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Ganjang Gejang at Mangwon Market: Marinated Crab in 24 Reviews

Travel Analysts

📄24 reviews of Mangwon Market name marinated crab and all 10 verdicts are good. What a box cost, where reviewers found it, and how they took it away.

Steel trays of whole soy-marinated crabs, soy-marinated shrimp and spicy marinated crab on a side-dish counter in a Seoul market, with two vendors working behind

💡Quick Answer

Is the marinated crab at Mangwon Market good? By the reviews, yes. Twenty-four reviews of Mangwon Market name ganjang gejang or another marinated crab, and none is below four stars. Ten say how it tasted and all ten liked it. Eight call it cheap: reviewers paid 18,000 to 28,000 won for a box in 2023 and 2024. Seven describe it as takeaway, and one notes the market has few seats.

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Is the Marinated Crab at Mangwon Market Good?

Ganjang gejang is raw crab marinated in soy sauce. Reviewers of Mangwon Market describe buying it by the box. We read every review that mentions it.

🦀 What reviews of Mangwon Market say about marinated crab	Reviews
Name marinated crab	2.2% (24)
Of those, rated the market below four stars	0
Say how it tasted	10
🟢 Liked it	10
💵 Call it cheap or good value	8
🥡 Describe it as food to take away	7
For comparison: reviews of Gwangjang Market that name marinated crab	0.3% (5)

Twenty-four of 1,089 reviews of Mangwon Market name marinated crab: 2.2%. Not one of them rates the market below four stars. Ten say how the crab tasted, and all ten liked it.

I was really impressed with the raw marinated crabs — so flavorful and fresh! — Google Maps review of Mangwon Market, 5 stars, May 2025

Eight of the 24 are written in Korean, and six of those are among the ten verdicts. One Korean reviewer says their daughter brought some home in spring, that it had no fishy smell at all, and that they went back months later for a tub of their own. Another says the soy sauce is not salty. A third calls the marinated crab and the marinated shrimp fantastic.

A French reviewer tried it next to fermented fish roe and calls both delicious and very fresh.

The trade-off: ten verdicts are few, and they come from people who chose to buy raw crab. Someone unsure about raw seafood is less likely to be in this group at all.

What a Box Costs

Eight reviews call the marinated crab cheap or good value, and four give a price.

💵 When	What the reviewer paid at Mangwon Market
May 2023	28,000 won for a large tray with three whole crabs
July 2023	20,000 won for about five large crabs
June 2024	18,000 won for a box
July 2025	5,000 won for one small piece

The prices are super cheap—especially the ganjang gejang, which was incredibly affordable! — Google Maps review of Mangwon Market, 4 stars, February 2025

The French reviewer who paid 28,000 won calls it a very good price for a dish Koreans prize. A reviewer writing in Chinese who paid 18,000 won for a box says it was far better value than a restaurant. Another says the same money buys more marinated crab here than at shops with a queue.

At Gwangjang Market the same search finds five reviews that name marinated crab, and three of them complain about price or size.

The raw crab in soya (very expensive 20000 KRW) for a small crab. — TripAdvisor review of Gwangjang Market, 5 stars, July 2019

That review is from 2019. A Japanese reviewer the same year found the spicy marinated crab at their usual shop there had nearly doubled in price in two years. A reviewer writing in Chinese in 2025 found the soy crabs small with little roe and suggests eating something else. One reviewer calls them delicious:

The soy sauce pickled crabs are delicious. — TripAdvisor review of Gwangjang Market, 5 stars, October 2019

The trade-off: a box, a tray and a single crab are different amounts, bought in different years. The reviews show which market people call cheap for this dish. They are not a price list, and we did not verify today’s prices.

Bought to Take Away

Seven reviews describe the marinated crab as food to take away. Two speak of eating it back at a hotel, two took it home, and one carried it to the river.

We took away the food and had a picnic at the Hangang Mangwon Park. — Google Maps review of Mangwon Market, 5 stars, May 2025

A reviewer writing in Chinese explains why: Mangwon Market has few seats and suits buying food to eat elsewhere. A Japanese reviewer notes simply that the marinated crab can be taken away.

One reviewer took it further. The vendor will pack the box tightly and add ice if told it is going on a plane, the review says, and it has to go in checked luggage.

