Choi Young Hwa Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Choi Young Hwa Bakery [최영화빵] 
Address: KR 2-ho 272-3 beonji Hwangnam-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean 
Price: $ 

Food is without a doubt a regional thing in Korea. At least specialty dishes. Gyeongju is famous for their red bean bread. Even if you didn't know that, the countless stores, most of which are franchises, selling nothing but gift boxes and individual buns are everywhere; they really are hard to miss.

I went with Choi Yeonghwa because it didn't have a million locations like the other brands. Except that I was walking afterwards and spotted another location. Oh well, at least it's the guy's name - it has to be good if someone is willing to attach their name to it. Of course, Choi Yeonghwa was not on hand making the buns. ;)

Gyeongju red bean buns (800 won each), at least the ones from this bakery feature a very thin dough, especially over the top, and they're definitely less sweet and significantly more beany than your usual Korean red bean buns and desserts. There's also a lot of bean paste stuffed into these. Yes, it's the word every Korean grandmother wants to hear: they taste healthy. Very healthy. Not for everyone, but here's your chance to try traditional Korean sweets. When in Gyeongju...

Rating: **1/2

Goldfield Bakery

Bakery: Goldfields Bakery 
Address: 14301 Front St, Barkerville, BC
Website: http://www.barkerville.ca/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

Should I confess that the main reason I initially wanted to go see Barkerville was to visit and review Goldfield Bakery? Yeah, maybe not. Still, in keeping with the whole 19th century Gold Rush theme of the park, of course this bakery has to be historical and old-fashioned with pretty glass-covered shelves behind the counter and a fresh whitewashed interior - it's so cool. The goods, on the other hand, somewhat under-performed. I mean, display cases that should be devoted to some classic baked goods were instead either empty or touting things like sausage and pickled eggs. I didn't come all the way to Barkerville to get sausages and pickles from a bakery! *glares*

Fortunately, the situation wasn't that dire. Goldfield has several varieties of cookies, some squares and... the doughnuts were sold out. On a rainy, miserably muddy day. Who snatched them all? I tried a white chocolate cranberry cookie ($1.50), rhubarb square ($2.50) and a jelly bar square ($1.50). The cookie was fairly good: nice proportion of white chocolate chips and cranberries. Maybe it could have been a bit chewier (and accordingly not so thin), but the taste was good. It's not often you get good, not overly sweet cookies from a bakery. Tasted homemade.

The jelly bar immediately cracked in half in the paper bag. :( I liked the shortbread bottom and the icing lining the sides, but why so little jelly, especially when they appear to make it themselves?

Probably the highlight was the rhubarb square. Personally, I wouldn't have taken it had it been properly labelled "coconut rhubarb square" but the chewy baked coconut layer did grow on me eventually and seemed to strangely complement the sourness of the rhubarb. Maybe not extremely well, but it worked. More gold dust than gold nugget, but Goldfield was still the best place to stop in Barkerville.

Rating: **1/2

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 

Blacksmith Bakery

 Bakery: Blacksmith Bakery
Address: 9190 Church St, Fort Langley, BC
Website: http://www.blacksmithbakery.ca
Style: Canadian, French 
Price: $$$-$$$$

Despite the appellation, Blacksmith Bakery is more a bakery in name only. Stepping into the space, it immediately comes across as a cafe and the push to get a drink and sit down further cemented that impression. I mean, cafes have baked goods too and Blacksmith's selection is small and more or less cafe fare: a handful of pastries - two, to be exact - and some cakes and tarts. All relatively simple in style, nothing too elaborate... and too expensive for what they were, in my opinion, but that pretty much came with the territory.

Not in the mood for their selection of two pastries - plain croissants and pains au chocolat (maybe they have more earlier in the day?) - I decided on a slice of their cherry clafoutis ($4.75) as the most unique and lightest/least cream-laden option. And I happen to really like clafoutis! Given it was almost the same price as their multi-tiered cakes, I feel like a little more effort could have been taken when it came to the visuals, especially since I've made clafoutis and it's neither that time- nor cost-intensive. It was just a lopsided square cut from the cake pan. Even the powdered sugar was irregular and parts of the top had peeled off.

However, most important is always taste. I liked the whole cherries that were both sweet and a little sour sandwiched right in between. The dough wasn't overwhelmingly eggy, which was also good, but the texture was a little stiff/congealed. That paired with the wonky icing sugar and peeled top gave me the impression that maybe it wasn't super fresh? Good, but not great - and too pricey for that kind of final verdict.

Rating: **1/2

Rencontre [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Rencontre [랑콩뜨레 본점]
Address: 308-2 Hwangnam-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
Website: n/a
Style: Korean
Price: $$

Pretty much the only bakery in the touristy areas surrounding Gyeongju's famous tombs, Rencontre is a busy cafe with hints of an old-school Parisian bakery, at least on the outside. Inside, the space is large enough, but not enough of it is devoted to the baked goods, so circling around the table of treats is a bit hectic and impractical, especially since it does seem to get busy, both at the selection and pay stations.

