Jongno bakery for mugwort rice cake bread: Munhwa Bakery

Returning to Munhwa Bakery in Jongno 3-ga by KTX

Munhwa Bakery (문화제빵), a beloved Jongno 3-ga bakery that I kept thinking about because its takeout bread was so good on my previous visit. I have been taking medication lately and my stomach has kept feeling sore, so I have been eating a lot of things like bread—and I deliberately booked a KTX ticket to come here. It had been a while since my last visit to Munhwa Bakery; as expected, there were lots of people, and as expected, the bread was delicious. Let me introduce Munhwa Bakery, a takeout-only bakery.

It is in Ikseon-dong and close to Jongno 3-ga Station, so its hanok-inspired exterior really catches your eye. Even foreign visitors passing by see all the people, go back in, buy bread, and come out.

A great location for seeing Ikseon-dong and Insadong together

Munhwa Bakery is at 1F, 65 Donhwamun-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, about 199 m from Exit 7 of Jongno 3-ga Station. It is open daily from 11:00 to 20:00 and is closed on Chuseok day. Nearby are Seosulla-gil and Ikseon-dong Hanok Village, with Insadong further north, so I love that it is in such a wonderful location for sightseeing.

A bakery that already had customers at opening time

I had been here before, but Munhwa Bakery is still right where it has always been. It is always so popular that it is also a bakery where people line up and wait. So that day, I arrived right when it opened. But there were already customers ahead of me. Waiting is hard, honestly, and because it is difficult for me to be out for a long time, I intentionally took an early train and arrived in Ikseon-dong. When I got there, it was exactly the 11 a.m. opening time ^^

Seriously, if I had had a car instead of just the train, I would have wanted to buy every single bread here ㅠㅠ But reality is that I am on foot, have to ride a crowded subway, and then take the KTX back home ㅠㅠ so I could not be greedy.

A display case with far too many breads I wanted

From injeolmi bread—bread with Korean roasted soybean rice cake—to peanut bread, mugwort rice cake bread, cheese bread, squid-ink condensed-milk bread, and onion bagels, every single one is unbelievably delicious.

I chose garlic bread, a cheese bagel, and mugwort rice cake bread

It had been such a long time since I had come to Munhwa Bakery. The bread is still baked deliciously, and turnover is still so fast here. Bread seems to give me happy dopamine whenever I eat it. Munhwa Bakery is especially known for its garlic bread and coffee bread, along with its onion bagel full of cream. But I cannot have coffee right now ㅠㅠ so I had no choice but to give that one up this time. Instead, I picked garlic bread, a cheese bagel, and mugwort rice cake bread.

The prices are reasonable, so Munhwa Bakery is truly popular with everyone from foreign visitors to locals. This is bread you absolutely have to take home and eat. Familiar flavors can be dangerous: because I had already tasted Munhwa Bakery’s bread, I wanted it even more and was desperate to come back.

If my wallet had been fuller, I really would have come out with a lot more ㅠㅠ But that is not reality, so I came back with only the things I wanted to eat. If only I could drink coffee, I would have chosen the coffee bread too ㅠㅠ It has been nearly two months since I had coffee or caffeine ㅠㅠ I really cannot have caffeine to that extent, and it makes me sad ㅠㅠ I will definitely drink caffeine once I get better, soon. Drinking coffee was the only thing I liked, anyway.

And with this bread in hand, I took the KTX home again.

A short four-hour outing, but still a lovely day

It had been a while since I had gone out, so I felt good. My doctor had told me to go somewhere with people around and to get out of the house more often instead of living like a recluse, so that day I trusted just one pill and went out—and it was really nice. Of course, rather than taking the last train as I used to, I spent travel fare on a brief four-hour outing: two hours traveling there and back, and two hours staying in Seoul ^^ Anyway, Munhwa Bakery near Jongno 3-ga Station was, as always, still delicious.