K-BAGUETTE PARTY: ＂Paris Croissant＂ in Seoraemaeul

K-BAGUETTE PARTY: "Paris Croissant" in Seoraemaeul

I’m a 빵순이 (bbangsooni, "bread foodie").

I don’t bake (there’s no oven at my place), but I’m always ready to spend a fortune on some delicious bread with good ingredients.

K-bread (especially the European kinds baked here) has come a long way… they are so good :p

Nowadays, large Korean bakeries and patisseries usually double as cafes (“bakery cafés”). It’s a big change from my childhood, when bakeries and cafes mostly went separate.

Last week, I dropped by SPC’s bakery label “Paris Croissant” in Seoraemaeul (서래마을), an French-fashioned neighborhood in southern Seoul, for late lunch with my work colleagues.

Firstly, I wanted to sit through the meal, coffee and dessert at one go (“귀차니즘” – lazy me, haha), and secondly, I was curious about their baguette (They supply fresh baguette to the French school in Seoraemaeul!)

SPC is one of the earliest K-food conglomerates that helped bakery cafés spread fast across the country.

Four of us went to eat at Paris Croissant. We grabbed two trays and swept the bread and pastry corners (FUN!!!).

With discount and everything, the total came to 120,000 won ($90, no tip). That’s a lot for bread, but not so bad for four people’s eat-out expenses (considering the crazy price hikes…)

This is what we got!

We got:

fluffy bagels (spinach & potato and pumpkin & cream cheese)

dinner rolls with fish egg and seaweed (pinkish orange)

french croissant (hence the name, “Paris Croissant”)

chicken wraps

meatball & tomato pastry (with baked tomato, cheese, meatball and bolognaise sauce)

salmon salad

tuna cranberry sandwich

caneles (earl grey and dulce caramel)

caramel & nuts chocolate chip scone.

Ok, that’s a LOT.

Ok, first, the baguette.

THE BAGUETTE WAS EXCELLENT!

They have separate shelves for baguettes and country-style bread. (They resembled those in old comic illustrations! “만화빵”). The baguette comes in multiple versions. We picked the most popular one.

How can I put it?! It was thin and crispy outside, soft and moist inside. (“겉바속촉”) I think it's pretty cool that Korean-made French baguette can be this good. (We saw some French people taking out baguettes and rolls at the counter.)

We also got freshly made cream cheese spread for the baguettes and bagels.

You REALLY should try the pickled peppered cream cheese! They have other kinds too, like tomato basil, corn, and onion & chives. But the pickled chillies was our absolute favorite. (For some unsure reasons, I haven’t seen the chillies version in other Paris Croissant branches in town!)

One of us bakes for fun. (She even bakes macarons..!!!) She instantly picked this butter from France. She said it was super expensive, but insanely good. We tried it with Paris Croissant’s baguette. It was celestial.

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Seriously, we ate to the brink of throwing up (lol), because we wanted to eat them while they're fresh.

We ate soooo much that we couldn't even THINK of trying the cake & dessert section on the basement floor.

We didn't feel like going to a bakery cafe for a while.

But man, it was good.

I'm not sure if Paris Croissant serves the same baguette in its overseas branches -- but it's worth going in and asking.

Did a little research -- There's like 480 Paris Croissant overseas branches, in the U.S., China (PC's first overseas branch was in China, 2004), U.K., France (lol), Singapore, and Canada. And are also branches in Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. There are some 300 branches in China and 140 in the U.S.

Well, I'm going on a trip to Singapore this week, so I'm gonna check out if they sell Singaporean-style K-bread in that branch :)

jwc@yna.co.kr