Yangsan bakery café gold-flake chocolate shot and basasak: Choi

So today I found out the old Haewoldang, a place every Yangsan local knows, has been reborn under a new name: Choi. As Yangsan's flagship large bakery café, it's even earned a spot in the Blue Ribbon Survey, so I went in with high expectations — and this place has a resume flashy enough that the head chef has won a Prime Minister's Award for Korean bakery and served as a judge for baguette and croissant championships, so the bread and pastries taste different from the start.

[Choi] 📍 Location - 83 Yangsan-daero, Dong-myeon, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea ⏰ Hours - Daily 09:00–21:50 (last order 21:20) 🅿️ Parking - Large dedicated lot for the café

Where is Choi, and is there parking at Hopo Station?

Choi sits right in front of Hopo Station, so it's super accessible — and true to its status as one of Yangsan's flagship large bakery cafés, the whole building is massive and imposing! You can spot its distinctive presence from far away.

For parking, there's some space in the lot out front, and behind the café there's a lot as big as a shopping mall's parking garage. It's plenty spacious, so driving here is convenient.

Choi's Blue Ribbon award and the owner's baking background

Turns out this place won a Blue Ribbon award in 2024 for its baguette and croissant. On top of that, the owner is a founding member and former head chef of the old Haewoldang, with a resume that includes a Prime Minister's Award and serving as a judge for baguette and croissant championships — seriously impressive! My trust in the bread shot up before I even walked in, haha.

What pastries are on the first-floor display at Choi?

The sheer number of breads displayed on the first floor was incredible, and it was genuinely fun picking things out — especially since it was full of unusual, varied pastries you don't often see at other bakery cafés, so just looking at them was a treat for the eyes.

The variety alone was overwhelming, and they even had small tasting pieces cut up haha. There were so many types that you'd probably need to visit ten times just to try one of each, which made choosing a real dilemma — and behind the counter, staff kept busily baking more bread, so if you catch the right timing, you might even get to try something fresh out of the oven.

What we ordered at Choi: Basasak, Chocolate Shot and drinks

🛎️ Ordered - Iced americano, café latte, vanilla latte / Breads - Basasak, Chocolate Shot, Mont Blanc chestnut cream bowtie

Second-floor seats at Choi with the Yangsan Stream view

After ordering our coffee and pastries, we headed up to the second floor, and honestly the scale of the place is amazing! Even on a weekday, I was surprised by how many people had come out. The tables are well laid out too, from group seating to cozy two-person tables and even seats where solo diners can sit comfortably.

The interior has a lovely feel, with a fancy chandelier as the centerpiece really elevating the mood, and best of all, one side opens up to a floor-to-ceiling window with a clear view of the Yangsan Stream — just looking out at it felt like pure healing!

How the Mont Blanc chestnut bow tie and Chocolate Shot taste

When my pastry order arrived, I couldn't help but praise it just for the looks! The delicate pastry layers were perfectly intact, and it already looked delicious.

I tried the Mont Blanc chestnut cream bowtie first, and every single layer of pastry was intact. The outside was crispy yet moist, with the nutty flavor of chestnut cream spreading subtly through each bite — really delicious.

Next I tried the Chocolate Shot, and the pastry layers were gorgeously intact! Inside the crisp layers was rich, sweet chocolate packed in, so every bite made me happy. On top of that, it was finished with gold flakes, making it look so luxurious and pretty that I felt pampered just eating it. True to a flagship Yangsan bakery café, every single bread here is delicious. If you're a bread lover, you'll be obsessed.

Is the coffee at Choi any good?

The drinks looked so pretty too, haha. The iced americano was nicely balanced and nutty — they know their coffee. The café latte was smooth, with the milk tasting rich and nutty too, really good.

The vanilla latte was appropriately sweet with a deep flavor, and honestly every coffee here was great. I thought they'd only be good at bread, but the coffee is quite impressive too. Eating delicious bread and coffee while looking out at the Yangsan Stream felt totally healing. I'll definitely go back to Yangsan to try more of their pastries.

Final verdict on Choi Main Branch in Yangsan

From the top-tier pastries made by an owner with a seriously impressive resume, to the wide-open view of the Yangsan Stream, this was a large bakery café that delighted both the mouth and the eyes at the same time. It instantly made sense why this place is so famous in Yangsan and why it earned a Blue Ribbon award. If you want to experience properly crisp-outside, chewy-inside pastries alongside a relaxing cup of mellow coffee, I highly recommend paying a visit!