Historic Bakery - Lee Sung Dang

Holy moly, is this place popular.

Known to be the "oldest bakery in Korea",

their annual sales are at 6,000,000,000 won a year or something.

Did I get the numbers right?

Lee Sung Dang is one of the bakeries with the highest sales

alongside the celebrated bakery of Daejeon -- Sung Sim Dang

(which I believe sits at 9,000,000,000 won sales a year,

however Sung Sim Dang has branch locations)

The two famous breads at Lee Sung Dang are their

red-bean paste bun, and their veggie bun.

Arriving there at 9:30? 10AM?

We were lucky enough to be on time for both.

There's usually a line-up of people waiting to buy these breads,

during their afternoon bread rushes there can be waits that are over 30 mins

-- just to buy bread.

They have a set time on when they bake & release their popular duo,

and it's during those hours that the bakery turns into mayhem.

There's a limit on the amount of one type of bread you can buy,

and it's quite a common to see people horde on 30 buns,

the maximum amount onto their plates

Try their other breads as well,

they're old-fashioned Korean style baked goods.

People waiting in line to pay for their breads

Very retro & traditional ice cream bars

"bakery style"

Overview

Honestly, I'm not sure if this place lives up to their hype.

I've expected their red bean bun to be moist, soft, and supple

-- although I ate them freshly baked, the bread was dry in texture and

the red bean paste a little bit too sweet for me.

Perhaps it's because the dough on their red bean bread is made out of rice flour,

although this might be a healthier choice (among local Korean belief)

it sure takes away from the overall flavour in my opinion.

I've enjoyed their veggie bread more so than the red bean,

their cream-filled bread also decent as well.

This place ranks high among older Koreans for nostalgic value,

most that have tried the breads here shout

"Just like how I remember it!!"

This bakery isn't about their new and fancy Parisian techniques they've

acquired over the years,

but rather maintaining true to what they've already mastered

and offering consistency to the customers that return

for that nostalgic value of the "good times".

Lee Sung Dang

063-445-2772