Cafe on the way to Mount Seorak in Sokcho: squid ink potato bread

While planning my Sokcho trip, I asked around and nine out of ten people said, 'If you go to Gangwon, you HAVE to try potato bread!' haha. So I finally went. This is Sokcho Bultan Gamja Bread Main Store (속초불탄감자빵 본점), the bakery café everyone in Sokcho keeps raving about!

Where is Sokcho Bultan Gamja Bread Main Store, and what are the hours?

Sokcho Bultan Gamja Bread Main Store is a bakery café at 34-20 Haksapyeong-gil, Sokcho, Gangwon, South Korea, right next to Mount Seorak. It's open daily from 09:00 to 18:00, with parking, takeout/group options, Wi-Fi, and separate men's and women's restrooms.

Why stop here before heading up Mount Seorak?

Sokcho Bultan Gamja Bread Main Store is already famous as a Sokcho bakery café, and being right by Mount Seorak, it's also known as a go-to spot for hikers. The moment you step inside, that nutty potato bread smell hits you, and honestly my heart started racing right then.

They bring in Gangwon-grown potatoes fresh every morning and bake in-house each day, so freshness is a step above the rest. No wonder people call it a Sokcho local favorite. They also sell paint-your-own muse toys in the shop, and you can spot photos and signatures from a bunch of celebrities who've painted their own.

Menu and prices at Sokcho Bultan Gamja Bread Main Store

• Sokcho Bultan Potato Bread (4-piece) ₩10,000
• Sokcho Jjondeugi Set (12-piece) ₩10,000
• Paint-your-own muse toy (musekki) ₩10,000
• Americano ₩4,500 / Espresso ₩4,200
• Café latte ₩5,500 / Hot or iced chocolate ₩5,500
• Handmade lemon ade ₩6,000 / Handmade grapefruit ade ₩6,000
• Mango high ₩6,500 / Kale king ₩6,500 / Beet queen ₩6,500 / Carrot pine ₩5,500
• Lemon tea ₩5,500 / Grapefruit tea ₩5,500 / Chamomile tea ₩4,700 / Earl Grey tea ₩4,700

Why is the bultan potato bread black?

My first reaction was literally 'wait, why is it black?' haha. Turns out there's a real reason — this black is the color of Sokcho itself. It's colored with squid ink, and the idea of baking Sokcho's famous squid right into the bread genuinely moved me.

The outside is coated with ground black sesame, black beans, and black rice, which doubles the nutty flavor. Bite in and the outside is slightly crumbly while the inside is packed with moist cream cheese and butter. The owner said they deliberately skip artificial sweetness — they wanted the potato's natural flavor to shine. Maybe that's why it tasted more savory and clean than sweet.

They made it thinking of the old memory of roasting potatoes over an open hearth until they turned black — and knowing that story while eating it somehow made it taste even better haha. If you're looking for a Sokcho bakery café favorite, this is the original potato bread shop, so make sure you try it here.

Squid-flavor Sokcho jjondeugi: more beer snack than dessert

Honestly, how did they even think to combine jjondeugi (chewy Korean snack) with Sokcho's local specialties?! It comes in three flavors — snow crab, squid, and dakgangjeong (sweet-spicy fried chicken) — and we packed the squid flavor to take home.

It's individually wrapped so it's perfect for tossing in your bag and snacking on the go, and honestly, with that salty flavor, it felt more like a beer snack than a Sokcho dessert haha (I bet it'd be amazing with a can of beer after work...). If you've been wondering what to buy as a Sokcho travel gift, bundling the potato bread with the jjondeugi set would make anyone happy to receive — it's the kind of item you can only get at a Sokcho local favorite.

Sokcho Bultan Gamja Bread Main Store in one line

If you've been looking for a Sokcho bakery café favorite, Sokcho Bultan Gamja Bread Main Store is a no-regrets choice. One piece of potato bread carries Sokcho's color (squid ink), Sokcho's memory (hearth-roasted potatoes), and Gangwon's ingredients (locally grown potatoes) — that's way more than just a quirky Sokcho café.

Whether you're hunting for a Seorak-area favorite, a Sokcho dessert, or a travel gift, come here for all three~