Cheongju Korean restaurant for abalone butter pot rice: Sorori Sotbap

On days like these, my appetite is a little off, but I still find myself craving a proper meal. This time, I visited Sorori Sotbap Gagyeong Direct Branch (소로리솥밥 가경직영점), where you can have freshly cooked pot rice along with buckwheat gimbap (seaweed rice rolls).

Sorori Sotbap Gagyeong Direct Branch: location and visitor information

• B105, 16 Seohyeonnam-ro, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do
• Daily 11:00–20:30 / last order 20:00
• Weekday break time: 15:00–17:00
• Open through weekends with no break time

Two hours of parking are available in the commercial building parking lot.

The exterior and parking

Sorori Sotbap Gagyeong Direct Branch is in the Seohyeon Plaza building opposite Cheongju Gagyeong Xi. There is a commercial parking lot around the back of the building, so visiting by car was quite convenient, and the restaurant was not difficult to find after parking.

More than anything, they start cooking the pot rice only after an order comes in, so it felt a little different from places that serve rice prepared in advance. There is a short wait, but I think freshly cooked rice is the real feature here.

I also heard that the name Sorori comes from Sorori in Oksan-myeon, Cheongju, and the Sorori rice seeds. It was interesting that this is a pot-rice restaurant centered around rice :)

A comfortable interior for family meals

Once inside, the space was larger than I expected, with an overall clean atmosphere.

The tables were spaced comfortably, so it seemed like a nice place to come for a family meal. I especially liked how well prepared it was for family visitors.

There were high chairs, children’s tableware, plain rice for children, and gim (roasted seaweed), so visiting with a young child seemed less daunting. Aprons were available too, which would be useful if you are worried about splashes while eating pot rice.

Overall, it felt like a comfortable place to sit down for a meal. The classic decorations are lovely, aren’t they!?

Pot rice and buckwheat gimbap menu

There was a wider variety of pot rice than I expected. Along with dishes featuring beef ribs, abalone, and mackerel, there were pot-rice options using seasonal ingredients, plus buckwheat gimbap. The buckwheat gimbap, which Sorori says it introduced first, was clearly a different style from regular gimbap, so I was curious to try it.

That day, we ordered the abalone butter pot rice and shrimp buckwheat gimbap.

Because the pot rice is cooked as soon as you order, it takes a little time for the food to arrive. Still, thinking of it as part of the process of eating freshly cooked rice made the wait feel worthwhile.

Rich and nutty abalone butter pot rice

Abalone butter pot rice

This was one of the dishes I was personally looking forward to.

The butter added a rich, nutty aroma to the pot rice topped with abalone, so it smelled wonderful even before I mixed it.

After mixing the pot rice well, you can have it with soy sauce, butter, furikake seasoning, or whatever you prefer. I started without adding much seasoning, so I could taste the rice itself first.

The pleasantly chewy abalone went beautifully with the nutty rice. Perhaps because of the butter, it felt softer and richer than a typical abalone pot rice.

Wrapping the rice in gim gave it another flavor altogether, so it was fun trying different combinations ^^ The side dishes were neat and clean too!

Shrimp buckwheat gimbap with tartar sauce

Shrimp buckwheat gimbap

And this was really quite unusual. Unlike the gimbap we normally think of, it is made with buckwheat noodles, so even its appearance feels a little different at first glance.

With shrimp, buckwheat noodles, egg, and more together in one bite, the texture was definitely different from ordinary gimbap.

The shrimp buckwheat gimbap is meant to be eaten with tartar sauce. The sauce paired better than I expected with the mild flavor of the shrimp.

If it is a limited daily-quantity item, it would be good to check the menu first when you visit. It also worked nicely as a side when pot rice alone felt a little incomplete.

A warm, made-to-order pot-rice meal

Sorori Sotbap Gagyeong Direct Branch felt like more than a place that simply serves rice in a pot; it seemed to put a lot of care into the rice itself.

They use rice from the Chungbuk region,

and because they cook it after the order is placed, you do need to wait a little for the food. But that also means you get warm, freshly cooked rice, which is a real advantage.

There are hearty choices ranging from abalone butter pot rice to mackerel pot rice, as well as shrimp buckwheat gimbap that is unlike regular gimbap, so the menu had a good range. Personally, I liked ordering one pot rice and buckwheat gimbap together to share.

The restaurant is spacious enough for family meals and the parking is fairly convenient, so it is somewhere I would recommend to anyone looking for a good restaurant around Gagyeong-dong I’Park. If you are after unusual gimbap, it would also be worth visiting for the buckwheat gimbap as a Cheongju gimbap spot.

Above all, it is the kind of place where you finish thinking, “I had a proper meal today.” Next time, I would like to try another pot-rice dish myself :) When you are craving a warm pot-rice meal in Cheongju, or are curious about something a little different from everyday gimbap, stop by Sorori Sotbap Gagyeong Direct Branch.