No-wait Gunsan bakery with stuffed veggie buns: Hongyun Bakery

Today I want to introduce Hongyun Bakery, a bakery in Gunsan!

Gunsan has famous, delicious bakeries like Lee Sung Dang and the England Bakery, but tasting Hongyun Bakery's bread made me feel like I'd found a hidden gem no one talks about — I was so happy!

Where is Hongyun Bakery, and what are its hours?

Hongyun Bakery sits right in front of Susong Jeil Apartments in Susong-dong, Gunsan. Since it's not in a tourist area, it seems like mostly nearby apartment residents come here rather than tourists.

• Mon–Fri 9:00–22:00
• Sat 10:00–22:00
• Sun 10:00–17:00

The hours are nice and long too. Keep that in mind!

What Hongyun Bakery looks like inside and out

The exterior of Hongyun Bakery has that familiar, old-school bakery feel. The moment you open the door, the smell of fresh bread greets you, and the inside feels warm.

It was so exciting to see it packed with bread.

They said it's all baked with rice flour! If you scan the QR code with your camera, you can go to a site that shows rice flour bakeries all over the country.

The space you see once you walk further in

Rice bread made by a baker with an incredible résumé — a certified master baker, a confectionery and baking master, even a city-designated master craftsman — how touching is that!! There were also stacks of the rice they use.

They knead everything by hand, use naturally fermented starters that are good for the body, and use domestic Korean produce — a bakery you can trust ◡̈

They've taken part in various programs and competitions and had awards on display!! It's admirable to see craftspeople who not only have years of built-up skill but keep developing themselves.

It looks like plenty of celebrities have visited and it's even appeared on TV.

Drinks, payment methods and events at Hongyun Bakery

There's no seating inside, but they also sell coffee and drinks.

Check the menu board above for coffee and drinks.

You can pay with Onnuri gift certificates, Gunsan Love gift certificates, and Kakao Pay, and paper bags are sold for ₩100.

And there's info about that rice-flour-bread event I mentioned earlier. Spend ₩20,000 or more and get a random keyring pack, plus there's a rice-flour-bread pilgrimage stamp event and a review event — try your luck for various prizes!

How many kinds of bread does Hongyun Bakery bake?

Looks like cinnamon rolls are a new menu item!

Choco mochi bread is also new

Choco mochi bread — looks so good 🤤

I can see Hongyun Bakery's signature rice castella and sliced bread too, along with various jams to go with the bread.

The salt bread looked delicious with its shiny surface. The baguette was really long.

The sandwiches and egg tarts looked so tempting I wanted to try every single kind ㅠㅠ There were also macarons and roll cakes.

There were cakes of every kind too. I wanted to dig into the fresh fruit cake and chocolate cake ㅠㅠ

There was chestnut bread, cream cheese sliced bread, cream cheese buns, and vegetable bread — the loaves were huge.

The garlic bread, potato baguette, and cheese bagel all looked tempting

There was also condensed milk baguette, apple pie, croissants, and pollack roe bread.

Root vegetable breads — potato bread and sweet potato bread — plus croquettes and glutinous rice donuts, a must-have at any bakery

Mocha bread, vegan bread, barley bread, and ciabatta were all ready too. Having options for vegans felt like a special touch.

The rice twist donuts and giant sausage bread looked delicious too

Mochi bread, soboru bread (crumble-topped bun)

Besides basics like cream puff bread, there were special items like garlic ham bread and basil bread

It'd be a shame to pass by the pizza bread and pure rice red bean bread

There were also financiers and pound cakes. And nostalgic mammoth bread, chapssaltteok (glutinous rice cake), custard cream buns, dinner rolls, cheese bread, and walnut rolls.

There was also plain tofu crackers and crispy garlic bread.

Seriously, so many kinds of bread ㅠㅠ There were too many to count. I have trouble making decisions so it was so hard to choose ㅠㅠ Everything looked delicious ㅠㅠ

The three breads I picked, plus a free keyring

After much deliberation, I ended up picking the plain red bean bread, vegetable bread, and pizza bread. I wanted to share one each with my family.

I got a keyring along with the bread, plus a flyer for the stamp event I mentioned earlier. The instructions were written simply and easy to read, and it was small enough to carry around.

They also sell milkshakes, and I really, really wanted one, but I held back since I'm on a diet ㅠ

As I was checking out and about to leave, the sight of them working hard at making bread was impressive.

Heading home with a satisfying haul of bread.

Taste test: vegetable bun, red bean bun and pizza bread

The keyring resting gently on top of the bread is so cute ㅠㅠ And the neatly packed breads were adorable too

As soon as I got in the car, I picked up a vegetable bread

About the size of a palm? Not huge, but surprisingly heavy when picked up.

It's packed with all kinds of vegetables like this. Great texture to chew, and above all, the vegetables — carrot, cabbage, pickle, corn, onion and more — were much more varied than other well-known bakeries, so you got a range of flavors. Really delicious.

A bite taken out of the vegetable bread

Even kept in the fridge and eaten the next day, this vegetable bread was still delicious and filling. See how packed the inside is?

The red bean bread was unusual for having a rough, uneven surface instead of a smooth one. It felt coarse when I picked it up, which made me wonder — is this what rice bread feels like?

I split it in half and the cross-section was packed with red bean paste. It wasn't too sweet, which I liked even more, and I enjoyed it a lot.

I also bought a plain-looking pizza bread you see everywhere — and honestly, the moment I took a bite, I regretted not buying more ㅠㅠ It was so chewy and delicious.

Would my parents go back to Hongyun Bakery? Final verdict

The vegetable bread and red bean bread were great, but my personal top pick at Hongyun Bakery is the pizza bread!! I only tried three kinds, so someday I want to try everything and rank them all.

My parents also said Hongyun Bakery was better than Lee Sung Dang or the England Bakery, and said they'd definitely go back.

If you want a wide variety plus delicious, healthy bread made by a skilled master baker, I'd recommend Hongyun Bakery!! There was no waiting line, which was convenient, and browsing all the different breads was fun too.