Rencontre, for me, had the distinction of being one of the few bakeries during my Korea trip that had kouign amann. It was also one of the best. With its classic swirl shape, this kouign amann (2,700 won) had everything I love about this pastry: the candied sugar top, the flaky, incredibly buttery dough. This bakery really was one of two places that got it right.

An irresistible original, there is also the "monster" (3,800 won). Look at this thing - it's amazing! Inside, it's an incredibly rich, chocolatey treat basically consisting of a brownie with some sort of chocolate cream and then coated with yet another layer of chocolate. Maybe I was expecting something a bit more intricate on the inside instead of just pure, unadulterated chocolate, but if you love chocolate, you'll definitely enjoy the monster. Easily Gyeongju's best bakery.

Rating: ***1/2

Horsting's Farm Market

Bakery: Horsting's Farm Market
Address: 2540 Cariboo Hwy, Cache Creek BC 
Website: https://www.horstingsfarm.com/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$$$

Horsting's Farm Market is the kind of business I'm not very fond of: the gimmick produce stand. You see them here and there, especially in more touristy areas; they've got ice cream, hot food, baked goods, maybe a petting zoo or something that will keep the kids happy, all while selling overpriced produce that costs more than in a supermarket and comes right from their backyard. That sums up Horsting's perfectly, but unfortunately if you want baked goods in Cache Creek it's either this or the bakery restaurant. It just seemed like a strange place for so much fanfare, but hey, I was lucky to grab the last parking spot, so I guess it works...

 In addition to selling everything from the most expensive local berries I've ever seen, fudge to home decor, Horsting's makes baked goods. I mean, why wouldn't they? This includes classics like pie, muffins and cookies. Not to mention their massive cinnamon buns ($4.99). Sold pre-smushed on a styrofoam tray wrapped in saran wrap, they don't look that pretty. Also, almost all the icing just stuck to the plastic or melted through the bun and pooled along the styrofoam. I noticed people buying extra icing on the side, but these are super sweet and sticky as they are, so I don't think it was needed, despite the aesthetic need for it. The dough was classic, old-school bun dough: slightly dense and soft with an overwhelmingly ooey gooey filling that was actually more melted icing than cinnamon mass. I also wish they had an option without raisins.... In the end, though, it's an old-school cinnamon bun that's too sweet and definitely not worth the price or insanity.

Rating: **1/2

Mammoth Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Mammoth Bakery
Address: 34 Munhwagwangjang-gil, Junggu-dong, Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do
Website: n/a
Style: Korean
Price: $$

As strange as it seems, given it is in a smaller city, Mammoth Bakery was probably *the* bakery with the most hype around it during my Korea trip. For one, it's the only bakery mentioned in my Lonely Planet guide, country-wide. It also seemed overwhelmingly crowded at any time of day. I actually had to attempt it three times before I was able to grab something: I came in the evening first and found it completely cleaned out, I came on early Sunday afternoon and found a line literally out the door. Once more in the evening, there were three or four items left, so I settled on one. The next day, upon my departure, I made a return trip and, though still not full in terms of selection, I managed to grab something more desirable amidst all that insanity.

Actually, in honour of so much excitement surrounding a bakery, I tried three items. The first was the mocha bun (2000 won). This was a fairly standard sweet bun with a nice mocha 'crust' on top and fluffy bread underneath. I liked the slightly chewy outside with that hint of coffee, but the bread on the inside was nothing remarkable.

The apple danish (1500 won) was from their series of more European pastries. The dough was less bready and more on the flaky side. Good baked apple filling with some nuts sprinkled on top - but the whole batch was burnt and that blackened top had a definite impact on the taste.

Last but not least, there was the classic rice doughnut (1200 won). Given its size in comparison to everything else, it wasn't really worth it, but they never are. Crunchy and golden brown on the outside, extra chewy on the inside. I felt like it needed some more sweetness. Suffice to say, it wasn't the best I'd had.

It may be the best bakery in Andong (I couldn't exactly find another one), but is Mammoth Bakery worth all that mammoth hype? Nope.

Rating: **1/2 

Panidor [RIP]

Bakery: Panidor
Address: 3080 Main St, Vancouver BC 
Website: http://www.panidor.ca/ 
Style: French 
Price: $$

Another Vancouver bakery that closed in between me going to it and posting a review - what is going on, Vancouver!? Well, for the sake of me having done 75% of the job already, here is my review:

Panidor is one of the few bakeries along Main St, which given its retail development really should have more. It's a classic French patisserie and bakery/cafe that doesn't seem as pretentious or dauntingly fancy as other patisseries in the city; perhaps it's the reasonable prices/sizes and old-school selection. It is what it is. Of course, I also felt like it was strangely empty or too big for the amount of goods available, especially the dessert case which had a lot of bare space, and it always gets you wondering: does it sell out? Do they not sell enough? Did they used to have better business and there's no need to fill the whole place anymore? It seemed a bit... sad.

