Yeonnam-dong bakery: 3 baguettes eaten at Ediya next door, Mandong

Where is Mandong Jegwa, the Yeonnam-dong bakery?

Mandong Jegwa is a bakery in Yeonnam-dong at 32 Yeonhui-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. It's open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, and parking isn't available.

Yeonnam-dong has so many good bakeries that it's perfect for bakery-hopping. There are tons of cafés and bakery shops too, so new bakeries keep popping up. Whenever I go to Hongdae or Yeonnam-dong, I always look up bakery cafés~ This time I found a foolproof Yeonnam-dong bakery. It's probably one of those Hongdae spots everyone already knows about! I visited Mandong Jegwa, famous as a Yeonnam-dong bakery and Hongdae favorite.

Can you eat Mandong Jegwa bread in the shop?

Mandong Jegwa is a takeout-only store, so you can't eat there. Instead, with one drink order per person, you can eat Mandong Jegwa bread at the Ediya Yeonnam branch!

The Mandong Jegwa building in Yeonnam-dong catches your eye right away. It has that Hongdae-hotspot look for sure! If you're out in Yeonnam-dong, buying bread here and eating it at Ediya is a perfect combo. Bread and a drink together is truth no matter when you eat it.

Inside Mandong Jegwa: the shop and the bread display

This is the inside of Mandong Jegwa, the Yeonnam-dong bakery. They use the space well, displaying many kinds of bread. It's perfect for making a loop and picking up bread as you go! Lots of foreign tourists visiting Korea came in, and plenty of what looked like neighborhood regulars kept streaming in too.

Let's take a look around the bread at Mandong Jegwa, the Yeonnam-dong bakery and Hongdae favorite. There was so much delicious-looking bread that I genuinely struggled with what to pick. Since bread always tastes best fresh the same day, I usually only buy as much as I can eat that day! Of course if it's too far I'll buy a lot at once, but for bakeries in the metro area I stick to buying only what I can finish. Mandong Jegwa in particular is known for its baguettes, so I paid extra attention to those!

What is the best time to visit Mandong Jegwa?

I'd absolutely recommend going to Mandong Jegwa during the day. I went in the daytime and got to browse a huge variety of bread with nothing sold out.

There's such a wide variety of bread! Freshly baked bread just looking at it makes you happy. But you can't really tell how bread tastes just by looking at it, right? You have to guess the flavor from the name, but in between, staff kept cutting sample pieces so you could actually taste what it was! Once you take a bite of a sample, you obviously want more (right?). I ended up buying more and more bread. That's how nonstop they kept handing out samples! Honestly I don't usually like pre-cut bread since it dries out a bit, but here since they cut it fresh right when it came out, I ended up tasting and buying.

Five rounds of free samples at Mandong Jegwa

They tell you what kind of bread it is, which leads straight to a purchase... While buying bread I tasted samples more than five times... The staff kept cutting bread and handing it right into my hand! Truly the best...!

The three breads picked at Mandong Jegwa

Mandong Jegwa, the Yeonnam-dong bakery. I bought

• Garlic baguette
• Cucumber baguette
• Sweet pumpkin ciabatta

That's what I got!

Packed up to take home~

Sweet pumpkin ciabatta

Mandong Jegwa's sweet pumpkin ciabatta came as a sample piece and it was so good I grabbed one right away. Packed full of sweet pumpkin, it was the best ciabatta I've ever had!

Garlic baguette

The garlic baguette was also insane. Inside there's what I guess is garlic cream? Garlic sauce? There was so much of it. Crispy outside, moist inside, exactly that... I heard the garlic baguette is their signature item, and now I get why!

Cucumber baguette

This is the cucumber baguette. It has cucumber salad inside so it's refreshing! Perfect as a meal substitute. Personally, the garlic baguette was delicious too, but the cucumber baguette was more my style. I think I'll definitely buy it again next time I visit.

Mandong Jegwa, a Yeonnam favorite. It's a Hongdae bakery that hooks you with the charm of its samples and gets you picking up more bread. The staff are kind too, so if you're visiting Hongdae, I'd recommend stopping by Mandong Jegwa!