’t really taste the fishiness at all on this one. So my recommendation is for you who’s more sensitive to that fishy seafood taste, definitely try the Yangnyeom-Gejang instead. I think you’ll enjoy it more than the Ganjang-Gejang.
Crab Roe Bibimbap 게알비빔밥 ₩25,000 | 8.5/10
Bibimbap made with steamed rice, fresh crab meat, crab roe, egg yolk, seaweed seasoning, sesame, sesame oil
We also ordered the Crab Roe Bibimbap to eat with the crabs and this was also pretty good. The bibimbap itself isn’t strongly seasoned. You mix the crab roe, egg yolk, seaweed and the rice together and you’ll get a creamy bowl of rice that’s actually a perfect pair for the stronger flavored marinated crab meat. Eating them together in a bite certainly cut the saltiness and spiciness from the marination sauce and gave a more balanced flavors. Wrap it in the seaweed sheet if you want to add a little crunch to your bite.
Overall, would I recommend this place? If you’re looking for a good place to try a good Ganjang-Gejang, Yangnyeom-Gejang or Live Octopus, then yes. I think this place is worth trying, especially if you’re visiting Seoul and you want to try Korean food that is not Korean BBQ or meat. Pro Soy Crab Sinsa (프로간장게장 신사본점) does serve fresh blue crabs that taste good. And judging by the number of photos and signatures of Korean public figures that are hanged on the wall around the restaurants, I believe the locals also love this place. Whether the crabs are really as good as how these Korean idols, actors and actresses who are eating them on screen made them look like to be or not, I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Pro Soy Crab Sinsa • 프로간장게장 신사본점
Address: 서울 서초구 강남대로97길 7 지하1.2층, 지상1층(잠원동)
Telephone: 02-543-4126
Hours: Everyday 10:00-23:00
Instagram: @prosoycrab
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