Paju café in a converted factory with jambon-beurre pizza: Barirus

What kind of café is Barirus? A huge bakery café inside a remodelled factory

Barirus is a huge bakery café in Paju — a really unusual one, converted from a big factory. When I arrived at Barirus, it genuinely felt strange, like I couldn't tell if this was a factory or a café. But the inside was completely remodeled, sparkling new, and great for spending time in.

Barirus is open until 2am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, so it'd be perfect as a late-night drive café near Seoul and Gyeonggi for couples wanting a late date. ^^

Barirus in Paju is a massive café where you can enjoy brunch, dining, and handmade bakery goods baked fresh daily. It's close to Paju Premium Outlets, Imjingak, Peace Nuri Park, and Byeokcho Arboretum, so it's a good place to know for a rest stop when traveling in Paju.

Media art at the 2nd-floor entrance and the glamping area

You head up to the 2nd floor at Barirus, and along the stairs I noticed it's appeared on TV a lot. SBS M's 'Naneun Meokbangreo' episode 4-2 'Meokbenjers' featured Barirus as a huge Paju brunch bakery café; 'Oneul Alba Returns' had Hong Yoon-hwa working a shift at the massive bakery café; there's a 1,200-pyeong scale café and a glamping site covered in lush lawn. Even the meokbang authority Hiba visited.

When I got to the entrance of Barirus, I found some really cool media art.

It's the best photo spot at Barirus.

The glamping area is out on the 2nd floor exterior space. I saw families playing there with their kids.

Barirus is huge, so it's a great place to spend time on a weekend trip nearby.

The café has a relaxed atmosphere overall, and there are cute little props scattered around, which I liked.

If you go up a little further on the stairs, there's even an art exhibition space.

What bread does Barirus bake? Inside the handmade bakery display

Barirus is a large bakery café with so many kinds of bread it's fun just picking. As a handmade bakery café, it's known for croissants using AOP butter, and they make their handmade cream in-house.

You can enjoy Barirus's garlic naan bread, hongmaehwa (red plum blossom) bread made with health in mind, castella cream bread loved by everyone, crispy meringue cheese-cream strawberry bread, nostalgic red bean bread, red bean cream bread, scallion salt bread, handmade Basque cheesecake and various slice cakes, scones, palmiers, cookies, and a wide range of baked goods.

Can you have a proper meal at Barirus? Jambon-beurre pizza and BBQ platters

Besides bread, Barirus also serves meals — the jambon-beurre pizza was delicious. The brunch and dining items Barirus recommends, praised by meokbang creators Hiba, Ami Ami, and Cheon Ddung-i, are the BBQ Family Platter (3-4 people) and BBQ Couple Platter (1-2 people), which are the tastiest.

Drinks range from basic coffee to signature drinks, smoothies, and various ades.

We ordered a basic iced americano and a lemonade.

Sitting by the window, you can spend a relaxed amount of time here.

How the pastry-dough jambon-beurre pizza tastes

Our jambon-beurre pizza arrived. The pizza dough was pastry dough — this is a bakery café using high-quality dough.

The jambon-beurre pizza had good balance overall. The dishes come out looking unassuming, but they're delicious. The cheese was soft too, with a nice aroma.

What was disappointing at Barirus, and my overall verdict

I'd originally planned to eat bread at Barirus, but I missed lunchtime and ended up eating pizza instead. It was a bit of a shame not to try the bread, but I was happy eating the delicious jambon-beurre pizza. It was even better paired with the drinks we ordered.

Since Barirus is such a huge café, it was fun just looking around here and there. It's also a good spot to bring a laptop and plan out a trip.

Have a fun weekend trip to Paju with Barirus. ^^