The trade-off: that is one traveler’s account of one flight. We did not verify airline rules or what any country allows through customs.

Where to Find It, and Which Kind

Four reviews say where they bought it, and no two give the same place. One Korean reviewer points to a seafood shop around the middle of the market. Another bought it at a raw-fish shop together with boiled squid, steamed abalone and pollock roe. A reviewer writing in Chinese saw small pickled crabs among the side dishes near the end of the street. A fourth found it in the side-dish corner and adds a tip.

so if you spot something you like just buy it right there right then — Google Maps review of Mangwon Market, 5 stars, July 2025

That reviewer’s point is that there seems to be about one seller for each kind of food, so there may be no second chance further along.

Most reviewers name the soy-sauce kind. One Korean reviewer bought the spicy kind, yangnyeom gejang. Four mention soy-marinated shrimp sold alongside.

The trade-off: no review names a shop, so these are directions and not addresses. We did not verify which stalls sell it today.

If It Is Your First Raw Crab

One reviewer bought a single small piece for 5,000 won and says it suits a first try.

it tasted really good for that price, especially if it's your first time trying — Google Maps review of Mangwon Market, 5 stars, July 2025

The dish is raw. The French reviewer calls it raw marinated crab, and so does one of the reviewers writing in English. Reviews do not say who should avoid raw shellfish, and this article does not either.

Three more reviews of Mangwon Market mention crab that is not marinated, or do not say: king crab, steamed crab, and crab with rice. They are not counted here.

The trade-off: a single piece is the cheap way to find out. It is also a small sample of a dish reviewers mostly buy by the box.

Methodology

Figures come from the SeoulFoodTour research corpus. This article uses a sample of 1,089 rated reviews of Mangwon Market from Google Maps and TripAdvisor, collected without filtering by rating, and compares it with a sample of 1,458 reviews of Gwangjang Market read with the same search.

What was counted. A search for crab and marinated seafood, in every language in the sample, matched 28 reviews of Mangwon Market. Each was read. Four do not name marinated crab, which leaves 24. A second, wider search for seafood and side dishes found no others.

Verdicts. A verdict is a statement about the marinated crab itself. A review that only lists it among the things on sale does not count.

Counts are floors. The two percentages are shares of each sample. Everything else is a count of a few reviews, and is given as a count.

Quotations. Every quotation is from a review written in English and is reproduced exactly as it appears in the original record, spelling included. Reviews in other languages are counted and described in our words, never quoted.

What this article does not do. It does not verify today’s prices or which stalls sell marinated crab, and it gives no advice on food safety or on carrying seafood across a border. A review records what one visitor bought on one day.

About the Author

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Is the marinated crab at Mangwon Market good?+

Every reviewer who says so liked it. Of 24 reviews of Mangwon Market that name ganjang gejang or another marinated crab, ten say how it tasted and all ten are positive. Reviewers call it fresh, not fishy and not too salty. None of the 24 rated the market below four stars.

How much is ganjang gejang at Mangwon Market?+

Four reviews give a figure: 28,000 won for a large tray of three whole crabs in May 2023, 20,000 won for about five large crabs in July 2023, 18,000 won for a box in June 2024, and 5,000 won for one small piece in July 2025. We did not verify today’s prices.

Is marinated crab cheaper at Mangwon Market than at Gwangjang Market?+

Reviews point that way without proving it. Eight reviews of Mangwon Market call the marinated crab cheap. Of five reviews of Gwangjang Market that name it, three complain about price or size, one of them about 20,000 won for a small crab in 2019. The portions and years differ, so the figures are not a direct comparison.

Can you eat the marinated crab at Mangwon Market, or is it takeaway?+

Reviewers describe it as food to take away. Seven of the 24 do: back to a hotel, home, or to the Hangang park for a picnic. One notes that Mangwon Market has few seats and suits buying food to eat elsewhere.

Can I take ganjang gejang on a plane?+

One reviewer describes doing it. The vendor packed the box tightly with ice on request, and the reviewer says it must go in checked luggage. We did not verify airline rules or what any country allows through customs.

Where is the marinated crab in Mangwon Market?+

Reviews place it in four spots: a seafood shop around the middle of the market, the side-dish corner, a raw-fish shop, and among the pickled side dishes near the end of the street. No review names a shop.