Mont Blanc chestnut bow pastry and rooftop at Choi, Yangsan bakery

This time I visited Choi, a Yangsan café near Busan that got so famous for its bakery it earned a Blue Ribbon award 🤍

Location, parking, and hours at Choi Main Branch

• 📍Choi Main Branch / 83 Yangsan-daero, Dongmyeon, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do
• 🕥Daily 9:00 AM–9:50 PM
• 🅿️Private parking available
• 🚗Drive-thru available
• ✔️Baby chairs available
• ✔️Rooftop available (no-kids zone)

Choi Main Branch, a café near Busan, has a distinctive triangular structure that's striking from the outside :) There's parking on the first floor and basement of the building, so parking is easy, and it's a café with a drive-thru too!

It even received a Blue Ribbon award in 2024!

How's the bread display?

Walking into Choi, the Yangsan café, I noticed the bread is displayed across two separate zones. Both sections were fully stocked with bread, which I loved ✨

The drink menu is diverse, with coffee, cold brew, smoothies, other beverages, lattes, and tea. And here's a look at Choi's best-selling bakery items 🤍

Choi Yangsan café's bakery best-sellers

I wanted to try every single best-seller one by one 🤍

Sofa croissant, Mont Blanc chestnut cream bow pastry

Beyond the best-sellers, there are so many distinctive, delicious-looking breads! Especially this sofa-shaped croissant — isn't it just so pretty..✨ It's shaped like a little sofa with a gummy bear sitting on it, how can bread be this cute haha. Apparently it's filled with chocolate custard cream inside! And the Mont Blanc chestnut cream bow pastry, its shape is also so pretty 🤍 I heard they won a croissant championship, and I think that's exactly why the croissant quality here is so good :)

Almond croissant / pain au chocolat / choux blanc / pain suisse / egg tart / sweet pumpkin bread / salt bread loaf

Sausage bread / cream cheese long sausage bread / sweet potato cream cheese baguette / babka / mocha bread / chocolate baguette

Ciabatta / pistachio escargot / kouign-amann / donuts / cheese fondue / Haenam honey sweet potato / new potato / kkwabaegi (twisted doughnut) / red bean butter salt bread. There's such a variety of trendy breads along with plenty that parents would love, so this seems like a great spot for couples, but also for coming with family and parents 🤍

The whole cakes loaded with fruit were eye-catching, and there are as many as four kinds of wagjak (crumbly) cake — the visuals were so pretty!!✨

On top of that, the refrigerated display case has sliced roll cakes, fruit-loaded croissants, salads, and sandwiches — they really have everything 👍🏻

Order flow, seating, and the Nakdong River window view

At Choi, a café near Busan, you only pay on the first floor and pick up your drinks on the second floor :) Since you take a seat on the second floor, you don't need to go back down to the first floor to get your drink — the flow is great 🤍

I visited around 2pm on a weekday, and there were so many customers, probably because it's such a famous Yangsan café..! Still, being a large café, there was plenty of seating and the spaces were well divided, so it never felt crowded :) Also, the whole front of the café is floor-to-ceiling windows, giving a river view that makes the space feel really open ✨

The Nakdong River view through the huge windows 🤍 They say the view is even better if you visit at sunset :)

Choi Yangsan café has a variety of spaces, including group seating, which is great for large families or small gatherings :)

I was surprised to suddenly find group seating with a fancy chandelier!

There's also stepped seating where you can sit while looking out at the river view, and each seat has an outlet, so it's great for working on a laptop too.

There's a self-service wrapping station next to the elevator on the second floor, so you can wrap up any leftover bread yourself :)

The 3rd-floor rooftop is a no-kids zone

The third floor is the rooftop :) For safety, the rooftop operates as a no-kids zone.

Apparently because it gets very windy, they didn't set up parasols and instead left umbrellas available! Such a thoughtful café, this Choi 🤍

I was surprised by the size of Choi's rooftop! The weather was cloudy the day I visited, but I imagine it would be really beautiful on a clear day at sunset :) There's quite a lot of seating too, so with the weather getting cooler these days, it'd be perfect to come here for a date and have coffee on the rooftop 🤍

What I ordered and how it tasted

• Grapefruit ade (7,000)
• Number-one croissant (4,500)
• Mont Blanc chestnut cream bow pastry (5,900)
• Haenam honey sweet potato (3,500)
• Green onion salt bread (3,800)
• Pistachio escargot (6,000)

Since I'd already had coffee that morning, I went for the refreshing grapefruit ade 🤍 It wasn't too sweet, had just the right sweetness, and was packed with grapefruit flesh so it was tangy and delicious 🤍 It was perfect to have alongside the bread :)

Green onion salt bread

I'd been craving green onion salt bread for days, and I finally got to try it at Choi!! Yes ✨ Crispy-outside-soft-inside salt bread + thick cream cheese + fragrant green onion — this combo was truly insane!! The bread itself was plain and mild, which paired so well with the cream cheese 🤍

Mont Blanc chestnut cream bow pastry

I picked the Mont Blanc chestnut cream bow pastry because I fell for its shape, but it turned out to be perfect in taste too 🤍 Inside the crispy pastry with ribbon-shaped layers is a sweet, subtly flavored chestnut cream :) It wasn't too sweet, just the right amount, and I enjoyed it a lot! At Choi café, you absolutely have to get one of the pastry-type breads haha.

If you're looking for a Yangsan café or a café near Busan, definitely go to Choi Main Branch, where both the bakery and the atmosphere are great!