Maybell Bakery in Itaewon: Worth the Crazy Line?
I've known for a long time that Itaewon (a popular district in Seoul) has plenty of great restaurants, but I had never heard of any famous bakeries there. Then, my girlfriend started begging for bread from Maybell (Owol-ui Jong). She warned me that I had to line up before they opened at 11 AM, and that they sell out in three hours. Did they put drugs in the bread or something? Honestly, I didn't believe people would line up before opening or that they'd sell out in three hours. I figured this country girl from Gyeonggi Province was just trying to trick a Seoul guy, so I headed to the bakery near my house right at the 11 AM opening time.
Living in my neighborhood, I've never waited more than 15 minutes for lunch, even at the most highly-rated brunch spots. Moreover, seeing a line like this is a rare spectacle I've only ever witnessed when people queue up for the Gyro Drop at the amusement park. At this point, rather than wondering just how delicious it could be, I was more worried about whether I'd even be able to buy any bread at all.
Since I didn't know what else to buy besides the "fig rye bread" my girlfriend requested, I waited with a strong determination to grab whatever caught my eye.
Once you get inside the store, the layout makes it impossible to step forward even if the item you want is right there. Because people are packed in a tight line indoors, you can only decide whether to buy or skip the bread immediately in front of you. It's exactly like a buffet line. (Of course, you can cut ahead at a buffet, but assuming normal behavior here.) It's less than 5 meters from the entrance to the register, but you move so slowly that it takes about 20 minutes to get through. What do people do during that time? They shoot terrifying laser beams from their eyes at the person in front of them, praying they don't take their favorite bread. It's a truly amusing space.
After all that effort buying the bread, it was time for a tasting. I brought half of it out and offered it up as tribute.
Stollen
Here's a quick look at its characteristics and how to eat it. Market Kurly's Stollen Introduction
It can be preserved for 6 months and takes a year to make... There's a reason it costs 20,000 KRW. Following the instructions, I left it at room temperature for a bit, sliced it thinly, and gave it a taste.
When you first bite into it, it feels like chewing on a cookie, but soon you feel the soft bread. After that, grains like almonds crunch in your mouth. Flavor-wise, the incredibly sweet powder on the outside and the dense bread on the inside pair together mysteriously well. Next time, I should slice it and leave it at room temperature before eating.
Fig Rye Bread
I absolutely love figs, and since they stuffed so many in here, there's no way it could taste bad. While fig breads sold at other shops try to hide their meager fillings by mashing them like jam and spreading them thin, this one is packed solid with figs to the point where the bread is just a decoration. I highly, highly recommend it. It's located at the very end of the store, so you have to wait patiently.
Prune Rye Bread
Focaccia
I love bread, but I suffer from an inability to describe things as "moist" or whatever (there's a reason my blog is named "A Developer Lacking Sensitivity and Writing Skills"), so I can't give you the detailed rundown. However, the mere fact that people line up at 11 AM just to eat this bread and silently endure a one-hour wait to buy it is enough to say it's delicious. Honestly, even if it tasted bad, you'd have to say it's good after all that just so people don't question your taste buds.
However, because the wait is so long, people are a bit on edge. In the midst of this, there was some crazy woman trying to bring her dog into the store. (When an older gentleman told her she couldn't, she rudely snapped back that she wouldn't go in. She just seemed like a rude person... Her husband's face was full of gloom.) Besides her, there was an older guy hitting people exiting with his hiking poles, and all sorts of other characters mixed in, so everyone lets out sighs and groans as they leave.
Normally I'd just tell you to go, but for this place, you really need to be mentally prepared to wait a long time for good bread. If not, you can just order some poor guy to do it for you. For reference, about 30% of the people waiting in line were middle-aged men standing there blankly, having no idea why they were even there.
PS: There is also a 2nd branch. (One of the Stollen I bought from the 2nd branch had a hair about the length of two fingernails in it... I don't know if it was just a random one-time accident or if they bake without hats and have poor hygiene, but I recommend using the main branch.)