Paju bakery café with a chocolate bear cake and high chairs: Barirus

Hi, it's Jamie! On the weekend my husband and I took our twins to Barirus (바리루스), a big café in Paju. I knew Paju had plenty of large cafés, but people said this one was on another level in size, so we thought, let's go see.

First impressions of Barirus: the biggest café in Paju

Honestly, I was half-and-half about it. Some huge cafés are just big and have nothing much worth eating, right? But this place... seriously. It was the biggest café I've ever been to.

Visitor info

• Address: 245 Bongseosan-ro, Paju-eup, Paju, Gyeonggi, South Korea (2nd floor)
• Hours: Mon–Thu 10:00–21:00
• Fri–Sun 10:00–02:00 (next day)
• Restaurant last order 20:00
• Parking: about 300 spaces across lots 1–3
• EV chargers available
• Café is on the 2nd floor, stairs only, no elevator
• Paju Pay accepted

Parking and stairs at Barirus: be ready if you have a stroller

The parking lot at Barirus isn't just big, "vast" is the right word. We arrived around noon on a weekend and didn't have to circle for a spot at all. A café with no parking stress. That alone gets you halfway there.

You have to climb the stairs to the 2nd floor, so if you're coming with a stroller, keep that in mind.

Barirus atmosphere: media art and sofa seats

The moment I opened the door, I went "wow..." without meaning to. A gorgeous sunset-shaped media art display greets you, and I loved it. There was also dry ice in a bowl of water, with smoke bubbling up, and the kids stared at it in amazement and loved it.

The ceilings are high and the seats are spaced far apart, so even with quite a few people there, it didn't feel stuffy.

There were so many kinds of seats, from sofa spots to window tables to big tables for groups. We sat on a sofa seat toward the back, and even with the twins squeezed in next to me it wasn't cramped at all.

The prettily decorated tree, the butterfly lights, even a lemon tree they grow themselves: the kids loved it all, and it's great for photos too.

Tons of breads and the Barirus price list

There was a huge variety of bread. My eyes were spinning in front of the display.

Bakery

• Choco baguette ₩5,500
• Pandoro (Italian sweet bread) ₩6,500
• Chocolate bear cake ₩9,000

Coffee and drinks

• Americano ₩6,000
• Café latte ₩6,500

Meals

• Jambon arugula pizza ₩23,900
• Pane rosé pasta ₩22,900
• BBQ couple platter ₩45,000

These are prices from the day we visited, so they may have changed. Breads were mostly in the ₩4,000 to ₩9,000 range, and meals were around ₩20,000. They say only bread baked that day is put out, and the croissants were labeled as made with AOP butter. You can choose your coffee beans, and apparently there are americano refills for people who stay a long time.

Is it OK with kids? High chairs and kids' options

Barirus has several toddler high chairs, so baby guests can sit comfortably. It isn't a no-kids zone and I saw no age limit. I couldn't check whether there's a diaper-changing table or nursing room.

For kids, there are desserts like the bear cake, and several non-spicy meals such as pasta and pilaf, so ordering for a child was fine. Though our twins fixated on one cake and nothing else even registered, haha.

Tent zone: outdoor grass and conditions of use

Head outside and there's a rooftop area with grass. Tents are lined up with a table and chairs inside, so it feels like camping in the middle of the city.

The terms for the tents differed depending on the source. Some say ₩3,000 per hour, reserved at the bar, while others say they've recently been left open for free. Better to check before you go.

The grass definitely looked best for kids to run around on. We went out briefly, but it was noon in midsummer so we came right back in, T_T

Gallery zone

One side of Barirus has a gallery space with paintings. The kids spent a long time looking at all the flower paintings on the walls.

What we ordered: bear cake, choco baguette, pandoro

I can't not talk about our twins here. I was curious about both the meals and the breads, but the kids fell in love with the chocolate bear cake at first sight. They said they wouldn't eat anything else. So the ₩9,000 bear cake went straight onto the tray, haha.

I'd heard you have to try the choco baguette here, so I got one for ₩5,500, plus the pandoro my husband likes for ₩6,500, and ordered an americano and a latte.

The choco baguette... wow. It has real chocolate chips and chocolate mousse inside. The baguette itself is nutty and savory, so it goes really well with the chocolate. I expected a merely sweet chocolate bread, but with the bread backing it up it was completely different.

The pandoro was so soft it just melted in my mouth. The americano and latte both went well with it. And the bear cake? I never even got a taste. The twins cleaned it all up, lol.

Self zone and the downsides

The self-service zone has plates, forks and scissors, plus a microwave for warming bread, so cutting up bread for the kids was easy. You can pack leftover bread to go at the self-packing station on your way out.

One downside: the place is so big that the restrooms are near the entrance, so if you sit deep inside it's quite a walk. With kids in tow that's sneakily a chore. And as I said before, you have to go up stairs, so be prepared if you have a stroller.

When to go and what's nearby

It said they're open until 2 a.m. from Friday to Sunday. Sounds like a good late-night drive destination, right? If you're coming with kids like us, I felt around noon was not bad. There was still plenty of bread out and we could choose our seats.

In nice weather the outdoor grass would be much more worth it. In midsummer or midwinter, I think spending your time indoors is better.

They say it's about 10 minutes by car from Naepo IC, Nakha IC and Dangdong IC on the Jayu-ro. Many people combine it with Imjingak, Peace Nuri Park or the outlets. We only stopped by the café that day.