Paju Unjeong bakery meal breads: pain au chocolat, Boulangerie Tan

How to find Boulangerie Tan in Unjeong, Paju: underground parking, then right on the 1st floor

A few days ago I got a craving for good meal bread, so I went to a bakery I love in Paju Unjeong. It's Boulangerie Tan — a small, takeout-only bakery. The parking is underground, so you can park easily, and once you come up to the 1st floor it's right there on your right.

This place bakes and sells everything same-day, and they use a natural levain starter, so the flavor really stands out. They also use organic and French flour along with natural butter and dairy cream, so you can taste the quality in every bite.

Why this haul skipped dessert pastries and took only meal breads

Once you walk in, there's a small area where you pick your bread and order — that's it. They have a few dessert options too, like cornet pie, tiramisu, and cream salt bread. I've had the cornet pie before and it was pretty good. But today I decided to stick to meal breads only.

By the way, Boulangerie Tan uses Lescure Charentes-Poitou AOP butter. That's why things like their croissants, which are loaded with butter, taste so luxurious.

They also have a dedicated gift box just for the cornet pie, so if you're buying it as a present, it'd be nice to just hand it over in that box.

The front is where you choose your bread, and the whole back area is the bakery workshop. Bread keeps coming out nonstop, and even so, I noticed a few items were already sold out. So I picked quickly before things ran out.

The baguette and salt bread picked at Boulangerie Tan

This Paju Unjeong bakery also has a variety of sandwiches — from jambon-beurre to carrot rapée chicken sandwiches, plenty of hearty-looking options. I thought about buying a sandwich, but since I already had other ingredients at home, I just bought a baguette to make my own.

I also picked up a salt bread. The salt bread flavors ranged widely — original, honey garlic, chewy rice cake, pollock roe potato, and more.

There's a drink menu too. The coffee is made with Fritz Coffee Company's Old Dog beans, so you get a rich, bold flavor. Besides coffee, they also have iced tea, matcha latte, and green tangerine ade.

This Paju Unjeong bakery had a sample corner too, so I tried a leftover piece and it was really good. The dough itself tasted great, which I think comes from the natural levain starter.

They also had a few sandwich loaf breads — tangzhong milk bread, olive pain de mie, organic whole wheat loaf — so it felt like a great place to stock up on meal breads.

Packaging, opening hours and the 100 won plastic bag fee

Once you buy your bread, they pack it into a nice paper bag. If you want a plastic bag, there's a ₩100 eco fee added. Since we live far away, we bought one plastic bag to carry everything and headed straight home.

I really wish Boulangerie Tan, this great bakery in Paju Unjeong, had a branch in my own neighborhood — it's a bit of a bummer that it's so far away. By the way, they open at 10am and close at 6pm, so keep that in mind.

Salt bread and pain au chocolat: frozen, then reheated in an air fryer

I froze the bread I bought right away, then reheated it in the air fryer before eating — it tastes almost freshly baked that way.

The salt bread had pearl salt on top, and I was happy to find the pain au chocolat had three chocolate sticks inside instead of the usual two.

They also share a guide on how to store and reheat the bread deliciously, so you can just follow that to keep it tasting great.

From croissants to baguettes, everything is handmade, so the look of each one is really appealing. The croissant and baguette both had beautifully defined layers and felt generously sized.

Tomorrow morning I'm planning to make a jambon-beurre sandwich with this baguette, and I'm already looking forward to it. I tore off a corner to taste, and it was nutty and clean, really good.

So I'll definitely be back to this Paju Unjeong bakery, and next time I'll have to try a different menu.