Cheongju pot rice spot: salmon gimbap without cucumber, Sorori

Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, a pot rice restaurant on Seongan-gil

For lunch yesterday, I went to Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, a famous pot rice and buckwheat gimbap spot on Seongan-gil in Cheongju.

How big is Sorori inside?

Walking into Sorori, a Cheongju pot rice favorite, the interior was way bigger than I expected, haha.

There are seats in the inner section too, including some two-person tables — at a glance there seemed to be about 25-30 tables.

The name Sorori actually comes from Sorori in Oksan-myeon, you know, haha. There's this kind of display about which rice they use, and the vibe felt almost like a little museum — clean but with a nice sense of atmosphere.

Parking at Sorori on Seongan-gil

Parking at Sorori in Cheongju gets 1 hour free at the regeneration center's underground lot, just so you know.

Parking on Seongan-gil is brutal, so having that support is great — a solid Cheongju lunch spot on Seongan-gil, Sorori.

The restrooms were also clean, properly separated by gender, and even had mouthwash — full points for thoughtfulness.

Sorori's menu board and its pot rice lineup

Now for the important part — the menu. True to its reputation as a Cheongju pot rice restaurant, the signature dish is beef galbi pot rice.

Beyond that there's summer-limited ginseng chicken pot rice, freshwater eel pot rice which is great for recovering energy, Hanwoo beef intestine pot rice, abalone butter, crab, and mackerel pot rice, plus budget-friendly cockle and pollack roe pot rice.

Can you order the buckwheat gimbap without cucumber?

As a side, true to its reputation as a Cheongju buckwheat gimbap spot, there's fresh salmon buckwheat gimbap, plain buckwheat gimbap, shrimp buckwheat gimbap, and a limited giant buckwheat futomaki (thick rolled seaweed rice roll).

I was torn between the salmon buckwheat gimbap and the giant futomaki, but I can't eat cucumber, ugh.

They said the giant futomaki is rolled as one big roll and sold in half-roll portions, so it's hard to remove just the cucumber from a half roll. The regular buckwheat gimbap can be made without cucumber though, so keep that in mind.

There are also good-value set menus prepared, so pick according to your taste.

Table setting and the self-serve bar at Sorori

They set the table for us first.

The side dishes included kkakdugi (diced radish kimchi), pickled chili, salted squid jeotgal, plain seaweed, butter, and broth.

You can refill more at the self-serve bar — this anchovy broth had really good umami, haha.

You could see the whole process of rolling the buckwheat gimbap right there, which made me trust this Cheongju pot rice spot on Seongan-gil even more.

I sipped some buckwheat tea from the self-serve bar while waiting, haha.

What we ordered: galbi jjim pot rice and salmon buckwheat gimbap

So here comes the pot rice and salmon buckwheat gimbap from Sorori, a lunch favorite on Seongan-gil.

First up, the galbi jjim (braised short rib) pot rice — mix it well.

There were instructions on how to eat it the tasty way, so I followed along and mixed it well.

This sweet, savory sauce with the melt-in-your-mouth galbi meat is delicious, haha.

That said, it wasn't overly sweet — it stayed fluffy and focused on savoriness, which I think made it even better.

I added a little butter and mixed it in — the amount of galbi is seriously generous.

At other pot rice places you sometimes feel like the steak or meat portion is a bit lacking... but here it's plentiful, so I liked it.

There's furikake and soy sauce on the table.

I added more to suit my taste, haha. The pot rice was really delicious.

All the side dishes were rice-thieves too, and the kkakdugi was nicely tangy, haha.

Wrapping it in seaweed made it taste clean and delicious too, haha — pure practical, condensed side dishes.

Sorori's fresh salmon buckwheat gimbap

Next up, the salmon buckwheat gimbap — I debated between salmon and fried shrimp, and went with salmon.

You can tell right away it's packed with big, plump salmon and egg. Plus wasabi mayo and fried tofu skin on top.

The salmon is really big, and the rolled egg is sweetish with great umami.

With the carbs, the plump salmon, and the soft, umami-rich rolled egg all together, it's a satisfying bite at this Cheongju buckwheat gimbap spot.

The end piece is honestly... ridiculously thick, haha. The thickness is no joke — perfect to split between two people, haha.

Is Sorori worth it for a Seongan-gil lunch?

I went to Sorori Main Branch, a pot rice and lunch favorite on Seongan-gil in Cheongju.

I'd wanted to visit for a while since it's long been famous for pot rice, and I liked how spacious and clean the place was.

The pot rice, buckwheat gimbap, and side dishes were all solid and true to basics while being delicious, so I highly recommend it, haha. It's already got plenty of customers too, haha.