Yeonnam-dong bakery: squid ink bread and basil tomato cream, Mandong

What kind of bakery is Mandong Jegwa Yeonnam Branch?

Mandong Jegwa (만동제과) Yeonnam Branch is a seriously popular bakery in Yeonnam-dong! The main shop is in Gangneung, and I hear it's really famous there. I'd been curious for ages, so I finally paid a visit 😊

• Address: 32 Yeonhui-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (466 m from Hongik Univ. Station Exit 3)
• Hours: daily 11:00–21:00
• Takeout, Wi-Fi

How to get to Mandong Jegwa from Hongik Univ. Station

The shop sits on a main street in Yeonnam-dong, about a 10-minute walk from Hongik Univ. Station Exit 3. You have to climb a slight hill! The exterior already has that bakery feel 🍞 It looks like a place that's good, haha.

Inside Mandong Jegwa: samples and the weekday afternoon mood

It's a takeout-only bakery, so there's no seating area. The aisles are wide enough to walk around and browse the breads! The shop was clean and pleasant :)

We went on a weekday afternoon, and they were baking constantly, so luckily there was plenty of bread 🤭 It's such a popular bakery that I heard things can sell out if your timing is off 🥹

What I really liked: there are lots of breads, and every one is neatly wrapped individually in plastic, so hygiene is top 🤍 and they'd be great for gifts too, haha. The staff member was also so, so kind 👐 and kept handing out freshly baked bread as samples! They gave us such a huge variety, truly endless 🥰 Everything was moist and delicious, so my urge to buy just kept growing, lol 😚

Mandong Jegwa bread types and prices

Center shelf: signature breads and new items

The center shelf holds the most popular signature breads! There's the butt bread (엉덩이빵, ₩3,500), a cute sweet mochi bread filled with condensed milk cream, and the injeolmi bread (인절미, ₩3,500), filled with injeolmi (roasted rice-cake powder) and condensed milk cream. Both are round and adorable, haha.

The center also has the new chestnut red bean mugwort bread (밤팥쑥, ₩7,200) and kabocha squash ciabatta (₩6,200), plus pretzel (₩5,000), red bean cream bread (앙크림, ₩3,500), tortilla (₩4,300), bacon ciabatta (₩4,900) and fig campagne.

Breads you ask for at checkout

A few items aren't put on your tray. You tell the staff when you pay and they bag them for you! These are the most popular signature garlic baguette (₩7,000), onion bagel (₩5,500), cucumber baguette (₩6,900) and basil tomato (₩6,200).

Wall shelf breads

One wall also had a really wide variety of breads~ So many kinds, and the prices aren't high at all!! Everything looked delicious, so I agonized over what to eat 😊

• Maple ₩4,900
• Emmental ₩5,200
• Walnut ₩4,300
• Mugwort rice cake bread (쑥떡쑥떡) ₩4,900
• Black ink (먹물) ₩4,100
• Cappuccino ₩5,600
• Shrimp baguette ₩5,800
• Jalapeño ciabatta ₩4,800
• Sweet potato ₩3,500
• Kaya coconut ₩4,500
• Salt soboro, corn mayo, chestnut loaf bread, cheese mallang and more

The 6 breads we picked at Mandong Jegwa: how much?

After some deliberating, we bought one each of the garlic baguette (₩7,000), shrimp baguette (₩5,800), basil tomato (₩6,200), black ink (₩4,100), injeolmi (₩3,500) and butt bread (₩3,500)!

Here's our haul! Everything looked so good that we just kept grabbing, lol.

How does the Mandong Jegwa garlic baguette taste?

Even though it's a baguette, it isn't tough at all. It's moist and soft, and it's packed with garlic cream inside! It's the signature bread, and everyone says you have to try it 😉 After tasting it, I see why it's so popular 🥰 The garlic cream soaks naturally into the bread, the garlic flavor isn't too strong, and it's a smooth, delicious cream, so it was really, really good 💗 Highly recommended if you like garlic baguettes 👍👍

Injeolmi, butt bread and black ink bread: the condensed milk cream breads compared

The injeolmi bread and the butt bread both have plenty of condensed milk cream, so they're moist and sweet 🤍 The injeolmi bread especially is heaped with injeolmi powder on the outside and has red bean inside, adding a nutty richness. As an injeolmi lover, it was totally my taste 🤎 Highly recommended too!! 👍👍

Similar to those two, the black ink bread also has condensed milk cream, making it sweet and soft, and my companion said the black ink bread was the best of all!! Recommended 👍

How were the shrimp baguette and basil tomato?

The shrimp baguette has ground shrimp mixed into the bread, so the shrimp aroma and flavor come through naturally, and one companion said it was delicious. The basil tomato is a crispy, fried-like bagel with basil tomato cream and toppings, and another companion said the cream was really good ☺️ I recommend these two as well 👍

Sampled: mugwort rice cake bread, ciabatta and sweet potato bread

The breads we tried as samples included the mugwort rice cake bread, kabocha ciabatta, jalapeño ciabatta and sweet potato bread! The mugwort one was chewy, nutty and sweet, like mugwort injeolmi, and delicious!

The kabocha and jalapeño ciabattas were soft, with a sweetness that doesn't taste like kabocha and a moderate spiciness from the jalapeño that wasn't too strong. Both were good 💚 The sweet potato bread was full of soft sweet potato and sweetly delicious 🍠 I recommend all of these 👍👍 I'll buy them next time, haha.

Is Mandong Jegwa Yeonnam Branch worth another visit?

Mandong Jegwa Yeonnam Branch is a Yeonnam-dong bakery where you can try tasty, distinctive breads at great value! The variety was huge and everything I tried was delicious, so I wanted to buy it all 🥹😊 I think I'll stop by regularly whenever I'm in Yeonnam-dong, haha. The main shop is in Gangneung, and I definitely want to visit that someday too 🫶 Do give it a visit~!!