Cheongju pot rice restaurant with a diaper-changing station: Sorori

I went on a weekend trip to Cheongju with my kids, and food is always the tricky part when traveling with little ones. I heard about pot rice — filling and easy for kids to eat — at a Cheongju pot rice restaurant called Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, so I decided to check it out. Here's my detailed review!

Where is Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, and how do parking and hours work?

• 📍Location: 37 Jungang-ro, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk
• ⏰ Hours: 11:00–20:30 / break time 15:00–17:00, last order 14:30 and 20:00
• 🅿️ Parking: 1 hour free parking at the underground lot of the Urban Regeneration Support Center across the street

Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, a well-known Cheongju pot rice restaurant, is famous for its pot rice made with heart and its buckwheat gimbap (seaweed rice roll). Cheongju rice has always had a great reputation, and this is the place that cooks it best! They also have buckwheat gimbap, a unique menu item that fills the roll with properly boiled buckwheat noodles instead of regular rice.

What the dining room is like and what Sorori offers families with kids

With wood-toned furniture and warm lighting, Sorori Cheongju Main Branch feels cozy yet upscale. It's bigger than expected, making it perfect for a date, a gathering with friends, or a family meal. Food is served on individual trays, neatly arranged on the table, so you really feel taken care of.

On top of that, they have baby chairs, which makes it great to visit with kids.

Sorori Cheongju Main Branch even has a diaper-changing station in the restroom. Honestly, diapers are one of the biggest reasons it's hard to take a young baby anywhere — this kind of thoughtfulness!!!!

Sorori's pot rice menu, buckwheat gimbap and how to order

You order right from the tablet next to your table, and you can pay directly there too. Sorori Cheongju Main Branch is also running a Kakao Map and Naver review event — and the first prize is a Staub pot!!!

Sorori Cheongju Main Branch offers a wide variety of pot rice menus: a summer-only samgyetang (ginseng chicken) pot rice, galbi pot rice, hanwoo beef tripe pot rice, abalone butter pot rice, crab pot rice, mackerel pot rice, cockle pot rice, pollack roe butter pot rice, freshwater eel pot rice, and more. There are so many kinds that it's genuinely fun to choose.

There's also a signature buckwheat gimbap lineup you can only get here — giant buckwheat futomaki, raw salmon buckwheat gimbap, and buckwheat gimbap. If you come to Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, I'd recommend trying this specialty.

What is on the self-serve bar at Sorori?

The basic side dishes come out first, and you can help yourself to more anytime at the self-serve bar. If you run out of rice, you can grab more there too. A broth is served once at the start, and that's also available at the self-serve bar, so it's easy to refill. There's also plum tea to finish your meal.

As soon as we ordered, the side dishes were set out right away. Each one was neat and tidy and really tasty — the kind that gets your appetite going.

There was a sign explaining how to eat the pot rice the best way, so I took a photo. It says to mix the rice thoroughly all the way to the bottom of the pot. Then add butter, soy sauce, or furikake, wrap it in seaweed, and you're done!!! So easy, right?!!

Galbi pot rice, 16,000 won: how Sorori's signature dish tastes

All the pot rice we ordered arrived. We chose the galbi pot rice and the mackerel pot rice. Galbi pot rice, ₩16,000.

The galbi pot rice at Sorori Cheongju Main Branch is the signature pot rice — rice topped with tender braised beef short rib.

Cooked slowly and with care, the beef short rib is piled on generously, shredding tenderly along the grain, so it's easy for everyone — men, women, young and old — to enjoy. At Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, they don't scoop out the rice and pour water in for a scorched-rice soup afterward. Instead, you add a bit of butter to the pot itself, mix it well, and eat it that way to the end. The nutty butter flavor soaks into the rice, blending with the salty-sweet sauce on the short ribs on top for maximum umami.

Mackerel pot rice, 12,000 won: boneless and easy to share with a child

Mackerel pot rice, ₩12,000. This pot rice uses boneless mackerel served with tsuyu.

There were two big chunks of boneless mackerel, so it was really nice to share with the kids.

The self-serve bar at Sorori Cheongju Main Branch even has baby tableware and a baby spoon, which made eating with a kid so much easier! The kids were so happy to have their own set!

I gave some mackerel to my child and mixed the leftover mackerel into the pot rice really well. Mixed with the butter, a nutty aroma wafted up right away.

Wrapped neatly in seaweed, the flavor of the seaweed joined in for the perfect combination!!!

If you leave a Naver review at Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, you can get a small gift, and they also sell a buckwheat gimbap phone grip.

Walking the old Cheongju Station area after lunch

The old Cheongju Station is right in front of Sorori Cheongju Main Branch, so it was easy to visit together. The pairing of the savory, nutty mackerel pot rice — as good as it gets — and the melt-in-your-mouth galbi pot rice was a truly excellent choice. Sharing two menus with such different charms doubled both the satisfaction and the fullness. This weekend, go enjoy a delicious pot rice meal with someone special~