Danyang bakery, a crunchy light dinner: Black Garlic Salt Bread

I'd had such a hearty lunch that I wanted something light and tasty for dinner. After a long think, I went for black garlic salt bread, which felt like a proper Danyang specialty.

As a salt bread lover, how could I walk past Danyang's black garlic salt bread? I tried the plain salt bread, the garlic one and the black garlic one, and all three were delicious in different ways. Danyang is famous for garlic, right? Since this bread uses Danyang's specialty garlic, I thought it would be great as a travel souvenir or a gift. The garlic aroma and flavor are gentle, not overpowering, so I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a snack or a light meal.

Where is Black Garlic Salt Bread in Danyang, and when is it open?

Black Garlic Salt Bread (흑마늘소금빵) is a salt bread bakery inside Danyang Gugyeong Market, at 36 Dojeon 4-gil, Danyang-eup, Danyang-gun, Chungbuk, Unit 109. It is open 10:00-20:00 and closed every Tuesday and Wednesday.

When you travel around Danyang, you run into all kinds of food made with garlic. This time I tried salt bread made with Danyang's specialty garlic, haha. It's a menu I probably wouldn't have eaten in Busan, but in Danyang I really wanted to try it.

Where to park when visiting Black Garlic Salt Bread at Gugyeong Market

If you're driving to Danyang Gugyeong Market, I recommend the public car park across from the market. The streets near the market are narrow and crowded with people, so getting around by car looked difficult.

Still, there's a reason it's good to have a car. Gugyeong Market has lots of snack spots, like tasty bakeries, chicken gangjeong (sweet crispy fried chicken) shops and old-style snack shops, and if you follow everyone else and buy two boxes each, you'll run out of arms! So having a car helps. The market area is packed with visitors on weekends, so if you're driving, check where to park before you go.

Black Garlic Salt Bread menu and prices

• Original salt bread ₩3,000
• Black garlic salt bread ₩4,200
• Garlic salt bread ₩3,800
• Soboro (crumb-topped) salt bread ₩3,800

Black Garlic Salt Bread, known as a salt bread favorite inside Gugyeong Market, has four items on the menu. Regular salt bread is surely good too, but there's a fun in eating bread made with a local specialty while traveling, isn't there? With black garlic, garlic, original and soboro salt bread, you can pick according to your taste.

What I ordered: Set 1 and Set 2

I ordered Set 1 (4 originals) and Set 2 (2 originals, 1 black garlic, 1 garlic).

Buying a set also gets you a discount, which makes it even better.

How is the black garlic salt bread made?

They say the original salt bread is made with French gourmet butter and Sinan sun-dried sea salt. Fresh-baked salt bread looks so delicious just sitting there, right?

This is the garlic salt bread. They say the garlic in the breads at this Gugyeong Market bakery is native Danyang garlic.

This is the black garlic salt bread. They say its black garlic spread is made from black garlic extract that the shop develops and produces itself.

The shop ages the garlic itself to make the extract, then puts the spread between the layers of the salt bread and bakes it. The black garlic aging room is visible from outside! The salt breads are made from the shop's own recipe, kneaded and baked in-store, and they say the rule is made and sold the same day. Since it uses a local specialty and is produced right in the shop, I felt it's worth trying at least once during a Danyang trip.

If you're looking for a salt bread bakery in Danyang, it's worth knowing how it's made too, right?

Black Garlic Salt Bread discount event

If you've bought a set from Danyang Bakery or black garlic nurungji (scorched rice) chicken gangjeong, you can get ₩1,000 off per set when you buy a set at Black Garlic Salt Bread, based on your earlier purchase. (Buy 2 sets at Danyang Bakery and you get ₩2,000 off.)

Comparing the three flavors of Black Garlic Salt Bread

This Gugyeong Market bakery packs your order like this, and the bag has handles, so it's easy to carry.

Original salt bread: the crunchy classic

This is the shop's basic salt bread.

The original salt bread's charm is a crisp outside and a soft inside. The crust crunches as you bite and the inside is soft, so the contrast in texture is lovely.

You could really taste that classic salt bread flavor, so even though it's the basic menu item, I enjoyed it a lot. While I was eating, my friend said, "Is it really that crispy?!!! It makes a crunchy sound!!!!!"

It's true, really. The black garlic and garlic ones are good too, but if you like the basics, I recommend the original.

Black garlic salt bread: a crust as crunchy as garlic bread

This is the one I was most curious about and also the trickiest: the black garlic salt bread. Garlic is the star of Danyang, so I wanted to try it, but black garlic... it's definitely a high-difficulty one.

When I hear garlic is inside, I worry the garlic smell will be strong and the taste overwhelming, but

when I tried it, the black garlic flavor wasn't too strong. It's easy to eat without any burden. The outside is crunchy and the inside is rich and nutty. The crust of the black garlic salt bread was so crisp that it felt like eating garlic bread. The crisp crust plus the distinctive black garlic flavor makes it taste different from regular salt bread.

Garlic salt bread: the gentle flavor of garlic flakes

The garlic salt bread at Black Garlic Salt Bread uses the same garlic as the black garlic one, but it has its own charm.

The garlic salt bread has a plain, crisp crust and a moist inside, which I liked. The garlic flakes on top give a gentle garlic flavor, and it was delicious. Rather than a bread with a strong garlic taste, it feels like the nutty richness of salt bread with a touch of garlic added!

If the black garlic salt bread's charm is its crunchy crust and rich flavor, the garlic salt bread's strength is the gentle garlic flavor. Both use garlic but differ in taste and texture, so I think eating only one would have been a shame. Set 2 is a strong recommendation!

If you come to Danyang and want a dessert made with a Danyang specialty, trying both the black garlic and garlic salt breads seems like a good idea. Being able to taste something made with a local specialty, rather than just regular salt bread, made it a more special experience.

Black Garlic Salt Bread as a Danyang travel souvenir?

Danyang's black garlic salt bread is made with Danyang garlic, so it feels great as a travel gift! When you come back from a trip, you want to bring something nice to share with family and friends, right? The black garlic or garlic salt bread is perfect for that.

It also stands out from other salt breads because it uses native Danyang garlic and black garlic extract aged in the shop. And it's nice that people who love salt bread like me can enjoy something with an unusual twist together. If you're looking for a bakery in Gugyeong Market, put Black Garlic Salt Bread, made with a Danyang specialty, on your souvenir list ♥︎