Solo galbi pot rice with butter mix-in in Cheongju: Sorori

I happened to be visiting Cheongju and wanted a light meal, so I looked up Sorori Cheongju Main Branch! It has beautifully plated hot pot rice and some special sides, so I decided to give it a try.

A hearty pot rice specialty restaurant located on Seongan-gil in Cheongju. From the natural flavor of the ingredients to the deep taste of the rice, it really hit the spot — let's start this Seongan-gil restaurant review of Sorori.

Sorori Cheongju Main Branch hours and parking

• Hours ⏰: 11:00–20:30
• Break time 💤: Weekdays 15:00–17:00
• Parking 🅿️: Urban Regeneration Hub Center (parking voucher provided)
• Wi-Fi 🛜: -

Seongan-gil exterior and store atmosphere

Here's the exterior of Sorori, a pot rice restaurant on Seongan-gil in Cheongju.

From the entrance you could immediately tell the cozy, warm wood-tone vibe. It's located somewhere easy to find, so it seems like a great spot for a date or a get-together with friends. The exterior already gave off a neat, tidy feeling.

Here's a photo of the interior at Sorori Cheongju Main Branch.

I thought the exterior looked small, but the inside was surprisingly spacious — and fully booked?? People from nearby public companies come for weekend club gatherings in groups, and I also saw a lot of families and couples.

There are baby chairs too, so it's a pass for families. I visited alone and sat at a two-seat table in the corner.

The interior was really clean too, with cozy lighting that gave the same neat feeling as the outside. By the way, there's also a self-serve bar on one side of the store,

with buckwheat tea, warm broth, rice, basic side dishes, and more — you can just grab as much as you need from the self-serve bar. There's also this kind of interior decor scattered around the store,

which doesn't clash with the interior at all and just looks nice. Seems like a good thing to look at while waiting too.

Sorori Cheongju Main Branch menu and prices

Here's the menu board at Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, a restaurant on Seongan-gil in Cheongju.

Pot rice (solbap)

• Samgyetang pot rice (summer only) ₩17,000
• Beef short rib pot rice ₩16,000
• Hanwoo beef intestine pot rice ₩15,000
• Abalone butter pot rice ₩16,000
• Crab meat pot rice ₩14,000
• Mackerel pot rice ₩13,000
• Cockle pot rice ₩12,000
• Pollack roe butter pot rice ₩11,000
• Freshwater eel pot rice ₩20,000

Set menus

• Best set (galbi pot rice 1 + hanwoo intestine pot rice 1 + buckwheat gimbap 1 + drink 1) ₩41,000
• Nourishing set (eel pot rice 1 + samgyetang pot rice 1 + buckwheat gimbap 1 + drink 1) ₩47,000
• Value set (cockle pot rice 1 + pollack roe pot rice 1 + buckwheat gimbap 1 + drink 1) ₩33,000

Buckwheat gimbap

• Giant buckwheat futomaki (half roll, 5pc) (limited menu) ₩14,000
• Raw salmon buckwheat gimbap ₩13,000
• Buckwheat gimbap ₩9,000

I really wanted the buckwheat gimbap too, but since I was visiting alone today... I ordered just one of the best-selling menu, beef short rib pot rice (₩16,000)! Make sure to check the country-of-origin labels too.

Country of origin labeling

• Galbi pot rice – beef short rib: USA
• Abalone butter pot rice – abalone: domestic (Korea)
• Snow crab pot rice – crab meat: domestic, crab boiling stock: domestic
• Hanwoo beef intestine pot rice – beef intestine: domestic hanwoo
• Cockle pot rice – small cockles: domestic
• Pollack roe pot rice – salted pollack roe: Russia
• Mackerel pot rice: Norway
• Eel pot rice: China
• Rice: domestic, red pepper powder: China

And there's also a Naver receipt review event!

First prize is apparently a free pot rice, so I'd definitely recommend entering.

Basic table setting, side dishes, and warm broth

After sitting down and ordering via kiosk, they set the table with basic utensils, water, and side dishes.

The side dishes were all neat and tidy, and they even gave seaweed and butter — eating them with the pot rice was seriously delicious.

They also give you a warm broth, which tasted like something you'd get at a really good milmyeon (wheat noodle) restaurant — great to sip before the pot rice arrives.

Solo galbi pot rice — the butter mix-in is the key

And here comes the beef short rib pot rice!

It's prettily topped with green onion, sweet pumpkin, jujube, and more, and it's the perfect meal for solo dining. The neatness that pot rice gives just can't be matched by other Korean dishes.

The sweet-savory smell of the seasoned short rib and the nutty rice aroma drifting up made me start drooling just looking at it...

First I mixed it up and took a bite with the short rib! It's topped with plenty of soft, chewy braised short rib, and the braised short rib wasn't tough at all — I loved that. And above all, mixing it with butter and taking a bite with seaweed!

Just a little bit of butter and the flavor went up by 100!!! I really recommend mixing in the butter. The nutty butter aroma meeting the soft sweetness of the short rib was just the best. And then I mixed in some furikake too.

So genuinely nutty and delicious... since the rib meat wasn't tough at all, it just kept going down smoothly. I finished it off with the buckwheat tea from the self-serve bar!

Finishing with the warm, deep-flavored buckwheat tea felt clean and settled everything in my mouth nicely.

Wrap-up

The fantastic combo of tender short rib and nutty butter mix-in, finished off with nutty buckwheat tea — it was completely perfect. I'd highly recommend this place to anyone on Seongan-gil in Cheongju looking for a proper, hearty meal or a date spot!

• A true beef short rib pot rice restaurant, packed with the sweet-savory flavor of short rib and rich buttery flavor
• A tidy pot rice specialty restaurant with a clean atmosphere, satisfying right down to the nutty buckwheat tea finish

Next time you're craving savory, hot pot rice on Seongan-gil in Cheongju, be sure to visit Sorori Cheongju Main Branch!