Deux Copains [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Deux Copains 
Address: 31 Donggyo-ro 27-gil, Mapo-gu, Seogyo-dong, Seoul
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean, European
Price: $$ 

At first I thought this bakery/cafe was perhaps new, seeing as I could find barely any information about it, but turns out it's actually quite a few years old (rather unusual for the very young Hongdae) and is also listed online under its hangul transliteration "듀꼬뱅" (Dyukkobaeng). Nonetheless, Deux Copains - would have loved to see this pun made use of - is a small business that seems more cafe than bakery, judging by how few items they sell... except their cafe pretty much consists of one or two tables, so it's not quite a cafe either except for the fact they have drinks. On both visits, the small selection of baked goods (amounting to a total of about a dozen sweet and savoury treats) was almost cleaned out. The first time, I bought nothing, hoping another attempt would offer me more selection than the bread loaf-shaped cinnamon pastry. The next time, there were a few more savoury items, but among the sweet I had a choice of two items: a plain croissant and that bread loaf-shaped cinnamon pastry.

I took the latter (2,800 won). Perhaps it's not the most promising sign if it's the lone leftover pastry, but I like cinnamon baked goods, so I didn't mind. This was made from flaky French dough wound round with a gooey cinnamon mass and chunks of walnut. I liked the buttery taste and soft texture with the slight crunch of the outside and the nuts were an unexpected surprise. The cinnamon mass could have perhaps used a bit of work given it was dry in some areas and a bit too marmalade-like towards the middle. Definitely a bakery that was worth checking out - despite needing several attempts to actually find something in store.

Rating: ***