Michelle C.
Yelp
I saw on Tiktok that this was one of the few places that offers marinated raw crabs, which I have been craving since my trip to Korea. In addition to the crabs, they also have a simple menu, with offerings like their eponymous $18 ahjae gookbap (a warming beef soup that comes with a giant meaty beef bone, cheek meat, and honey comb tripe) and $16 gool gookbap (oyster soup packed with a ton of vegetables like seaweed, daikon, chives, mushrooms and tofu). Personally, I preferred the latter as it was sweeter and texturally more diverse. However, the ahjae gookbap had a very lovely and strong beef flavor-- dare I say even better than the soup at Parksanbal?
As for the soy marinated crabs, they were so flavorful and delicious. We ordered the large platter ($36) which came with four crabs. The crabs were pleasantly savory with an inherently seafoody sweetness underneath. The texture was a little gummy and cold, which can be off-putting to some, but I loved it. My favorite part was scooping up some warm rice to mix in the shell together with the cold sauce and the roe-- it is simply delightful and a creamy bite. My only complaint is that the crabs were probably out of season as they were a little on the smaller side, with only a little bit of roe in each shell. Even the flesh was difficult to squeeze out because of how little there was present.
The banchan served was pretty decent, though we were not fans of the spicy cabbage muchim, which tasted like raw, unfermented kimchi. However, the spicy radish kkakdugi was so refreshing and perfectly seasoned that we decided to order a deli container to-go, which they sell for $10.
Overall, I did really enjoy my visit to Ahjae Gookbap and would like to return when I have the chance to try the rest of their gookbap. I will point out that someone in my party did call me up the next morning to tell me they got food poisoning (most likely from the crab) as they did not eat anything else after our meal but I personally was feeling fine. As with all raw foods, eat at your own risk!