Jongno 3-ga bakery ordering guide: 2-group entry, no trays, Munhwa

Whenever I'm in Jongno 3-ga or Ikseon-dong, there's one great bakery I always think of and stop by: Munhwa Bakery (문화제빵)! You can feel the "this place is good" vibe from the outside alone.

Where is Munhwa Bakery in Jongno 3-ga?

This Ikseon-dong bakery is within a 3-minute walk of Jongno 3-ga Station Exit 7! The hanok-style exterior and the big standing sign that just says "bread" (빵) make it easy to spot, even from across the street haha

Why does Munhwa Bakery let in only 2 groups at a time?

The shop is on the small side, so there's a sign on the door asking customers to enter 2 groups at a time. It's popular, as an Ikseon-dong bakery should be, and the inside is packed with bread. I think 2 groups at a time actually lets you pick your bread more calmly and at your own pace, which is nice!

How do you order at Munhwa Bakery?

There are no customer trays at this Jongno 3-ga bakery! A partition stands in front of the hygienically displayed bread, so you tell the staff which breads you want and pay right away. Being this carefully kept makes me like the place even more.

The first thing you see when you walk in is trays piled with bread. I'm not buying all of it, but walking into a bakery and seeing it stacked up like that somehow makes me feel secure and happy haha

Which breads to pick at Munhwa Bakery

Munhwa Bakery's big coffee bread

The coffee bread here is seriously big!! Just looking at it, I can almost smell the coffee. On a hot day like these, I bet it would be delicious after a short stay in the freezer too!!

Two rice loaves: rice cheese loaf and rice chestnut loaf

• Rice cheese loaf (쌀치즈식빵)
• Rice chestnut loaf (쌀밤식빵)

This bakery has 2 kinds of the rice loaves I love, so I always take these two home without a second thought! Rice loaves have a chewier texture that I keep craving.

Onion bagel, good for sharing

The onion bagel is really big too, so I think several people could enjoy it together!!

I was worried about what to do if the rice loaves were sold out, but besides the display shelves, Munhwa Bakery also had many kinds of bread ready on trays like these!!

Cream bread tray: black sesame, milk cream, cheese and squid ink condensed milk breads

• Black sesame bread (흑임자빵)
• Milk cream bread (우유크림빵)
• Cheese bread (치즈빵)
• Squid ink condensed milk bread (먹물연유빵)

If you love cream bread, you can pick from this tray!

K-bread tray: injeolmi (roasted soybean rice cake), peanut and mugwort rice cake breads

• Injeolmi bread (인절미빵, roasted soybean powder rice cake bread)
• Peanut bread (땅콩빵)
• Mugwort rice cake bread (쑥떡빵)

Lots of the K-bread-style breads are on this tray! With cold milk they'd go down so easily haha I think foreigners visiting Jongno 3-ga and Ikseon-dong would really love tasting these too!

Munhwa Bakery's signature garlic bread

The garlic bread, the signature of this Ikseon-dong bakery, looks so tempting, right!! It's also really big, large enough that one loaf can be shared by several people!

Does Munhwa Bakery have a receipt review event?

I heard that if you join the Naver receipt review event at this Ikseon-dong bakery, you get a free salt bread, so if you love salt bread, don't forget to take part~~!!

Is Munhwa Bakery worth a bakery tour stop?

I had such a great time on this Ikseon-dong bread tour at Munhwa Bakery. So many of the breads are famous enough that most could be called signatures, so choosing is agonizing and exciting at the same time!!

The breads here are so big that even with just 3 picked, my shopping bag was heavy!!