Abalone butter pot rice at a Cheongju pot rice restaurant: Sorori

This time I took a day trip to Cheongju with a friend, and while wandering around Seongan-gil we found a great spot: Sorori Cheongju Main Branch. It's not far from Heungheung Bakery, Cheongju's famous dessert place, so you can knock out two birds with one stone haha.

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

• 🍚 Located in Seongan-gil, Cheongju
• 🍚 Open 11:00–20:30
• 🍚 1 hour free parking at the Urban Regeneration Center underground lot
• 🍚 Cheongju Pay accepted
• 🍚 Naver Reservation available (recommended)

How long is the wait at Sorori? Why Naver Reservation is the answer

Sorori is on Seongan-gil in Cheongju, and everyone, please make a Naver reservation... ㅠㅠ the wait at Sorori is long... ㅠㅠ

Seeing the tables marked as reserved on one side of the restaurant made me so envious ㅠㅠ I wish I'd done my homework and booked ahead. Being lazy, I only decided on a restaurant the day of haha. Especially on weekends, it's Naver reservation or nothing.

Sorori's retro interior and trinkets, seen while waiting

Still, there were so many cute little items inside Sorori that I had fun looking around while waiting, and then we got seated haha. Even the packaging on the buckwheat gimbap (seaweed rice roll) phone grip was charming and cute haha. If I'd tried the gimbap today, I feel like I would've bought the phone grip too!

You can also enjoy Sorori's pot rice at the Cheongju Gagyeong branch, not just the Cheongju Seongan Main Branch. And then a decor sign caught my eye —

You can do it

HJ! We can do it too! I want to hang one of those at home. Hanging it above the front door might give off a weirdly powerful sense of confidence.

Do you all know sarangbang candy tins?? (TMI, but) I caught chickenpox in kindergarten and got quarantined in the principal's office, unable to attend class. I sat there all day with nothing to do, and right in front of me was a sarangbang candy tin!!!!! After five hours of agonizing, I opened it!!!!! No candy inside, just random odds and ends ㅜㅜ I agonized, I did something bad, and got nothing for it... which is why the little me who secretly eats the principal's candy was never born?!

What we ordered at Sorori: galbi pot rice and abalone butter pot rice

Sorori has both pot rice dishes and gimbap on the menu. I really wanted gimbap, but I'd overeaten the day before and just couldn't add it ㅠ0ㅠ. A bit disappointing, but we ordered one galbi pot rice and one abalone butter pot rice.

The side dishes come simply, but you can get more from the self-serve bar.

They gave us seaweed to wrap the pot rice with, and butter to mix in. I thought it was for the abalone butter pot rice, but my friend said it was extra butter! Not sure what the truth is haha. After a peaceful negotiation, I put in 3/4 of it and my friend added the rest.

Coming to a Korean restaurant like this, a traditional tea is basically mandatory! We each got a cup of buckwheat tea and sipped it while waiting for the pot rice.

Abalone butter pot rice: 3 abalones in innard sauce

My pick! The abalone butter pot rice haha. It comes with three large abalones, abalone innard sauce, and flakes, so you get both a crispy and a savory texture all at once.

First, you mix the abalone innard sauce evenly through the rice to make it easy to eat haha. There's plenty of butter mixed in too, so the buttery aroma spreads through, and the abalone pieces are big enough to fill your mouth. Wrapping it in the seaweed let me enjoy the pot rice in different ways too.

Galbi pot rice: tender enough for kids and older diners

My friend picked Sorori's signature dish, the galbi pot rice.

The galbi (short rib) was so tender and delicious, easy to eat haha. The meat wasn't tough at all, so it seemed like something both elders and kids could enjoy comfortably. But since my heart was stolen by the abalone innard sauce plus butter combo, I'd go for the abalone pot rice again if I came back! Personally, I wished they sold a half roll of gimbap as a side ㅠ-ㅠ

We admired a wonderfully old-school-looking clock and left with full stomachs~

I think that might be the old Cheongju Station? The sky was so pretty I just snapped a photo without thinking haha. If you're looking for a famous, Cheongju-born restaurant on Seongan-gil, I recommend visiting Sorori Cheongju Main Branch haha.