Around this time I got interested in rye bread, so I started making the rounds of the famous rye bread bakeries in the Seoul area.

A place like this

It looked pretty popular. Apparently this place is known for its salt bread as well as its rye bread, but I went late, so there was none left.

The bread explainer

They sell 100% rye bread. Looking back now, there aren’t many places selling 100% rye, so a shop like this looks quite impressive.

The breads

They sell properly serious rye bread, but they also had a wide range of other breads.

All kinds of bread

They all looked good.

The breads

Looking good.

The breads

This side too..

The sandwiches

Nice.

Madeleines and so on

These looked good too.

The breads

Close-up of the rye bread

Even at a glance they look seriously authentic. They make them well.

Rye bread has that savoury, slightly funky fermented-soybean taste, like old-fashioned jjajang, and it’s a perfect fit for a middle-aged palate. Keep eating it and you fall for the charm of rye bread. It’s less that it’s delicious, more that it’s an easy, undemanding taste..

In front of the Constitutional Court

There were a lot of people around at this point.. a decision really needs to come soon..

Dongdaemun Heopajip

It looked like there was a queue, so I took a photo, but a hip place like this is awkward to go to on your own, so I’m just putting it on the record..

한국어로 읽기日本語で読む