Jongno bakery for white bean paste bread: Munhwa Bakery

Munhwa Bakery near Jongno 3-ga Station

On this visit to Jongno, I found a bakery with such a long line. It was already famous for its garlic bread, haha. If you are out in Ikseon-dong or Jongno, this is an essential stop on a bread crawl! It is Munhwa Bakery~

Munhwa Bakery

There is not a big sign here, so you could easily walk right past it, haha. But it does say “bread” in big letters! It is five minutes from Exit 6 of Jongno 3-ga Station.

We visited at 3 p.m. on a weekend, and wow, that queue was no joke ㅠㅠ There were only a few breads left, so I was nervously hoping they would not sell out. 🚨They say everything is made and sold on the same day.

They let in two parties at a time. It is a walk-in queue, so you absolutely have to stand in line and wait!! But people move through quickly because they just pick their bread and leave!! There were about seven parties ahead of us, but I think we waited around 10 minutes?

Munhwa Bakery has full glass windows like this, so you can check the remaining breads in real time, haha. We were deciding which breads to buy while we waited! Haha.

Munhwa Bakery breads and sold-out items

Peanut bread (₩3,800), mugwort rice cake bread (₩5,700), cheese bread (₩5,400). The cheese bread was already sold out... ㅠㅠ If you have an old-fashioned sweet tooth, I recommend the mugwort rice cake bread! The peanut bread also looked nutty, piled high with peanuts on top!

Black sesame bread (₩3,800), milk cream bread (₩3,500), squid-ink condensed milk bread (₩4,500). They are generously filled, right? ㅠㅠ Everything looked so good that choosing was hard.

Onion bagel (₩6,000). There was only one of these onion bagels left too... and the person ahead of us bought it...ㅠㅠ Sold out! (It must be a popular one.)

Rice chestnut loaf (₩5,800), rice cheese loaf (₩5,900), maple cream cheese bread (₩4,900), sweet potato bread (₩3,800), white bean paste bread (₩3,800). The loaves would be good as a meal, and I highly recommend the sweet potato or white bean paste breads if you have an old-fashioned sweet tooth!

Garlic bread (₩6,800). It is Munhwa Bakery's signature menu! It is garlic bread, but... there was only one left when we got there!!! So I was feeling ridiculously lucky~~~ haha.

Ta-da~ A staff member brought out a fresh tray, haha. Since the garlic bread is popular, it seems like they deliberately make more of it!

When you order the garlic bread, they cut it up and pack it like that!

Cards and bank transfer are both accepted!!

They pack it in a paper bag like this~~ (You need to request one separately!)

• Garlic bread (₩6,800)
• White bean paste bread (₩3,800)
• Squid-ink condensed milk bread (₩4,500)

Packed garlic bread, white bean paste bread, and squid-ink condensed milk bread

Garlic bread

Honestly, I am a total bread lover. I really love garlic bread... That was one reason I visited Munhwa Bakery!! It was soaked in garlic sauce, so the outside was slightly soft... and lots of cream had seeped into the gaps in the baguette, making it wonderfully moist. ‼️Definitely heat it in the microwave~ You can taste the sharp yet sweet house garlic sauce even better, haha.

White bean paste bread

This is the bread my partner chose. You could call it a bakery basic!!

The fluffy, chewy dough was generously filled with pale white bean paste. The paste was smooth and sweet, so I highly recommend it if you have an old-fashioned sweet tooth! With milk, it tastes like heaven~~

Squid-ink condensed milk bread

This bread has condensed milk cream sandwiched in black squid-ink dough. I kept being drawn to that look, haha.

The balance of squid-ink bread and sweet condensed milk cream was great. This one is also even tastier warmed up in the microwave!! It is mainly a takeaway shop, so the turnover is quick, but popular items may sell out early. If you are coming on a bread crawl, visit a little earlier!!