Around April work was busy and there were all sorts of events going on, so I barely had time to cook and eat at home. At least there are plenty of shops near my place, so I managed to keep myself fed.
Boulangerie Gateau
A bakery I stumbled across while passing through Daechi-dong. Gateau means cake, which is an unusual name for a bakery. For a neighbourhood bakery it is quite large, and it stocked a wide range of breads and desserts. There were plenty of customers coming through, too.
The breads
They sell all sorts of bread, naturally leavened loaves included, and it was far better than your average neighbourhood bakery. That said, everything was on the sweet side – the naturally leavened bread as well – so rather than an orthodox bakery, it fits the neighbourhood-bakery concept. In Korea bread is eaten as a snack rather than a staple, after all. There is a Napoleon Bakery nearby, so the two should make good rivals. Prices are not high for the area either, so if I lived in that neighbourhood I might well have become a regular.
Naengmyeon from Rosehill
Rosehill is a Korean BBQ joint in the basement of Star Tower in Yeoksam-dong, and on the same floor they also run a place specialising in mul-naengmyeon. It is naengmyeon in the BBQ-restaurant style, but the shop has a reputation for doing it well, so after telling myself for ages that I should drop by, this time I took some home instead. Come to think of it, I go to Pyeongyang naengmyeon houses fairly often, but it had been a long while since I last had ordinary naengmyeon.
Naengmyeon and mandu
The noodles were good and the broth had a clean taste. Faithful to what naengmyeon is supposed to be, something cold and refreshing. The mandu were better than expected too. Pyeongyang naengmyeon has more depth to it, but every so often a straightforward naengmyeon like this hits the spot.
Butter Finger Pancakes by Gangnam Station
A popular pancake specialist by Gangnam Station. Pancakes are not exactly a special food, but the queue is always long, so out of curiosity I gave it a go.
What was inside
They do not sell single portions, but for two people the quantity is not stingy given the price. By their nature pancakes taste of nothing much on their own, but spread with maple syrup and butter they are pretty good. High calorie, sadly. The meat patty was a miss, but the rest was decent enough. So that is why it is popular.
Cakes from Deux Amis
Deux Amis is a lovely cake shop in Sinsa-dong. I bought four and wondered if that was too many, but they disappeared in no time.
Bread from Longbread in Yeoksam-dong
Longbread is a bakery a stone’s throw from my place. I do not normally go to chains, but it was better than I expected, so I have stopped in several times. It is greasy, which is a drawback, but well-baked bread with fresh fillings cannot possibly taste bad. It is no match for the club sandwich at the Shilla, but it was far better than Subway or Quiznos.
Chains vary from branch to branch, and the taste can swing quite a bit depending on the day, so however much I enjoyed it, it is hard to recommend one to others with any confidence. This place was fine when I ate there, but there is no telling how it will go from here, so please take that into account if you visit.