Yeong Guk Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Yeong Guk Bakery[영국제과]
Address: 152 Nodong-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
Website: n/a
Style: Korean
Price: $$$

Despite its creamy creations and some sort of icing sugar-laden strawberry cakes, Yeong Guk is essentially a classic, old-school bakery and doesn't seem to get as much traffic and hype as other places like the much reviled Paris Baguette and Tous les Jours; a bit unfortunate, in my opinion, but what can I do about it?

Equally unfortunate is that Yeong Guk actually doesn't have much that selection for a traditional "neighbourhood bakery"; it had surprisingly little compared to other places I've been to and much of the space was devoted to loaves of bread and those aforementioned strawberry cream cake monstrosities. The rest consisted of a handful of the most typical buns and two types of doughnuts.

Still on that twist doughnut spree, I gave theirs (2,300 won) a try. A bit expensive, if you ask me. These are usually well below 2000 won, even in better bakeries. This was a classic crumble version, though - just like the first Korean twist doughnut I've ever had! Brought back some memories, but the dough lacked the moist chewiness and density I liked. It was drier and airier and didn't cohere with that crumble topping. Not worth it.

Along the same lines was the classic soboro bun (2,800 won). This had almost an oatmeal cookie-like topping on top with a few whole nuts and raisins here and there. Wasn't too pleased with the raisins, but the nuts were a nice touch. Beyond that rather tasty topping, the bun had that same drier, airy dough as the doughnut.

Rating: **1/2