While cafes are aplenty in Korea, there are a few that always seem to attract huge crowds. One of them is London Bagel Museum, a bakery cafe in Anguk specializing in bagels.
Popular Bagels in Seoul
Having passed by it once back in Nov 2021, London Bagel Museum still had a huge pool of people waiting outside when we headed down during our latest visit in Sep 2022. Despite reaching at 8.30am, the cafe was already packed with customers and there was a queue outside.
Make sure to get a queue number even if you’re opting for takeout as the cafe does crowd control to make sure it’s not too packed indoors.
Inside, you’ll find different flavoured bagels on display, with the kitchen constantly churning out bagels to fill up the empty spots on the trays. All you need to do is pick up a tray and choose the ones you’re interested in.
Note: if you’re purchasing more than 4 bagels, it is recommended you use the large tray instead of the small one.
London Bagel Museum Menu
Here are some of the bagels you can find at London Bagel Museum:
- Pretzel Plain Bagel (4,700won)
- Fig Bagel (4,700won)
- Blueberry Bagel (4,700won)
- Pepperoni Cheese Bagel (5,500won)
- Black Olive Bagel (4,700won)
- Potato Cheese Bagel (5,500won)
- Spinach Cheese Bagel (4,800won)
- Dark Chocolate Bagel (4,900won)
- Sesame Bagel (4,700won)
These are just some of the bagels you can find alongside items like Bacon Potato Sandwich (14,800won), Jambon Butter Bagel, Soups-of-the-day, and beverages like coffee.
There are also different flavours of cream cheese to pair with your bagels, but they come at a small additional cost. According to this sign over at their store, the more popular flavours are maple pecan, garlic spring onion and lemon curd.
We opted for takeaway due to the crowd, but here’s a general idea of what the inside of the cafe looks like. There is a mix of tables for groups, as well as window seats that are perfect for solo diners.
The Spring Onion Cream Cheese Bagel (7,500won) seemed to be made with a pretzel bagel and a generous portion of cream cheese along with fresh chopped pieces of spring onion. This is probably one of their most expensive bagels, and for good reason – it was delicious!
The cream cheese is not too heavy and goes surprisingly well with green onions. Texture-wise, Korean bagels are chewier and softer, and the slightly crusty exterior of the one used for the spring onion cream cheese bagel made it even better.
We also got a trio of bagels: the Salt Butter Bagel (4,700won), Pretzel Butter Bagel (5,500won) and the Basil Bagel (4,700won). Among these, we found the Basil Bagel to be the least enjoyable, with a slightly tougher texture.
However, the Salt Butter Bagel paired amazingly with the maple pecan cream cheese, with a combination of sweet and salty flavours that’s bound to be a hit among Koreans.
The Pretzel Butter Bagel had a huge chunk of butter sandwiched in between and is worth trying out as well.
Bakery Cafe Near Anguk Station
While the crowd outside London Bagel Museum might seem intimidating at first, the turnover rate is pretty fast, as most patrons opt for takeaway. The interior is also larger than expected, so don’t worry about waiting too long!
If you’re intending to stay out after purchasing the bagels, the staff will help to put your bagels (those with cream cheeses) into an ice pack.
Apart from the Anguk outlet, London Bagel Museum also has another outlet in Gangnam, Dosan.
London Bagel Museum (런던 베이글 뮤지엄)
20 Bukchon-ro 4-gil, Jongro-gu, Seoul
서울 종로구 북촌로4길 20
Mon-Sun, 8am-6pm
Nearest Subway: Anguk Station (Line 3), Exit 2
*This is an independent review by MiddleClass.sg
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