Aoi Tori [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Aoi Tori
Address: 8 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Website: n/a
Style: Japanese
Price: $$

I'll admit that during my trip to South Korea, I did have moments where I did miss Japan. While I'd encountered quite a few amazing bakeries in my first few days in Seoul, there's nothing like the daintiness and delicacy of Japanese baking. Aoi Tori, somewhat on a back street in Hongdae, is an authentic Japanese-run bakery and cafe. With a couple tables and some "sushi bar" seating on one side and a few shelves of sweet and savoury baked goods in the other corner, it's a  bit on the small side compared to others in the area. What it lacks in size, however, it makes up in overall ambience and - of course - their assortment of buns, sandwiches, French breads and pastries. Their signature items appear to be their melon pan (specifically their green tea ones) and yakisoba sandwiches.

 I am definitely a melon pan fan, so I wanted to test out Aoi Tori's "famous" version. Unfortunately, coming later in the evening, the green tea melon pan was sold out. The only ones available were either original or the seasonal sakura melon pan. I went with the latter (2,800 won). I'll admit, I instantly had doubts and was lucky that someone butted in front of me at the cash, because as I was holding my plastic-bagged bun, I noticed the entire bottom was wet. Running back for another one, I realized that many had the same problem: did they pack them in baggies when they were still too hot?

With its pretty pink outside, it definitely looked pretty, but the melon "shell" was soft and not as crunchy as I liked it. Again, maybe from being bagged too soon. Inside, I was surprised to find it stuffed with a sakura flavoured cream. I had quite a number of melon pan in Japan and never encountered a stuffed one... umm, I wasn't too impressed. I liked the texture and flavour of the bun; again, the top could have been crustier, but there was too much of that cream filling, resulting in a more soggy dough along the bottom. If I returned, I probably wouldn't get another melon pan....

Rating: **1/2