I tried the pistachio raspberry ganache tart ($5.99): quite a mouthful both in writing and on the plate. You could see the pastry chef making them and they appeared to be made with passion, so it's gotta be good, right? And it was. Rich, decadent chocolate ganache with a nice tartness courtesy of the raspberry. The pistachio, owing to its more subtle flavours, was a bit harder to detect; maybe I wouldn't have noticed it at all had it not been on the label. Tart shell was just the right texture and how I like it. Really good.

Rating: ***1/2

Baked Bread [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Baked Bread (바로구운빵) 
Address: Geumhak-dong, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean 
Price: $  

This is yet another one of these unexpected bakeries found within Gangneung's market (or at least right on the edge of it). According to prior research, there were apparently other bakeries in the area, but I was unable to find them. Where were they?

In the end, however, I was not complaining, especially when coming away with some classic, very well-priced goodies from this old school street-side bakery. First of all, there was - yes, I know - yet another doughnut twist (around 1000 won). I swear, I did lay off a bit after this one. After all, it was hard to resist this golden brown twist with the black sesame mixed into the dough. Maybe it didn't have so much the taste of a sweet doughnut, but it was definitely a good one.

The highlight had to be the strawberry cream bun (3000 won), though. This loaf consisting of nine or so mini buns was so good! The bread had the perfect fluffy texture with just a hint of sweetness from the icing sugar on top. Add a little crumble, a swirl of custard... but don't forget that delicious filling of whipped cream and strawberry jam. Mmmm, everything was perfectly proportioned, so fresh and simply delicious. Probably the best cream bun of the trip.

Rating: ***1/2

Ashcroft Bakery

Bakery: Ashcroft Bakery and Coffee Shop
Address: 151 3rd St, Ashcroft BC
Website: n/a 
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

Let this year's big bakery road trip begin! The first stop was Ashcroft, a small-town country bakery that I got to at lunchtime. Given all this online mention of great baked goods, I think I was expecting a lot more than there actually was in-store. In complete honesty, I found the bakery disappointingly empty; I even had to wait several minutes after deciding what I wanted for a worker to show up. Yup, it was so empty, everyone had already gone home.

Fortunately, with the exception of a few squares and cookies that *were* there, it wasn't completely cleaned out and I was able to nab a danish ($2.99). To my dismay, it was thrown into a paper bag and handed over. I think the damage had already been done. :( Perhaps it was a matter of the danish's flat, pancake shape or the excessively jelly-like consistency of both the fruit glaze and custard bed underneath that it made it impossible for the danish to stay intact? Regardless, it was a bit of a mess. The fruit was all over the place; there were too many "wet" ingredients for the danish, resulting in a dough that got a bit soggy in places and was simply too thin to appreciate. I liked the taste: the dough actually had good flavour, I liked the fresh raspberries and cherries on top with the custard. It just needed some work.

Rating: **1/2

Full of Happiness Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Full of Happiness Bakery (행복이가득한빵집)
Address: 474-9 Jungang-dong, Sokcho-si, Gangwon-do
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean
Price: $

The lone bakery in Sokcho market (and perhaps all of downtown Sokcho, since I was unable to locate any more either in person or online), "Full of Happiness" - my translation - Bakery is a simple, old-school Korean bakery that serves all the classics, plastic bags and all. Sandwiched between the vegetable stand and a kimchi stall, it may not have the refined, artisan look of a big city bakery, but sometimes you feeling like going back to the roots. The selection wasn't big and the area where the trays are supposed to be laid out was looking a bit empty, so I'm not sure if things were sold out or is that it, but there were several types of bread and buns, both sweet and standard, bagged cookies and packets of chocolate glazed cake doughnuts.

Purely because I hadn't seen one of these in ages, I took the castella (1000 won). I feel like the humble castella is losing popularity... I used to see these more often and now they've kind of disappeared. Castella cakes are so good! This one was nice and fresh: fluffy, spongy and moist as it should be, with a subtle hint of lemon. A castella as it should be.

Rating: *** 

Hot Bread Shoppe

Bakery: Hot Bread Shoppe 
Address: 2901 31 St, Vernon BC
Website: facebook 
Style: Canadian
Price: $$

It's a good thing I found the photo from this Cake Tour since I made no record of it on my bakery to-do list! Nevertheless, given the size of Vernon, I'd say it already has a pretty impressive selection of baked good destinations; as such, discovering that a new bakery had opened since my last visit to the city, I thought it downright statistically impossible. Yet, sure enough, a new bakery just off the main street in downtown Vernon quietly opened in late 2018. This small, rather adorable bakeshop isn't that big, but they surprised me with their range of classic treats like cinnamon buns and more unique choices/flavour combinations.

