Tucked into the labyrinthine alleys and intersecting stone paths in Ikseon-dong Hanok Village, much like the neighboring Bukchon Hanok Village, are dozens of little shops and cafes, each more picturesque than the next. While the city is teeming with aesthetic cafes and bakeries, there’s undeniable charm and coziness that a traditional hanok lends to the ambience of a cafe, even if what you are eating is hardly traditional. Soha Salt Pond creates an sensory experience in the hanok. They really take the salt theme seriously. There’s the “salt ponds” outside, complete with a little watermill to set the tranquil ambience. Inside, it feels like a film set, with deliberately arranged salt paraphernalia, and a little salt diorama, which, in December, was dressed up for a snowy holiday scene.

But of course, beyond the ambience, people flock here for the famous salt bread. From the moment you enter the bakery you’re hit with the smell of butter. From the soft salt bread rolls to laminated croissant cubes topped with a pyramid of cream made to look like a salt pyramid, their selection of pastries entice from neat little rows in the display. Whether you opt for the purist choice of the original salt bread or the decadent flavored ones from salted caramel, corn cream, truffle, mentaiko, there’s no wrong choice. Soha Salt Pond is like a little world in itself, enough to make you forget about what’s outside when you’re in there, so you can revel in the marvelously simple pleasures of good bread.