Ulsanbawi-view Sokcho bakery café: chestnut bread at Cafe Neorae

A café stop is a must on any trip! Sokcho is famous for Ulsan Rock (Ulsanbawi) in Seoraksan ⛰️, and I spent a relaxing while at Cafe Neorae (카페너래), which says it was the first in Sokcho to take in the whole view of Ulsan Rock at a glance.

Where is Cafe Neorae, and what are the hours?

Cafe Neorae is at 114 Wonamhaksapyeong-gil, Sokcho, Gangwon, and it is open 09:00–18:00 Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday. Last order is 17:30, and it is closed every Wednesday.

Cafe Neorae menu and signatures

The signature drinks are the Neorae Latte, Sseoda Einspänner, Neorae tea and Neorae Pudding. They also have coffee, non-coffee drinks, tea, ade and smoothies.

It's a bakery café, so there are several kinds of bread, but we went late and there weren't many left.

What does the inside of Cafe Neorae look like?

Cafe Neorae is a big, healing-in-nature bakery café with a 2nd floor, 3rd floor and rooftop ☕🍵. "Neorae" is a Gangwon dialect word for a wide, large rock. The café takes Ulsan Rock as its motif and faces Seoraksan and Ulsan Rock. It sits in Haksapyeong Soybean Flower Village (Tofu Village).

Since it's a bakery café, one side has a microwave for warming your bread, plus disposable forks, knives and so on.

2nd floor: group seating and a tree-and-stone path

The 2nd floor is a wide space, mostly with big tables that suit groups. Further in, there's a short path with trees on both sides and a stone-decorated floor, and it was healing in itself.

Stair seats: sit and watch the outside

The stairs are built so you can sit and look outside, which I thought was nice. There are small trees on both sides and the steps are concrete, so you feel nature and city together.

3rd floor: comfy chairs, window seats and baby chairs

It's a wide space with more comfortable chairs and a spot with nature set in the middle. Most people were enjoying the view out the windows, relaxing and talking quietly.

This was the second prettiest spot in Cafe Neorae for me. I loved the seat with two chairs at a small window. Further inside there's a more private area.

The 3rd floor has baby chairs, a self-service bar and a women's restroom, and inside the women's restroom there's a baby bed(?).

What two people ordered at Cafe Neorae

Two of us had two drinks and bread! Eating while looking toward Ulsan Rock through the wide-open windows definitely made it taste better!

Neorae tea, ₩7,500: nutty biji tea

Neorae tea, the café's signature, is ₩7,500: a nutty biji tea (made from soybean pulp), carefully roasted and brewed. It's described as good for dieting, bone and tooth health, fatigue recovery and blood sugar control. It's a warm tea for people who dislike coffee or that older folks would like.

Golden Pear Sparkling, ₩7,500: pear or yuzu sparkling ade

Golden Pear Sparkling, a NEW drink, is ₩7,500. It combines yuzu, sparkling water and dried grapefruit, and you can choose pear or yuzu flavor. It was cold and sparkly, so refreshing!

Streusel chestnut bread, ₩5,500: crisp outside, soft inside, half and half

The streusel chestnut bread (sobolo bambsikppang) is ₩5,500, a half-and-half collab of streusel bread and chestnut loaf.

There are chestnuts inside so it's sweet, and the inside of the bread is soft while the outside is crisp, so the combination was surprisingly good!