Bucheon barley bakery: best time to beat 11am sellouts, Chamsae Bori

Chamsae Bori Sikppang, Bucheon main branch

Today I'm introducing a budget-friendly, healthy bakery in Bucheon where the bread is gentle on your stomach: Chamsae Bori Sikppang (참새보리식빵), Bucheon main branch.

Chamsae Bori Sikppang Bucheon main branch: location and parking

It's at 183-1 Gyeongin-ro, Sosa-gu, Bucheon, Gyeonggi, South Korea, on the 1st floor. You'll find it at the entrance of Bucheon Free Market, across the Simgok overpass. There's no parking lot nearby, so parking is hard, sob.

Baked and sold out the same day: why Chamsae Bori closes early

Chamsae Bori is a Bucheon bread shop that bakes and sells within the same day, and it closes once it sells out early. The bread is made with barley, so it's nutty, and even though it's bread it sits easy in your stomach, so it has lots of older regulars.

Since it sells out early every day, the shop is often already closed after 12pm. So I'd recommend going in the morning if you can.

What time should you go to get the popular loaves?

The shop opens at 10am, but most of the bread is out on display by about 10:30. The popular garlic bread, chocolate bread and emmental cheese loaf are almost never left after 11.. so if you want the popular ones, I recommend arriving around 10:30.

Chamsae Bori Sikppang at 11am on a weekday

I visited a little after 11am on a weekday. See how the shelves are already empty..?

The 99% Real Cheese bread is a soft loaf with cream cheese inside. I was hoping at least one of the real cheese or chocolate loaves would be left.. but today neither was there.

Even at that hour, lots of people were coming in to buy bread.

The owner here is very kind. When you visit, they often offer you a taste and explain the breads well.

It's a busy shop, but the bread slicer was kept neat and clean. Behind it you can see the bakery kitchen. It's in full view from the counter and looked well organized, so they seem to care a lot about hygiene, which is why I keep coming back.

A sign full of pride in how to enjoy the bread and the ingredients they use. It says 72 hours of cold fermentation makes the bread soft, with a great texture.

Chamsae Bori Sikppang menu and prices: loaves now 3,700 won

The counter lists the types of loaves sold at Chamsae Bori. The price went from ₩3,300 to ₩3,500, and recently the owner raised it to ₩3,700 because of rising ingredient costs. Even so, it's good value in these high-price times.

It's handmade without margarine or preservatives, so they say it's healthy and raises blood sugar less.

Multigrain Sticky Barley, ₩5,000. It has 18 kinds of grains, giving it a nutty flavor.

Red Bean Walnut, ₩3,700

Top 3 most popular barley loaves

Black Sticky Rice Bread. It's the clear number 1 at Chamsae Bori. There are so many kinds of bread that if you can't decide, pick from the top 3 and you won't go wrong.

Healthy Rye Cranberry, the number 2 pick. The nutty barley and tangy cranberry make a great combination.

Chickpea, the number 3 pick. It's packed with sweet, varied braised beans, so kids eat it well too.

This is the Giant Barley Loaf, delicious spread with strawberry jam. It's also good for sandwiches.

This is the chestnut-packed loaf, full of yellow chestnuts. Almonds are sprinkled on top for extra nuttiness.

The Belgian Chocolate Scone has Belgian chocolate chips. I haven't tried it, but I'm curious, so I'll have it next time.

One coupon per loaf, 10 coupons for a free loaf

Chamsae Bori gives you one coupon for every loaf. Collect 10 for a free loaf, or 100 for a Jjaek Bori tote bag. It's cute, but I prefer bread, so I plan to collect 10 and swap them for a loaf haha.

Current events at Chamsae Bori Sikppang

If you have time, it might be worth joining in.