The last time I was here, I was dining alone. This time I came with Princess and managed to try their spicy marinated crabs as well.
Keunkiwakip is a restaurant named after the ‘big tile house,’ which symbolises the noble class in Korea. It is very popular with tourists as it is near the Bukchon Hanok Village, a place where you can visit very pretty traditional Korean houses.
The restaurant, characterised by tiled roofs and thick pillars, features a spacious dining area that can accommodate 120 people and is equipped with seven private rooms. This was the first and only restaurant that got a Michelin star for ganjang gejang. The rest can only claimed Bib Gourmand.
For some unknown reason, they fell out of favour with the Michelin inspectors, going from 1 Star to not a mention after they got it for two consecutive year. But their popularity was not dependent on this guidebook. Even after the removal of the star, they continued to be the poster child for being the first to land the star with the humble national dish.
You can order the main dishes as a la carte (which comes in larger portions) or as a single-person set menu. As Princess and I were having lunch, we ordered two different sets (ganjang gejang and yangnyeom gejang) and an a la carte order of dwaejibossam.
간장게장 Raw crabs marinated in soy sauce
They got their Michelin star through this dish. Their ganjang gejang is made with proprietary soy sauce that has been fermented for at least 10 years. In fact, The owner Han Young-yong attributed its selection of the restaurant to the fresh local crabs and the soy sauce marinade. The family has been making this soy sauce in-house for over 100 years.
The traditional way to eat this is to scoop some rice onto the roe with some marinade. And then you mix everything together. No wonder they called this dish the “rice thief” (bapbudug 밥도둑). The saltiness as well as the umami of the crab just make you can’t stop.
양념게장 Spicy marinated raw crabs
Another variation of gejang is the yangnyeom gejang or spicy marinated raw crabs. Yangnyeom means spicy sauce, and this version is sweet, soft, spicy, and has a jelly-like texture. It’s a pretty simple recipe, the most important part is getting fresh crabs. Korean flower crabs (called kkotge) are best because the shell is soft and they are full of meat.
돼지보쌈 Boiled pork belly
Dwaejibossam 돼지보쌈 translates to boiled pork wraps in English. It is a classic Korean dish featuring tender, sliced pork (often belly) that is boiled in a flavourful brine with aromatics, then typically wrapped in lettuce or napa cabbage leaves with fresh and fermented accompaniments like kimchi and salty shrimp sauce.
The bossam here was actually quite good, and the last time I was here I ordered it with hongeo, which is rotten skate fish. Koreans typically enjoy hongeo with dwaejibossam and over ripe kimchi, known as hongeo samhap, with “samhap” meaning “gathering of three”. The flavours of the five spice in the pork and tanginess of kimchi hide the funky taste of the rotten fish; it is horrible as it sounds, and is actually much vile than anything I have ever tasted.
All the sets come with the banchan and the selection is dependent on what’s available that day. Even though there’s so much banchan to go around, the rule of thumb is still to order one set per person. They don’t make money by selling you plain rice. Among the side dishes, I enjoyed the stewed beef brisket with quail egg, the pickled white wood fungus, the fish intestines, and of course the kimchis. In fact, everything was nice.
And all sets also come with doenjang-jjigae, the hearty soup made from Korean fermented soybean paste with some vegetables like zucchini and radish. Rather runny but still flavourful.
The delicious food and authentic atmosphere make Keunkiwajip a good restaurant worth visiting. It is a great place to experience authentic Korean cuisine and indulge in the delicacy of marinated soy raw crab. Reservation not possible unless you can speak Korean 😉
Keunkiwajip 큰기와집 (大瓦房)
20-7 Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel : +82 (02) 722 9024
Visited Aug 2025
Michelin Seoul Guide 1 Star 2017, 2018
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