Seochon takeout bakery: kids' chocolate salt bread at Respire

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon, found in a Seochon alley after lunch near Gyeongbokgung

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon is a bakery café on Hyoja-ro 13-gil in Seochon, and a great place to stop after lunch near Gyeongbokgung. I'd had lunch with my mom near Gyeongbokgung, and on the way home I didn't want to just walk past, so I strolled slowly through the Seochon alleys and found Respire Bakery Cafe. I really love bread, so my feet just naturally went in, haha.

The display shelves were packed with tempting baked goods. The first thing that caught my eye was, of course, Respire's signature item: salt bread (sogeumppang, a salted butter roll).

• Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon: 40-7 Hyoja-ro 13-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
• 865m from Exit 3 of Gyeongbokgung Station (Line 3)
• Hours: daily 09:00–19:00

Where do you park at Respire Bakery Cafe?

If you're driving to Respire, use the Sarangchae parking lot, about a 2-minute walk from the shop. There's a lot in front of the shop, but I heard it's reserved for Cheongwadae staff and visitors can't use it. Respire is near Gyeongbokgung and Cheongwadae, so it also works well as part of a walking route.

Sarangchae parking fee: ₩300 for the first 5 minutes, ₩300 per additional 5 minutes, max ₩30,000

Respire Bakery Cafe: 1st and 2nd floor atmosphere

Respire fit right in with Seochon's calm, sentimental mood. The warm, cozy interior felt relaxed, and I thought it would be a nice place to take a break from a busy day.

Both the 1st and 2nd floors look just right for spending a leisurely time with good bread and coffee. It's the place that comes to mind when you want a rest during a Seochon stroll, or when you're hunting for a café with a nice vibe.

Respire salt bread: price and taste

Respire's salt bread is ₩3,000 each or 2 for ₩5,000, with a crisp bottom and a moist, layered inside. Salt bread was the biggest reason for this visit. It's made with French gourmet butter, and all the dough is aged at low temperature for over 12 hours and baked by hand every morning, they say. Maybe that's why the bread looked even more tempting, with a faint buttery aroma.

Salt bread price: ₩3,000 each / 2 for ₩5,000

Honestly, at this price there's no reason to hesitate. I shouted "4 for sure!" and took them home.

As soon as I got home, the kids and I tried the salt bread first. The bottom was baked crisp with a nutty flavor, and the inside was moist yet layered. Really good.

Best of all, the rich gourmet butter flavor spread softly the more I chewed. The kids said it was delicious and each wolfed one down in no time. I like salt bread and have tried it in lots of places, but this Seochon salt bread was one I personally found very satisfying. 🥐

Respire chocolate salt bread: the sweet-and-salty one the kids loved even more

Respire's chocolate salt bread is a sweet-and-salty bread: chocolate coating outside, chocolate inside, plus the saltiness of salt bread. It was my first time trying it, and it was really appealing.

The outside is coated in sweet chocolate and there's chocolate inside the bread too, so you get plenty of rich chocolate flavor. The sweet chocolate and the salt bread's signature saltiness came together in a really great sweet-and-salty balance. It could have been heavy or just sweet, but the salt bread balanced it out, so it was even more enjoyable.

The plain salt bread was satisfying enough, but the kids really loved the chocolate salt bread, so next time I'll have to bring home 4 of those too.

Salt bread and ciabatta varieties on Respire's shelves

On Respire's shelves there was a wide range of bread, from basic salt bread to salt breads in different flavors, plus ciabatta.

Freshly baked bread was laid out so temptingly that just browsing was fun. From basic salt bread to differently flavored ones and ciabatta with its appealingly chewy texture, there's so much variety that bread lovers will probably agonize for a good while.

Can you have brunch at Respire Bakery Cafe?

Besides bread and coffee, Respire has brunch items like salt bread French toast and a naturally fermented sourdough ciabatta sandwich. At first I thought, it's a bakery café, so it would only sell bread and coffee, but you can enjoy a much wider menu than I expected. It seems many people visit Respire as a Seochon brunch spot too.

This time I stopped by after a meal and only took bread to go, but next time I'll visit with more time and properly enjoy brunch with coffee.

Why Respire Bakery Cafe is good for a Seochon walk

Respire is a Seochon café that suits a rest after a Gyeongbokgung outing, a date, or a brunch meetup with friends. These days Seochon is counted among Seoul's most charming neighborhoods. Old hanok (traditional Korean houses), sentimental cafés and individual restaurants blend naturally, so it's fun just to walk around. Respire captured that Seochon charm as it is.

This was just a quick takeout visit, but the salt bread alone was satisfying enough. If you're craving good bread after a walk around Gyeongbokgung, or looking for proper Seochon salt bread, I recommend Respire.