Sokcho bar with self-serve rice balls and squid muchim: Seo Jubang

On a trip to Sokcho, we booked a place near Yeongnang Beach and wandered the pojangmacha street at night, when we stumbled on this great-vibe bar called Seo Jubang. Let me introduce it right away (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Where is Seo Jubang in Sokcho, and what are its hours?

Seo Jubang is a cooking-and-drinks bar tucked in the back alley of Sokcho's Yeongnang-dong pojangmacha street! It's open until 4am, so if you're looking for a Sokcho bar open late, I recommend Seo Jubang.

• ⏰ Hours: Sun-Thu 18:00-03:00 / Fri-Sat 18:00-04:00
• 🅿️ Parking: Yeongnang Beach public street parking
• 🏷️ Ordered: Sokcho drinking set (₩53,000) / self-serve rice ball (₩4,900) / Saero Omija (₩6,000) / Zero Cola (₩2,000)

Walking along the Yeongnang-dong pojangmacha street, I spotted this special-looking full table setting and just couldn't walk past it. So I walked in as if drawn by magic …

Inside Seo Jubang: group tables and atmosphere

Seo Jubang's interior is pretty and clean, so the vibe was great the moment we walked in! There were other customers so I couldn't photograph the whole space, but the interior is huge and there's group seating too, so it'd be great for a Sokcho group gathering or company dinner.

There's also a restroom inside the store, so you don't have to step outside while drinking! It's got such a sentimental vibe that it'd be perfect to stop by on a date after a walk along the beach. Just like we did ...

Seo Jubang menu and how to order at the kiosk

From the hearty Sokcho drinking set to onsuyuk (warm boiled pork), spicy stir-fried octopus, spicy chicken feet, rosé tteokbokki, fish cake soup, French toast, and tomato flounder mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) — there was such a wide variety of dishes! We wanted to try a bit of everything, so we went with the Sokcho drinking set.

You order conveniently via kiosk, and when you order the Sokcho drinking set, you get to choose one main dish! Just pick whichever you like from the 6 options shown in the photo. If you're after mulhoe at a Sokcho bar, they even have something unusual like tomato flounder mulhoe, so there's plenty to choose from depending on your taste!

After ordering, they brought out water followed by a basic snack and our drink! I'd never seen Saero Omija before so I ordered it right away.

We started drinking before the food even arrived! The drink was sweet and the basic seaweed cracker snack was salty, so it was a perfect sweet-and-salty combo ദ്ദി(•̀ᴗ•́ )

While we were chatting over drinks, our ordered dishes came out pretty quickly.

What comes with the 53,000-won Sokcho drinking set, and the squid swap

Seo Jubang's Sokcho drinking set (₩53,000) came as a hearty full spread — our chosen main of spicy stir-fried octopus, plus abai baeksundae, scallop jeotgal (salted seafood), squid muchim (spicy vinegared squid), steamed scallops, and pollock roe potatoes! It was so plentiful I didn't know what to eat first …

Normally the set comes with whole squid sukhoe (blanched squid), but they told us the whole squid had run out that day. As a substitute, we could choose between cut squid sukhoe or squid muchim, so we went with the squid muchim!

It was such a full, hearty spread that I loved it visually right away! There was so much to eat that I paused for a moment wondering where to start …

Steamed scallops

Before the main dish, we decided to start with scallops, which we've been obsessed with lately! The scallops were plump and full of meat.

The scallops were soft and clean-tasting, with plump meat that gave a nice chew, and dipped in chogochujang (vinegared chili paste) they were so good ...

Abai sundae with scallop jeotgal (salted seafood)

Next was the abai sundae! It came together with scallop jeotgal. I love jeotgal in general, but this was my first time trying scallop jeotgal so I was super excited.

You put this scallop jeotgal on top of the well-stuffed abai sundae!

Eating the clean, savory sundae together with the chewy, salty scallop jeotgal gave such great umami.

Self-serve rice balls: shape them or turn them into fried rice?

Seo Jubang's self-serve rice ball (₩4,900) can be eaten as a rice ball, or later turned into fried rice! We ordered it to eat as a rice ball alongside the spicy stir-fried octopus. But then suddenly I wanted to eat it with the scallop jeotgal instead!!!

The savory rice ball with salty scallop jeotgal … was so good, as expected.

The anju was so good that the drinks kept flowing. We kept sipping in between 〰︎

How spicy is the stir-fried baby octopus main dish?

Next was the main dish, spicy stir-fried octopus! It comes already cooked, so you just keep the burner on low.

The portion of octopus was really generous, and it came packed with bean sprouts — the octopus's best friend — so we could eat plenty together!

Octopus and bean sprouts together, waang (๑´ㅂ`๑) The octopus was soft and springy, well coated in sauce — so good! It's called spicy octopus but it wasn't that spicy!!

Myeongnan gamja (pollock roe potatoes)

Next we tried the pollock roe potatoes! Fluffy, clean-tasting potatoes with salty, savory pollock roe added on top gave it a clean yet deeply savory flavor.

Squid muchim (sweet-and-sour squid salad)

The tangy-spicy squid muchim was loaded with squid! There was plenty of squid so every bite had a chewy texture, and the sweet-tangy sauce really got the appetite going.

I tried this with the rice ball too, piling on onion and squid — great texture, great combo ∿ honestly rice balls go with anything ...

I couldn't resist the tangy-spicy flavor, so I poured another round 🍶

Then back to the spicy octopus again, and topping it with baek-kimchi (white kimchi) made a clean, well-matched bite.

The octopus, well coated in sauce and full of bean sprouts, was mixed right in with the rice ball! The rice ball portion was so generous.

The spicy sauce soaked into the rice and the crunchy bean sprouts added even more .. ദ്ദി(•̀ᴗ•́ )

In between, the sweet pickled tomato reset our palate each time!

We dipped the abai sundae in vinegared chili sauce and topped it with scallop jeotgal too ~ the abai sundae was truly delicious ,,,

We simmered the leftover octopus down until the sauce reduced, enjoying it deliciously to the very end. Nicely spicy, and we ate it all up!

Who should visit Seo Jubang in Sokcho?

Seo Jubang, a bar on Sokcho's Yeongnang-dong pojangmacha street where you can enjoy a whole table full of varied, unusual anju.

• ✔️ Those looking for a great restaurant on Sokcho's pojangmacha street
• ✔️ Those who want to enjoy a hearty variety of anju
• ✔️ Those looking for a bar with a great atmosphere in Sokcho
• ✔️ Those looking for a spot for a Sokcho group gathering or company dinner

It's open until late, so it's also a great spot for a relaxed drink — I'd definitely recommend it! ˘͈ᵕ˘͈