I mentioned in one of my earlier post about my first impressions of Seoul that I was surprised by the amount of bakeries that seemed to be everywhere. Of my favorites so far; Paris Croissant and it’s smaller version Paris Baguette is the one I’ll be showing you today. Several mornings I take a quick walk down to one of their locations for some of their fresh pastries. The one in the pictures is actually just a few minutes walking from my hostel. A Korean friend of a friend actually works at one of the Paris Croissant locations.
They tend to vary in size but most offer a variety of fresh breads, assorted pastries, cakes, sandwiches and drinks such as coffee, juices and tea’s. Here we have the entrance to one of the locations near my hostel. This was taken late at night and you can see some of the staff cleaning. It’s seeing Koreans clean that makes me feel safe about eating almost anywhere. I understand it’s a generalization but sometimes it feels like the average Korean is a clean freak, doubly so if they work in a restaurant or public place:
Onto a gallery of tasty selections. I have yet to try all of the things in this place but some of my favorites include the fresh croissants, the mini croissants with sun dried tomato, egg and ham and the cream filled coconut pastries…
Here are some of my favorites close up. The bagel looking object is actually made up of a chewier bread, filled with cream cheese and a unknown but tasty berry substance and finally topped with thinly sliced almonds. The small tart is filled with custard and a few raspberries. The coconut pastry is filled with the same mystery berry substance as the bagel looking pastry but has no cream cheese; only a light flaky pastry and coconut cream filing:
To give you a good idea of the cost here’s a quick breakdown:
- Small Raspberry tart 1500 won (1.50 Canadian)
- Coconut cream pastry 2000 won (2$ Canadian)
- Box of 3 mini croissants (perfect for breakfast) 4500 won (you figure it out ;-)
- Bagel like cream cheese almond goodness 4000 won!
- Regular butter croissant 1500 won (1.50 Canadian: I was spoiled in Montreal paying only 75 cents a piece!)
Needless to say when I’m not munching on the various Korean street foods that they serve for breakfast I’m usually stopping into one of these locations for a quick snack.
