Seodaemun bakery cheese bread and garlic baguette: Mandong Jegwa

There’s one name you can’t leave out when you’re doing a Yeonnam-dong bakery crawl: Mandong Jegwa Yeonnam Branch. It really made a name for itself with one garlic baguette, so I had been wanting to visit for ages! Let me introduce the four breads I bought!

Mandong Jegwa Yeonnam Branch location and hours

It’s at 32 Yeonhui-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. It takes about five minutes on foot from Exit 3 of Hongik University Station toward Yeonnam-dong! It’s open daily from 11:00 to 21:00 and generally has no regular closing days. Same-day reservations aren’t available, though, so make your pickup reservation at least two days ahead!

If you’re placing a large order of five or more of the same bread, I recommend contacting the shop first rather than ordering online! There’s no dedicated parking, so public transportation is the way to go!

Mandong Jegwa menu and prices

The signature item is, of course, the ₩7,000 garlic baguette. I also bought Emmental for ₩5,200, salt soboro for ₩3,600, and Eongdeongi for ₩3,500!

They also had quite a variety, including cappuccino, basil tomato, ssuk-tteok-ssuk-tteok (mugwort rice-cake bread), chestnut loaf, cucumber baguette, and onion bagels. It’s hard to guess the flavor from the names alone, right?

But they cut freshly baked bread into little pieces for tasting! That made choosing what to put in my bag genuinely fun. The staff kindly explained everything too, so even with so many breads, choosing wasn’t difficult.

Four Mandong Jegwa breads chosen through tasting

Salt soboro

First up, the salt soboro was ₩3,600.

The outside is a soboro bread with a crumbly topping, while the inside is structured like salt bread, so when I cut it open, there was a big hollow inside!

A buttery aroma burst out, and the salty flavor was exactly what you expect from salt bread. The key point is the two textures, thanks to that soboro crumble on top.

Cream-filled Eongdeongi

Eongdeongi, which means “butt,” makes you curious from the name alone, haha. It’s a round, white bread just like it looks, with cream inside!

It’s designed so that cream comes out when you take a bite, so it will definitely suit anyone who loves a soft texture. It isn’t heavy, making it perfect for a light snack.

Emmental chosen for its cheese aroma

The Emmental was ₩5,200, and I picked it immediately after tasting it.

The cheese aroma rises the moment you bring it near your face! That settled it right there. With every bite, the chewy cheese feels like it stretches.

The salty, nutty cheese flavor runs through the whole bread, so if you love cheese, I truly recommend this one! I couldn’t tell what it would taste like from the name alone, but the tasting helped me choose it. If there’s a bread you’re curious about, ask whether it’s available to taste!

Moist and creamy garlic baguette

You can’t come to Mandong Jegwa and not eat this! It’s the ₩7,000 garlic baguette. It was generously topped with butter and garlic, and the aroma was amazing! This isn’t the hard garlic bread you might usually imagine. Forget that! The inside is moist and soft, so once you eat one piece, you just keep reaching for more. The creamy garlic sauce has soaked in, bringing out a deep garlic flavor with every chew, and it’s sweet but rich, too.

I originally chose it for my husband, but I ate more than half of it myself, haha. I’ll buy it again next time! If you love garlic, make sure you get the garlic baguette!

What to know before taking your bread to go

Mandong Jegwa is not a large shop and operates mainly for takeaway, with no dining area. There’s nowhere to sit and eat, so remember it as a takeaway-only spot! Popular items may be sold out if you arrive late in the evening.

If there’s something you absolutely want, like the garlic baguette, I recommend going around opening time or making a pickup reservation first! Remember that pickup reservations need to be made at least two days before your pickup date.

Since it’s takeaway-focused, it’s actually perfect for eating as you walk toward Yeonnam-dong Park on a nice day. If you’re planning a Yeonnam-dong bakery crawl, be sure to add Mandong Jegwa Yeonnam Branch! And don’t forget the garlic baguette!