Sokcho bar with tomato flounder mulhoe: Seo Jubang

Seo Jubang, a Yeongnang-dong bar in Sokcho's pojangmacha street with delicious mulhoe

It would be a crime to visit Sokcho and not eat seafood........ I visited Seo Jubang (서주방), a bar in Yeongnang-dong's pojangmacha street near my accommodation. To give you the conclusion first: the seafood was fresh across the board, and it really made me think, ah, I really am on a seaside trip. They also have a special menu that lets you try several snacks at once, so let me introduce it!

Where is Seo Jubang and what are the hours?

It is located at 12 Yeongnanghaean 6-gil, Sokcho, Gangwon-do, and the hours are 18:00–24:00. Closing time varies by day, so please check! For free parking, you can use the Yeongnang Beach roadside public parking lot, and corkage is available for ₩20,000 per bottle.

A calm place for drinks in Yeongnang-dong's pojangmacha street

Since it is near the pojangmacha street, I expected a lively, noisy bar, but once I went inside, the atmosphere was calmer than I expected. The interior was neat, too, and the tables were fairly well spaced! I am not really a fan of noisy bars because it is hard to have a conversation there. So I loved being able to talk quietly. It seems like a nice date spot as well. There are group tables where several people can sit, so it also looked good for group gatherings or company dinners~

Sokcho drinking set: what is included and how much is it?

There is quite a wide range, from main dishes to lighter drinking snacks. After some deliberation, I ordered the ₩53,000 Sokcho drinking set, which lets you taste several dishes at once. You choose one main dish, and it comes with Abai baeksundae (Sokcho-style stuffed sausage), boiled squid, salted scallop, white whelks, and pollock roe potatoes!

For the main dish, you can choose spicy webfoot octopus, spicy chicken feet, warm boiled pork, whole tofu duruchigi (spicy braised tofu), tomato flounder mulhoe, or flounder makhoe (seasoned raw fish) with sea cucumber innard jeotgal (salted seafood). Choosing the warm boiled pork costs an extra ₩3,000!

A drinking set filled with assorted seafood snacks

Everything arrived on one big tray, and the selection was honestly more substantial than I expected. If you order just one snack, you might get tired of it midway through, but I liked being able to try several kinds in small portions. It felt like they had gathered only dishes that are perfect with drinks, haha.

Sokcho is famous for Abai sundae, you know. Every time I came, I went to the market for sundae, but this time I had no reason to go to the market, so I thought I would miss out. Luckily, Seo Jubang had it, so I got to have it again :) It came in easy bite-sized pieces, and I topped it lightly with the salted scallop that came alongside. The savory-salty jeotgal and mild sausage were a great match.

The boiled squid came sliced thickly, but it was not tough—soft and pleasantly chewy instead. Personally, I think even slightly less-than-fresh seafood shows right away, but this was clean-tasting with no fishiness, so I really enjoyed it.

It was fun picking out the plump whelks one by one, and their chewy, springy texture made them perfect with drinks, haha. They are not in the photo, but the pollock roe potatoes—soft potatoes topped with savory-salty pollock roe—were also really delicious!

What did the tomato flounder mulhoe taste like?

The tomato flounder mulhoe looked as if it had very little broth, but after mixing it well, the tangy broth and flounder came together and transformed into proper mulhoe~

There was plenty of flounder, along with varied additions such as seaweed and cherry tomatoes. It was my first time having mulhoe with tomatoes, but the sweet-and-tangy flavor worked so well that I am going to add tomatoes next time I eat mulhoe!

The texture of the seaweed that popped up between bites was nice, and the tomatoes added even more freshness, so I kept eating even though I was full, haha. Having a drink with fresh seafood near the sea really made me feel like I was properly on a Sokcho trip..♥

With one drinking set, you can try several dishes at once, from mulhoe to Abai baeksundae, boiled squid, and white whelks, so I think it is a good-value selection. If you would rather share a drink and talk quietly than go to a loud pojangmacha, or if you are looking for a Sokcho bar for a date, I recommend Seo Jubang in Yeongnang-dong :)