Yeonnam-dong bakery, kaya coconut over garlic baguette: Mandong Jegwa

There are so many cafés in Yeonnam-dong, but it's the quietly famous bakeries that are hard to walk past. This time I stopped by Mandong Jegwa, well known as a Yeonnam-dong bakery.

Four breads picked at Mandong Jegwa instead of the garlic baguette

Mandong Jegwa is probably best known for its garlic baguette, and I was planning to buy that too at first. But after tasting a bunch of breads in the store, I completely changed my mind.

In the end, what I picked was: shrimp baguette, walnut sweet pumpkin ciabatta, kaya coconut, and walnut.

I skipped the actual garlic baguette and picked a variety of everything else instead, and to cut to the conclusion — they were all delicious. But these weren't breads that just ended at 'that was tasty.' Days after finishing them, they kept popping back into my head one by one.

I like bread in general, so I usually try a bit of everything at bakeries, but most of the time it's a case of 'enjoyed it, and that's it.' With what I bought at Mandong Jegwa, though, even when I tried to get something similar at other bakeries, nothing quite came to mind.

I think that's exactly why it stuck with me even more.

Can you taste the bread before buying at Mandong Jegwa?

One thing I loved about Mandong Jegwa was being able to sample the bread before choosing.

With breads I'd never seen before, it's hard to guess the taste from just the name or looks, so being able to try a little bit made choosing so much easier. I honestly didn't set out to buy four kinds.

It was more like tasting one and thinking 'oh, this is good,' then trying another and thinking 'this is good too,' until I ended up with one of each type. What's interesting is that the four I bought weren't similar to each other at all — different ingredients, different flavors, different textures, so even buying several felt like no overlap whatsoever.

So if you're visiting Mandong Jegwa for the first time, instead of just grabbing the one famous bread, I'd recommend tasting a few and picking what actually suits your own taste.

Shrimp baguette

The shrimp baguette had me curious just from the name. When you think 'baguette,' you usually picture something plain, or maybe the garlic version — shrimp baguette as a combination isn't common at all, so it caught my eye first.

Tasting it, I got it — 'so this is why people come to Mandong Jegwa.' What I liked most is that it's not the kind of bread you'd easily find at a regular bakery. There are plenty of tasty breads out there, but if you can get something similar anywhere, there's not much reason to make a special trip back to that particular bakery.

But the shrimp baguette immediately stuck in my memory as something I'd want to buy again next time I'm at Mandong Jegwa. If you like baguette-style breads, it's worth picking up at least once.

Walnut and sweet pumpkin ciabatta

Just from the name, walnut sweet pumpkin ciabatta sounds packed with ingredients. It's a hearty bread with a good amount of sweet pumpkin, and it worked well with ciabatta's signature texture.

It's a completely different style from the shrimp baguette, so I was glad I bought both. If you prefer plain, ingredient-filled breads over bold, punchy ones, or you're into ciabatta in general, this one will suit you more.

It's nice with coffee for something simple, and even eating just one felt satisfying since it's loaded with different ingredients.

Kaya coconut (coconut jam bread)

Then there's kaya coconut, which was right up my alley just from the name. If you like kaya jam, this combination alone should get you curious, and adding coconut on top made it feel distinctly different from the breads I usually eat.

This is exactly why Mandong Jegwa's bread kept coming back to me after I ate it. It's not just that the bread itself is tasty — the flavor combinations aren't common ones. When I think 'I should get something similar at my neighborhood bakery,' nothing easily comes to mind as a substitute.

Kaya coconut was one of those. It was great with coffee when I wanted something sweet, and the kaya-coconut combo had such a clear aroma that it stayed with me longest out of the four.

Walnut bread

And walnut deserves a mention too.

I usually like breads with walnut, so I picked this one naturally. Where the other breads had strong, distinct personalities, walnut felt more like an easy, comfortable eat. That's exactly why it worked so well as part of the mix.

After eating something with a bold flavor like the shrimp baguette or kaya coconut, walnut hit differently. If I'd only picked one or two breads, I would have missed out — buying a variety and sharing them was the right call.

Why Mandong Jegwa stayed on my mind days later

Honestly, it was tasty the first time I ate it, but what really stuck with me about Mandong Jegwa was actually after I'd finished all the bread.

quote: 'I want to eat that shrimp baguette again.' 'I should've bought another kaya coconut.' Thoughts like that kept popping up.

These days there are so many great bakeries that even a genuinely tasty visit often ends up being a one-time thing. But here, I already knew what I'd buy on my next visit. I think it's because all four things I bought had their own personality, and more than anything, they're not the kind of menu items you can easily find elsewhere.

So next time, I'd love to try something new, but I can already tell I'll end up grabbing these same breads again too.

The one regret: no garlic baguette left to buy

And one thing to note: I never actually bought the garlic baguette Mandong Jegwa is famous for.

Since it was my first visit, it would've made sense to try the signature item first, but I got distracted tasting other breads and picking things out, and ended up putting the garlic baguette off for next time.

But since everything I bought this time was so good, I'm even more curious about the garlic baguette now. Next time I'm in Yeonnam-dong, I'm going back to Mandong Jegwa to finally try it.

If you're bakery-hunting around Yeonnam-dong or Hongdae, rather than visiting for just one famous item, I'd suggest browsing and tasting a few things in-store. Like me, you might discover an unexpected favorite instead of what you originally came for. Personally, 'a place I tried once' doesn't quite fit Mandong Jegwa — 'a bakery I kept thinking about after finishing everything' fits much better.

If you're looking for a spot on your Yeonnam-dong bakery crawl, this one's worth another visit. Next time, I'm definitely getting that garlic baguette too. :)