Ikseon-dong bakery at 4pm: injeolmi bread still moist next day, Munhwa

A bakery of a lifetime

Can you get into Munhwa Bakery in Ikseon-dong without a line?

Munhwa Bakery is a bakery in Ikseon-dong at 65 Donhwamun-ro, 1st floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul, open daily 11:00–20:00, and Seoul Pay works there too. It's usually said to have a really long line, but I happened to visit when there was no line! Total luck!

I stopped by Munhwa Bakery, a famous Ikseon-dong bakery packed with delicious breads ^^ It's a great spot to hit after exploring Ikseon-dong or Jongmyo Shrine.

Takeout only, two groups at a time

Inside Munhwa Bakery, it's takeout only. The space is a bit tight, so apparently only two groups can enter at once. If there are a lot of customers inside, just wait off to the side ^^ There's a sign at the door too. The floor-to-ceiling window means you can see right away how many people are inside.

It was a weekend afternoon, but maybe because it was during Chuseok, thankfully there was still a lot of bread left. All the breads looked big and delicious, so I really agonized over what to get. There was quite a variety too. Big loaves waiting to be adopted haha.

Munhwa Bakery menu and prices

Most of Munhwa Bakery's breads run from ₩3,500 to ₩6,800. Here's what was on display and priced when I visited.

• Injeolmi bread ₩3,800
• Peanut bread ₩3,800
• Mugwort rice cake bread ₩5,700
• Cheese bread ₩5,400
• Squid ink condensed milk bread ₩4,500
• Black sesame bread ₩3,800
• Milk cream bread ₩3,500

They feel like nostalgic breads, but reimagined with a slightly more refined, modern taste — it's refreshing.

• Onion bagel ₩6,000
• Rice chestnut loaf ₩5,800
• Rice cheese loaf ₩5,900
• Maple cream cheese bread ₩4,900
• Sweet potato bread ₩3,800
• White bean bread ₩3,800
• Walnut bread ₩3,500

Signature breads: coffee bread and garlic bread

Coffee bread ₩5,800, garlic bread ₩6,800. These two seem to be Munhwa Bakery's signatures. The garlic bread was loaded with sauce and looked super moist!

Baked and sold the same day, leftovers given away

Ikseon-dong favorite Munhwa Bakery follows a principle of making and selling bread the same day! So any bread not sold by day's end is apparently donated to children in need, elderly people living alone, or social welfare facilities ^^ It's a bit more trouble than just throwing it out, but donating like this feels so much better! Even better that it's a kind-hearted shop~

How do you pick bread at Munhwa Bakery?

At Munhwa Bakery there's a glass shield in front of the bread, and once you pick what you want, a staff member bags it in plastic for you. The glass shield keeps things extra clean — it prevents kids from pressing on the bread with their hands or adults' spit from getting on it in the first place.

On the left there were big loaves already sliced and pre-packaged, and they'd pull from there to bag them up.

Free salt bread for a receipt review

At Munhwa Bakery, if you leave a Naver receipt review, you get a free salt bread — gotta do that ^^ Seeing that there was no salt bread left when I visited, it must be super popular and already sold out. Sounds like if you come when the morning bake comes out, you might even get to sample it. I'll have to come a bit earlier next time.

Munhwa Bakery shopping bags are free

Once you pick your bread, they pack it for free in a pretty Munhwa Bakery shopping bag. Because it's a proper bag, the bread doesn't get squished either — so nice. At other places you even have to pay for the bag, but here, carrying around a bag that says Munhwa Bakery naturally works as advertising too, so they pack it for free. I'm keeping mine to reuse later ^^

What time should you go to Munhwa Bakery to still find bread?

I visited around 4pm, and even though they're open until 8pm, I think there won't be much bread left after around 5pm. Go before it sells out!

After I picked my bread and stepped out, a line had already formed behind us. It's totally famous as an Ikseon-dong favorite bakery.

What does Munhwa Bakery's coffee bread taste like?

Munhwa Bakery's coffee bread is moist and soft like castella, with a subtle, lovely coffee scent. I picked it because it looked big and delicious, and the moment I tried it, it was super soft with a great coffee aroma ^^

It was a pretty large size, but it was so good I finished the whole thing sitting right there!

Is Munhwa Bakery's injeolmi bread still moist the next day?

Munhwa Bakery's injeolmi bread (sweet rice cake bread) has cream and red bean paste inside, and even though I saved some for the next day, it was still moist and delicious! The injeolmi bread was soft too, and the flavor felt upscale — I loved it.

Being right in a hotspot like Ikseon-dong, I bet a lot of foreign tourists pass by and stop in too. The interior looks like a hanok, so it's pretty enough to pull people in haha. Stop by Munhwa Bakery, an Ikseon-dong favorite bakery full of breads you'll want to try one of every kind!