 Like this one. With their cinnamon buns sold out, I couldn't resist this orange (or was it lemon?) cardamom bun. That's right: a cardamom bun! I definitely don't see these that often. The aroma from the bag was amazing - all that fragrant cardamom~ The dough was soft and buttery and I loved the gently spiced mass rolled between the layers and that hint of citrus, mostly courtesy of the drizzle of icing on top. Perhaps a little more cardamom couldn't have hurt, but other than that: it's quickly become a favourite local pick for me.

Rating: ***1/2

Elephant Dumpling and Snack Bar [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Elephant Dumpling and Snacks (코끼리 만두 분식) 
Address: 479-54 Jungang-dong, Gangwon-do, Sokcho-si 
Website: https://snack-bar-3700.business.site
Style: Korean, doughnuts 
Price: $ 

Officially, or at least according to online results, the small city of Sokcho in the northeastern part of South Korea has no bakeries; I found that hard to believe, so hard to believe that I had to see it for myself... and came back with two sweet spots. The first is this snack bar in Sokcho's main market. While they are technically a restaurant serving typical cheap street food like stir-fried rice cakes, blood sausage (soondae), and fish cakes, at least on the inside, outside they have a lovely range of deep-fried goodies, including red bean doughnuts and my favourites: twist doughnuts.

So how did these fare? At 700 won/each, they're definitely a steal of a deal. I mean, how you can resist anything sweet for 700 won? Freshly fried, but far from warm, they were golden brown on the outside with a slight crunch and soft on the inside. Despite its plain exterior, I'd almost say the red bean doughnut was better. I have to say I wasn't the biggest fan of the crunchy flakes mixed in with the sugar that was rolled onto the outside of the twist. Still, while they didn't completely blow my mind like other market doughnuts, these were fresh, had good texture and crunch and... come on, squid or doughnuts - which would you rather have at a market? Thought so.

Rating: ***

Bakery Sate

Bakery: Bakery Sate
Address: 2879 Commercial Dr, Vancouver BC
Website: https://www.bakerysate.com/
Style: European, Canadian
Price: $$$

Out of curiosity I once searched "best bakeries in Vancouver" and see how I fared in my exploration of the city; while there was nothing overly definitive that came up where I could compare and contrast different opinions, I noticed that Sate came up on a fairly regular basis. One of the few that I had yet to try, Bakery Sate comes across as more a cafe than a bakery, with its ample seating, selection of coffee beverages and small counter space devoted to mostly pastries and baked goods that would go good with those coffee beverages. Selection is small, prices are definitely up there, and many items are simply variations of the same thing; this is mostly true when it comes to the different flavours of croissants and cream-filled puffs.

I myself was debating between two flavours of double-baked croissant; I went with the matcha almond ($4.50). Wow, was this ever rich! After a while, I almost want to say a little too rich and too big for one sitting; at any rate, I had to take a break and return to it after a few hours. ;D This was flaky and you could even feel the butter on your fingertips as you picked it up. The croissant was well done: a bit of a crunch on the outside, soft, chewy and multi-layered on the inside. The matcha almond cream on the inside was quite the generous portion, but it was so flavourful and delicious. In all honesty, it would be perfect if it weren't so overwhelming.

Rating: ***1/2

Gwangjang Market Doughnut Twists [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Gwangjang Market Doughnut Twists (광장시장찹쌀꽈배기)
Address: 170-1 Jongno 1.2.3.4, Jongno-gu, Seoul; inside Gwangjang market
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean, doughnuts 
Price: $ 

Want to experience heaven in a paper cup? Here's your chance - the name might be a mouthful, but this stall in Seoul's Gwangjang market (look for the yellow sign next to the coffee towards the end of pancake alley) has some incredible doughnuts and earned the first as well one of the only 4-star reviews for Korea. A Mimi 4-star review is like a Michelin star for bakeries and desserts - never forget that!

This stall is little more than a doughnut factory: the dough is kneaded, divided, twisted and then fried. Only at the very end, right upon ordering, is the doughnut rolled in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. There you go: the chewy Korean doughnut twist (1000 won). While the various TV channel appearances don't really mean all that much (come on, almost every stall had someone visit them; there's only so many places these variety shows can go), the line does and this line was even more promising, because everyone was waiting for the doughnuts. That's right: they were still being fried. And when mine arrived in its paper cup, it was hot and the cinnamon made it super fragrant. I bit into it and mmmm, oh man! when was the last time I'd had a hot, freshly fried doughnut? It was amazing; texture was perfect, slight crunch on the outside.... Truly a transcendental experience~

Rating: ****