[New in Town] America-themed bakery ‘What A Bread’ fulfills all your carb needs

What A Bread's signature American flag tart called "USA" (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)

Just as if you had walked into a local bakery somewhere in rural America, “What A Bread” (WAB), a newly opened bakery in a bustling food alley next to Yongsan Station, is where you can enjoy a creative variety of baked goods.

The last few years have seen Korean bakeries grow more creative than ever, with genre-bending techniques and innovative flavor combinations.

WAB, which perfectly fits into the category of bakeries that offer good pastries, has the freshest and the most filling baked goods in town.

What A Bread's signature MBTI bread (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)

Its signature bread includes “MBTI” bread, something closer to a cream-filled donut that comes in four different flavors based on one's MBTI type letters – pistachio donuts with pistachio sprinkled on top for E or I, dark chocolate for N or S, lemon cream with lemon zest for F or T and blueberry cream cheese for P or J. They also sell all four MBTI letters as a boxed set, making it a fun way to enjoy baked goods with friends or family.

While WAB boasts more than a dozen kinds of bread in the store spanning over 33 square meters, each type is named after a region in the US. For example, some filling bread that can be enjoyed as a meal such as fig campagne, sweet potato campagne and sweet pumpkin campagne are named "Virginia," "Washington" and "Colorado," respectively. Pastries such as tiramisu maritozzo and egg tarts are named "New Jersey" and "Kentucky," respectively. In fact, it seems like the naming doesn't really have to do with the regions.

Bread on display at What A Bread (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)

Most of the bread wasn't too sweet and all the flavors were so subtle. For example, in "Hawaii" -- a red bean cream pastry -- layers of crispy pastry crust, thick fresh whipped cream and a bit of red bean paste all came together to create a balance.

The size of the drinks is gigantic and they include such unique creations as: Jeju carrot cream latte, avocado latte and Ras-cream – raspberry and vanilla ice cream. It’s hard to understand why a Jeju carrot-inspired drink is the signature item on the drinks menu, but the Jeju carrot cream latte's strong espresso and creamy carrot milk foam was an interesting combination to try.

The price of the bread at WAB ranges from 4,500 won to 9,500 won, while the drinks start at 5,500 won and go up to 7,500 won.

WAB is located at 19-19 Hangang-daero 15-gil, Yongsan-gu, and is open every day from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find out more at its Instagram account at what.a.bread.

From the hippest Korean eateries to world-renowned restaurants’ Seoul branches, The Korea Herald tries out new dining spots in its New In Town series. The Korea Herald pays for all

By Kim Da-sol(ddd@heraldcorp.com)