Maetan-dong, Suwon bakery brunch: croissant sandwich at Cork Bake Bar

Where is Cork Bake Bar and when is it open?

Cork Bake Bar (코르크베이크바) is a bakery café at 511 Dongsuwon-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi, on the 1st floor of a building on a main road in Maetan-dong. It is open daily 09:00–22:00, with last order at 21:30.

Cork Bake Bar shop in Maetan-dong, Suwon

I stopped by on a hospital visit and ended up at Cork Bake Bar, a French bakery café in Maetan-dong, Suwon! Even before going in, the stylish interior that reminded me of a little French village stood out so much, haha. Since it sits right on the road, the bright red sign catches the eye even more.

Exterior of Cork Bake Bar with its eye-catching red sign

Entrance of Cork Bake Bar with a French village feel

What are the seating and atmosphere like at Cork Bake Bar?

Inside, there are really all kinds of seats: for one, for two and for four. I was especially impressed by the bar-style table at the window where you can sit and enjoy your food alone.

Cork Bake Bar is a Suwon bakery that Maetan-dong locals really love! They make all their bread in the shop, and the rule is same-day production and same-day sale. When I visited in the morning, the buttery smell of the bread being baked filled the whole place.

Inside Cork Bake Bar with a variety of seats

Window seats and interior of Cork Bake Bar

The shop's signature tiger character is all over the place and it's so cute. Even the bread you take away comes with a tiger sticker, haha. It was so adorable that I carefully peeled it off and stuck it on my iPad!

Is there parking at Cork Bake Bar?

You can park at the Hosin Black Goat (호신 흑염소) parking lot when visiting Cork Bake Bar! There's no parking barrier, so you can use it freely, which makes it easy to come by car.

Paris-style bread counter at Cork Bake Bar

Isn't the interior just so pretty..? I especially loved the area right below the bread counter, which really reminded me of Paris.

What drinks does Cork Bake Bar have?

The drink menu has plenty of coffees and teas! There are also ades and fruit juices, so people who can't drink coffee can happily come for the bread too.

Cork Bake Bar chalkboard listing when breads come out

Breads at Cork Bake Bar and when they come out

Cork Bake Bar posts the times when each bread comes out on a chalkboard! With chocolate baguette, sliced white bread (shokupan), salt bread, croissants, campagne, olive ciabatta, cakes and sandwiches, bread lovers will find it a great place for brunch.

Breads displayed on the Cork Bake Bar counter

Bakery items on display at Cork Bake Bar

Butter-scented salt breads

Cork Bake Bar had an especially wide range of salt bread (soft buttery rolls with a salty crust). The "new salt bread" varieties, buttery salt bread reborn with all sorts of fillings, looked incredibly tasty.

Various new salt breads at Cork Bake Bar

For people who don't like cream, there's sliced white bread, olive ciabatta, whole wheat bread and more, haha. There were lots of choices, including croissants and salt bread that are crispy outside and moist inside.

Meal breads and croissants on display at Cork Bake Bar

They even make their own campagne, a healthier option, haha.

₩7,800 giant honey Mont Blanc

What I really coveted at Cork Bake Bar was the giant honey Mont Blanc. This huge Mont Blanc, which looks twice the size of a human face, is only ₩7,800… amazing, right…! I was already full after eating, but I wanted this Mont Blanc so much that I took one home, T_T (bought with my own money!). It has moist honey syrup inside and was really delicious. If I have to go to the hospital again soon, I'm going to buy another one to take with me!

Desserts and bread on display at Cork Bake Bar

Cookies for gifts too

Cork Bake Bar also has a cookie set, yellow cheese cookies and s'mores cookies that are great for gifts, haha. They come with the tiger character sticker, and they're just so cute...

Cork Bake Bar cookies with tiger stickers

My friend and I hadn't eaten a meal yet, so we ordered a croissant sandwich (₩9,000) and a mango sando (the original post writes the price as 10,00 won, so it is unclear). We also got an Americano, which goes well with bread, haha.

Croissant sandwich, mango sando and Americano at Cork Bake Bar

How does the Americano taste?

The Americano at Cork Bake Bar is nutty and dark. I usually dislike acidic coffee, but the coffee here was delicious. Even with the same beans, coffee tastes different depending on who tamps well, and as you'd expect from a top Suwon bakery, the espresso extraction was so good too..

Brunch menu on the table at Cork Bake Bar

Croissant sandwich and mango sando at Cork Bake Bar

Croissant sandwich: buttery and generously filled

The croissant sandwich at Cork Bake Bar has crispy croissant packed with generous fillings, so it was very filling, haha!! The croissant was especially good, and next time I want to order a plain croissant. When I took a bite, the butter aroma spread so richly that I guess they use French gourmet butter without holding back, and I loved it! All the fillings were fresh too. (Made that same day!)

Mango sando: mango and light fresh cream on shokupan

This was the first mango sando I'd ever eaten! These days the combo of fresh fruit, fresh cream and shokupan (soft white sandwich bread) is really trending, haha. My friend said the bread itself was really good, and it turned out to be the shokupan that Cork Bake Bar bakes itself.

I loved the combination of sweet mango and fresh cream that isn't greasy. I can't handle rich, greasy food, so I was very doubtful about how it would taste, but it was really light and nutty! The fresh cream was absolutely amazing..

Cork Bake Bar: what to order

If you're ever near Maetan-dong in Suwon, I highly recommend visiting the bakery Cork Bake Bar!

My pick today: croissant (croissant sandwich)
Mango sando
Giant honey Mont Blanc

Maetan-dong, Suwon bakery brunch: croissant sandwich at Cork Bake Bar

Good to know

Where is Cork Bake Bar and when is it open?