Seodaemun bakery bread dinner after a taste test: Mandong Jegwa

I visited Mandong Jegwa Yeonnam Branch, a bakery in Yeonnam-dong. A few years ago, I bought a huge pile of bread here and ate it deliciously with my family, and when I happened to be back in Yeonnam-dong after so long, it was still right there in the same spot! I was weirdly happy to see it, so I immediately went in to buy bread haha.

Back at Mandong Jegwa after a long time

Mandong Jegwa, reunited after a long time. Memories of my previous visit came rushing back, and the exterior still had the same lovely vibe.

More bread than expected—and samples

There were more kinds of bread than I expected, honestly—it was hard to look away!

Before going, I had looked through reviews and roughly decided which breads to buy. But once I got inside, there were quite generous-sized samples ready to try! Sometimes a staff member even placed one in my hand, and the funny thing is, if it tastes good, that bread ends up on your tray hahaha. I ended up leaving with completely different breads from the ones I had originally planned to buy ^^...

For packaged breads, you can place them on your tray yourself. For breads displayed separately, such as the garlic baguette, just let the staff know when you buy them and they will get them for you.

It was a little disappointing that Mandong Jegwa has no place to sit and eat right away, but it is partnered with Ediya Coffee Yeonnam-dong Branch! If you want to eat your bread immediately, it could be nice to enjoy it there with a coffee.

Packing up a whole lot after falling for the samples

The samples totally got me, so I piled all sorts of things onto my tray hahaha—but I did not forget to get the garlic baguette my husband said he wanted! Mandong Jegwa's garlic bread is famously good, after all.

And there it was: my satisfyingly hefty bag of bread 💛 Let’s get home already 💛

On the way home, the warm, nutty smell coming from the bread bag was seriously no joke hahaha. Especially the bread at the very top: the shrimp baguette. This thing is truly dangerous...!! Just from the name, I was not especially interested, but I absentmindedly accepted a sample and immediately went, “What bread is this???” before grabbing one hahaha. That is the terrifying power of Mandong Jegwa’s samples—they make you buy bread you never planned on buying hahaha.

The breads I brought home were garlic baguette, shrimp baguette, pretzel, and maple bread! To give you the conclusion first, all four were delicious in their own different ways. Overall, I think Mandong Jegwa is really good at balancing flavors. Even breads with sauce or cream were not blindly sweet or overpowering, so I kept reaching for them.

The signature garlic baguette

First, Mandong Jegwa’s most famous garlic baguette! It has loads of an extra-thick garlic sauce spread between the slices of bread. It is moist and deeply flavored, with a slightly similar feel to the garlic bread from Bong Bread, which is famous in Sokcho. If you love garlic bread, this is absolutely a menu item worth putting on your tray at Mandong Jegwa!

An unexpected favorite: the shrimp baguette

And unexpectedly, my favorite was the shrimp baguette!! There is a savory cream sauce spread through the middle, and it seems to contain shrimp. That does not mean the first bite screams, “Shrimp!!!” though hahaha. It just gently gives the savoriness a real boost? The amount of sauce was not excessive but just right, and with the soboro-like crumb topping on top, the overall balance was seriously so good. I bought it after falling for a sample with no expectations at all, and it ended up disappearing first out of the four hahaha. Next time I go to Mandong Jegwa, I am definitely buying this again!

A pretzel filled with cream cheese

This is the pretzel. It has cream cheese inside, and this was another bread I had not planned to buy... until I tried a sample and immediately picked one up hahaha. Rather than having a flashy, intensely punchy flavor, it feels like a bread that does the basics faithfully—and does those basics really well. The bread and cream cheese are nicely balanced, so I kept reaching for it without feeling weighed down.

Gently sweet maple bread

Last is the maple bread! I personally love the scent of maple, so I picked it up as soon as I saw the name. I wondered whether it might be too sweet because it was maple, but once again, it was not overly sweet. The lightly sweet maple aroma and the soboro crumb attached to the outside were so delicious too. I think people who like sweet bread but find very sweet things a bit much would enjoy this.

A Mandong Jegwa bread party for dinner

And that was my happy bread party for dinner~~!!! It had been a long time since I visited Mandong Jegwa, but just like my memory of eating there deliciously before, I was satisfied again this time. Especially because there were so many breads to sample, it was fun to try breads I would not normally choose and discover a new favorite hahaha. If there are samples, just try one of each. You might discover an unplanned favorite bread like I did hahaha.