Cheongju restaurant with retro decor for pot rice and gimbap: Sorori

While looking for somewhere to eat on Seongan-gil in Cheongju, I ended up at Sorori. It has a wide range of pot rice dishes, but it's also known for its buckwheat gimbap (seaweed rice roll) made with buckwheat noodles instead of rice. I wanted to try both the pot rice and the buckwheat gimbap, so I paid a visit — the menu turned out to be pretty extensive and the interior left quite an impression.

• 📍 37 Jungang-ro, 1F, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea
• ⏰ 11:00–20:00, open every day
• 🍽️ Pot rice and buckwheat gimbap specialty
• 🧸 Baby chairs available

Sorori Cheongju Main Branch at a glance

Inside Sorori, a Seongan-gil restaurant in Cheongju full of retro props

The moment I walked in, what caught my eye first were the retro props you don't often see in restaurants these days.

Old TVs, game consoles, video tapes, magazines, farm tools, and even old clocks were all displayed together in one corner. It's clearly a deliberately staged space, but it was more fun to look around than I expected.

The overall dining space was pretty tidy, and there were rooms as well as several baby chairs ready to go.

It seems like a decent option if you're looking for somewhere to eat with kids on Seongan-gil in Cheongju.

Sorori's pot rice menu and prices

At Sorori Cheongju Main Branch you order via a tablet at your table.

• Beef short rib pot rice ₩16,000
• Hanwoo beef intestine pot rice ₩15,000
• Abalone butter pot rice ₩16,000
• Crab pot rice ₩14,000
• Mackerel pot rice ₩13,000
• Cockle pot rice ₩12,000, and more

There were more pot rice varieties than I expected. Beyond the basic buckwheat gimbap, there were also raw salmon buckwheat gimbap and shrimp buckwheat gimbap on the menu.

We ordered the beef short rib pot rice and the buckwheat gimbap.

Beef short rib pot rice topped with big, meaty ribs

The moment the beef short rib pot rice arrived, the amount of meat was the first thing I noticed.

Generously cut beef short ribs were piled on top of the rice, along with sweet pumpkin, chili peppers, and jujubes, making the bowl look quite hearty.

The ribs were easy to scoop up in big spoonfuls with the rice, and the seasoning had naturally soaked into the rice, so the pot rice alone made for a filling meal.

If you're looking for a great pot rice restaurant in Cheongju, the beef short rib pot rice is a good place to start among the many menu options.

Buckwheat noodles instead of rice: Sorori's buckwheat gimbap

And then the buckwheat gimbap I'd been curious about!

Instead of rice like a regular gimbap, this uses buckwheat noodles, with a thick, generous rolled omelet in the center.

The cross-section is definitely unique. I wasn't super hungry at the time, so I liked that it felt lighter than eating rice. The clean, plain flavor of the buckwheat noodles combined with the soft egg gave it a totally different charm from the pot rice.

It felt like a real signature dish you can only get at Sorori, so if it's your first visit, I'd recommend ordering one to share alongside a pot rice.

Was ordering both pot rice and buckwheat gimbap worth it?

Sorori, which I found while searching for a good restaurant on Seongan-gil in Cheongju, had such a wide range of pot rice dishes that it was easy to pick something to my taste, and the buckwheat gimbap gave it a clear standout point that stuck with me. It was also fun to look around the space full of retro props, and with baby chairs on hand, it seemed like a fine choice for a family visit too. If you're looking for a hearty meal on Seongan-gil in Cheongju, or want a Cheongju restaurant with a bit of a different twist, try the combination of pot rice and buckwheat gimbap at Sorori.