Sokcho croquette shop for market trips with a baby: Samsam Goroke

A Sokcho Jungang Market favorite, Samsam Goroke packs local Sokcho specialties into every croquette. Open daily 10:00–20:00 (last order 19:40).

Why we stopped at Samsam Goroke in Sokcho Jungang Market

This is the second post in my Gangwon-do trip series ^_^ After Yangyang, we came to Sokcho. Sokcho is somewhere my family visited a lot for summer vacation when I was a kid, but once I got older we mostly went to Gangneung instead, so it had genuinely been a while! I actually only found out that the famous Manseok Dak-gangjeong has its main store in Sokcho when I got to Sokcho Jungang Market ^_^; haha.

Anyway! Let me introduce Samsam Goroke, a Sokcho Jungang Market spot we stopped by during our trip to Sokcho, Gangwon-do!

Where is Samsam Goroke, and where do you park? (chicken alley, spot 42)

📍Location — 28 Jungangsijang-ro 6-gil, Sokcho, Gangwon, South Korea, chicken alley, spot 42 of Sokcho Jungang Market. ✔️ Across from the Manseok Dak-gangjeong main store, to the right of Saerom Matjip.

📍Parking — Near gate 2 of the Sokcho Jonghap Jungang Market parking lot, and you get a parking voucher with a set purchase (only valid for the tourist market's shared lot).

Samsam Goroke menu and prices

• Signature menu: Sokcho 'red crab' croquette ₩3,700
• (New menu) Sokcho 'abai' croquette ₩3,700
• Sokcho potato / meat-filled jjamppong / Chinese-style gochu japchae / Sokcho pollack roe cream ₩3,500
• Local Sokcho makgeolli & dongdongju ₩2,500

There were six croquette flavors total, and buying a set (3 or 6) was cheaper. I got the 6-piece set with all six flavors in it!

You can see them making the croquettes by hand at the back of the store, and out front, freshly made croquettes keep appearing @_@ You know you're supposed to come to the market hungry, right..! We happened to be starving, so we walked straight in the moment we saw how the Samsam Goroke display looked..! Plus, Samsam Goroke has a bunch of flavors built around local specialties, which made it even more exciting!

We use local ingredients to make everything ourselves, from the dough to the filling. We start production every day at 7 a.m., sticking to a same-day-made, same-day-sold policy. At Samsam Goroke, you can try croquettes made with local specialties as well as six kinds of croquettes packed generously with real cooked fillings. ...A crispy, chewy dough with a premium, generously filled interior good enough to serve as a dish on its own.

Even on a Friday afternoon, the market was seriously packed! Wow... but honestly, respect, the market runs so well! We took a quick look around before the baby got tired, then packed up the croquettes to bring back to our lodging.

Tasting all six croquettes: red crab and abai were the best

I wanted to take nice photos, but the warm croquettes' condition and smell got the better of me, so two of them got demolished in the car!! Personally, my two favorite flavors were the Sokcho red crab croquette (the signature menu) and the abai croquette!

First, 1) the Sokcho red crab croquette lives up to its status as the signature menu — it's loaded with Sokcho's local specialty red crab, a flavor you can only get here. 2) The abai croquette was filled with Sokcho-style squid sundae (blood sausage) filling. Since I normally love abai sundae, this one hooked me right away haha. You could really taste the squid's flavor and texture.

Spicy jjamppong croquette

3) I didn't expect much from the fire jjamppong croquette, but next thing I knew, I'd eaten the whole thing.. They say it's Samsam Goroke's best-seller. I think above all, the dough itself is genuinely delicious ㅠ_ㅠㅠㅠ! So whatever flavor you eat, it exceeds expectations.

Sokcho potato croquette

4) Sokcho potato croquette ★★★★★ I was imagining a filling like a potato bread, but wait, is this... pizza flavor? I double-checked the taste. And my taste buds were right. It's a Gangwon-do potato croquette made with pizza flavor! It's easily the most crowd-pleasing menu item here!!

Pollack roe cream croquette

5) The pollack roe cream croquette was also different from what I expected — it tastes like pollack roe cream udon! Soft cream and salty pollack roe are mixed together and packed inside like an udon sauce. You could really feel how much thought the owner put into developing this menu ㅎ_ㅎㅎㅎ.

Gochu japchae croquette

Last is 6) the gochu japchae croquette! That gochu japchae (pepper stir-fried glass noodles) you get at Chinese restaurants, stuffed inside a croquette haha. It's not spicy, but it has that smoky wok-fired flavor. Personally, my top three favorites were the potato croquette, the abai croquette, and the red crab croquette! ㅎㅎㅎㅎ

What else to eat at Sokcho Jungang Market

Sokcho Jungang Market really has so many different foods to try. Since Manseok Dak-gangjeong pops up a lot at Jamsil Lotte Department Store's pop-up events these days, we decided we wanted to try something a bit newer, which is how we ended up at Samsam Goroke ㅎㅎㅎ.

Beyond that, there's also potato rice cake, squid sundae, bukkumi (sweet rice pancake), tteokbokki, and so much more, so if you're traveling to Sokcho, Gangwon-do, make sure to stop by @_@