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Gebang Sikdang. | Gebang Sikdang Ganjang gejang specialist Gebang Sikdang will open permanently in the former Hibi space after its run as a pop-up Seoul-based ganjang gejang (soy-marinated crab) specialist Gebang Sikdang, which earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand earlier this year, is opening a permanent location in the former Hibi space in Koreatown, which closed on March 2. Gebang was initially supposed to only take over Hibi for a limited-run pop-up, which was slated to end on March 23, but after its initial success, the Seoul restaurant is here to stay.
The LA location of Gebang Sikdang will be operated in partnership with Kaizen Dining Group, the hospitality group that founded Hibi. Gebang Sikdang is known for serving some of the best raw-marinated crab in South Korea; while other gejang spots in LA typically mix male and female crabs, Gebang Sikdang will serve exclusively female crabs, just like it does in Seoul. By using just female blue crabs, Gebang Sikdang ensures that each piece is full of flavorful crab roe.
The pop-up currently serves a set meal with a choice of either soy sauce or spicy marinated crab. Each set comes with rice, miyeok guk (seaweed soup), dongchimi, and banchan. For the customers who don’t want to deal with crab shells, there’s the crab roe bibimbap served with both marinades.
Gebang Sikdang Ganjang gejang. Solomon Lee, the chef and co-founder of Hibi, has been working on bringing Gebang Sikdang to LA for a pop-up since October 2024. It took some time to bring it stateside due to difficulties with sourcing the star ingredient: crab.
Kaizen already has an import-export arm that sends goods and food from Korea, but Lee says the delay came down to “a matter of sourcing the same crab that Gebang uses in Korea and finding a way to bring that over to LA without compromising quality.” After some time, the group was able to set up a process for importing the same crabs. While planning the pop-up, the discussion turned into the possibility of a permanent LA.
outpost of Gebang Sikdang. Lee says that he “always knew that [the current Hibi location] was just too small for [Hibi],” and that he was “thinking of a lot of different things that we can do for that space.” After meeting with Bang Geon-hyeok, the owner and CEO of Gebang Sikdang, Lee showed him the Hibi space and suggested that Gebang Sikdang take over.
“Originally, we were just going to see how the pop-up does, go back to doing Hibi for a month or two, and if the pop-up was [a success], then we would’ve made plans to go ahead to change Hibi into Gebang,” Lee says. Lee and Bang ended up deciding to make Gebang a permanent fixture before the pop-up even started. According to Lee, Bang already had eyes on expanding the Gebang brand, and Kaizen already had plenty of crab in transit.
“It would’ve been a waste just to have it be used for a three-week pop-up,” Lee says. Fortunately, the early days of the pop-up were a success; Gebang Sikdang sold out of crab midway through the dinner shift on its third day open.After the pop-up ends on March 23, Gebang Sikdang will close for a few days to repaint the walls and lightly touch up the interior.
When it reopens, the restaurant will offer an expanded menu with offerings that more closely mirror the Seoul location, plus an LA exclusive menu item that will likely be spicy marinated and charcoal-grilled crab. Gebang Sikdang joins a recent wave of restaurants from South Korea that have established locations in Los Angeles, including sot bap (pot rice) chain DamSot, spicy noodle spot Jjampong Zizon, and the forthcoming Hojokban. Fiona Chandra Spread of dishes from Gebang Sikdang.
Fiona Chandra Spicy raw marinated crab..
