Potato dough croissant at Mangwon-dong bakery Boulangerie Copain

I first came across Boulangerie Copain through Market Kurly and learned it also has a shop in Mangwon-dong, so I went to check it out. On Kurly I'd mostly seen their signature items — baguette, baguette sandwich, whole chestnut bread, kouign-amann — but this was my first time visiting the actual store.

Boulangerie Copain baguette times and the 7pm time sale

If you want a freshly baked baguette at Boulangerie Copain, come at 10am. This place is confident about its baguettes, so the time they come out of the oven is posted right at the door — and there's also a time sale after 7pm.

This spot has apparently been featured on the TV show 'Master in the House' (생활의 달인), and I'd heard the dough is mixed and baked by a pastissier who used to work at the Shilla Hotel, so I trusted the place before I even walked in. Rather than flashy, buttery-fancy pastries, they excel at the basics — croissants, baguettes, sliced bread — done really well. Most of the display case is built around variations on these basic breads, which makes it a spot that suits true bread lovers who prefer plain, everyday loaves they can eat without guilt.

What is left on the shelves at 3pm? Angbutter baguette sold out

I got there around 3pm on a weekday, and unfortunately the ang-butter baguette (sweet red bean and butter) I was curious about was already sold out. Instead there were plenty of hearty meal-replacement sandwiches on offer, like basil sandwich and colby jack sandwich.

The showcase also had eye-catching desserts like chocolate banana pudding, chocolate palmier, earl grey palmier, and castella cream bread, along with raspberry jam, blueberry jam, and onion cream cheese to go with the plain breads — so it left me with the impression this bakery covers all the bases, not just basics.

Around the register there were also several drinks on offer, including coffee. On a nice day, it'd be great to grab bread and coffee here to take out and picnic at nearby Mangwon Hangang Park. They're also running a Naver photo review event. Like most bakeries these days, bags are sold for a fee — I unfolded the tote I keep folded up in my bag and used that instead. Once you buy a tote you actually like, you end up carrying it everywhere and getting real use out of it.

I picked out the Valrhona chocolate baguette, a croissant, honey toast, ham cheese baguette sandwich, and milk salt bread to take home.

Ham cheese baguette sandwich with emmental and whole grain mustard

🐻❄️𓈒 𓂂𓏸 Ham cheese baguette sandwich

Once I got home, the first thing I tried was the ham cheese baguette sandwich. It really showed off the appeal of a well-made baguette — crisp outside, chewy inside. The baguette wasn't seasoned too strongly, which let the salty, savory fillings shine.

The filling had holey emmental cheese, sliced ham, whole grain mustard that popped in your bite, and two sauces that added moisture (one was mustard, and honestly I couldn't tell what the other was lol) — the balance was really good.

It'd make a solid light meal, great to take along on a picnic or a drive.

Potato dough croissant: big, but why it is not dry

🐻❄️𓈒 𓂂𓏸 Croissant

Boulangerie Copain's croissant is the biggest I've ever had, which made it visually very satisfying. I took this one to work and ate it with strawberry jam I already had on hand.

The first bite gives you that light, flaky crunch as the thin layers shatter apart. What's special about this croissant is that the dough is made with potato. The potato starch, which holds onto moisture really well, keeps the interior from drying out even at this large size — it stays properly chewy and springy. The heavy richness of the butter mixes with the nutty, mild sweetness of the potato, deepening the overall flavor. Despite the size, I never got tired of it and finished it happily to the last bite.

Honey toast: crisp outside, dense and moist inside

🐻❄️𓈒 𓂂𓏸 Honey toast

I picked the honey toast because it reminded me of honey bread, which I usually enjoy, and the golden-brown color looked delicious. Honestly, the color alone was enough to make me grab it. The sweet aroma, crisp outside, and dense, moist inside gave a pleasant sweetness.

Milk salt bread or plain salt bread: which to pick

🐻❄️𓈒 𓂂𓏸 Milk salt bread

Boulangerie Copain sells both plain salt bread and milk salt bread. I went with the milk version since it's said to maximize the sweet-salty balance with milk cream and salt.

The bread itself is soft and gently sweet, and the coarse salt on top brings a salty edge that makes for a great sweet-salty combo. That salt on top actually hits pretty strong — you need to take a big bite to get the balance right between the salt and the bread.

Valrhona chocolate baguette: ask for cutting in store

🐻❄️𓈒 𓂂𓏸 Valrhona chocolate baguette

The item I was most excited about was the Valrhona chocolate baguette, something you don't easily find at other bakeries. True to its name, it's a deep chocolate color, and being a baguette it's long and has decent volume. There are a lot of different types of cocoa powder out there, and I appreciated that they name the exact ingredient used right in the product name — it built trust. I've done some home baking myself and had heard of Valrhona powder before, so this really caught my eye.

This is normally something they'll cut for you in-store, but I wanted to bring it home in one whole piece for photos, so I didn't ask them to cut it. Trying to slice the baguette at home with a regular kitchen knife turned out to be a real struggle though — it was thick and didn't cut cleanly. Unless you specifically need a photo of the whole loaf, I'd definitely recommend asking them to cut the chocolate baguette in-store.

After the struggle of cutting it, the taste made it all worth it. The thickness made each bite really satisfying. True to a baguette master's bread, the outside was crisp and the inside had a good dense texture. Plenty of Callebaut chocolate chunks were packed inside for a fun crunch, and the dough itself wasn't overly sweet, letting the deep, refined flavor of the Valrhona chocolate powder really come through.

Verdict on the five breads from Boulangerie Copain

Overall, none of the five breads I bought at Boulangerie Copain were overly salty or greasy. The base flavor is mild and not overpowering, giving it a comforting appeal that bread lovers could keep snacking on endlessly. If you're after well-made, solid everyday bread, or planning a picnic at Hangang Park, I'd recommend stopping by Boulangerie Copain.