Gebang Sikdang - Review - Koreatown - Los Angeles - The Infatuation
"After a short-lived pop-up earlier this year, Seoul’s crab-focused chain now has a permanent residence in a Koreatown strip mall. Casual setting aside, it’s an upscale Korean spot with fancified seafood dishes, but the food and ambiance don’t quite live up to the promise. Gebang’s small dining room is spare, quiet, and lit like a dental office, with couples hunched over tables that are sectioned off by slim dividers, as if they’re meant for taking the SATs. Those dividers don’t do much to block out noise, so know that you’ll probably overhear the people next to you gossiping about whether their situationship cheated or just “emotionally checked out.” And while the setup is meant to offer an illusion of privacy, you’ll still be close enough to bump elbows with strangers. photo credit: Cathy Park You’ll notice the same thing on nearly every table: the $48 raw marinated crab set that’s listed is at the very top of the menu like a Coachella headliner. It comes with sweet, slippery crab meat that slides cleanly out of the shell and a banchan spread that includes kimchi pancakes with crispy edges and refreshingly tart dongchimi. We like the crab, but the fist-sized portion is better suited for a snack than a full meal. The other sets on the menu come with larger dishes, like abalone bibimbap and crab roe noodles that look like they were assembled with tweezers. But they taste underwhelming—the abalone doesn’t mix well into the rice, and the crab roe gets buried under the noodles and granita. Gebang works best if you just need a break from the more casual, plastic-water-jug spots in K-town or have money to burn in your pockets. But if you want to fill up on raw marinated crab, we’d steer you toward the larger portions at Crab House and Soban instead. Food Rundown Soy-Marinated Crab Set The portion is tiny to the point where you might assume the kitchen forgot a few pieces. But what’s there is good. The crab is rich and full of that sticky soy flavor. Just know that this is more of a teaser trailer than a full movie, and after spending $48 on this, you’ll probably leave hungry. photo credit: Cathy Park Soy-Marinated Abalone Bibimbap Set The rice comes topped with a respectable amount of abalone, plus a side of briny abalone liver sauce to mix in as you please. The abalone chunks are huge, which means some bites are just abalone, while others are rice and nori. It’s fine, but the flavors don’t fully come together, and it’s not something we’d come back for. photo credit: Cathy Park Crab Roe Noodles A gorgeous, chilled seafood parfait with a base of soba noodles layered with soy granita and raw crab. Once you mix it up, the crab kind of disappears into the background, so it’s more fun to look at than to eat. photo credit: Cathy Park" - Cathy Park
