Kim Jinhwan Bakery, famous for its milk bread, sits along the road from Sinchon to Hongdae. Distance-wise it’s actually closer to Sinchon, but the area around the bakery was originally known as the stretch beside the Hongdae railway tracks, so I went with calling it a Hongdae bread shop. I used to spend a lot of time in that neighborhood back in the day, but I always came at night, so I only now found out a place this good existed.
The front entrance
From exit 8 of Sinchon Station, go straight and turn left at the Hanaro Mart and you’ll find it easily. They apparently open at 8 in the morning, and at opening time people queue up to buy. I went in the afternoon, so I didn’t have to stand in line. I wanted to get an almond bun too, but they had already sold out.
This is how they wrap it up.
It was 3,000 won. I haven’t bought a loaf of bread in ages so I’m no judge, but it doesn’t strike me as expensive.
And here’s what the loaf actually looks like.
Eating it while it was still warm, I can see why it’s popular. It’s soft like milk, and good enough on its own with nothing on it. The flavor does fall off a bit once it cools, but then you can just spread some jam on it. The only problem is that while it’s still warm it gets badly squashed out of shape if you don’t carry it carefully, so you have to watch out when you put it in a bag.
The price is fine and the taste satisfying, so I’ll probably have someone do a bread run for me now and then. The one regret is the almond streusel bun you can only get if you go early in the morning; I’d love to try it, but that seems like a tall order.