Today I went to the Bangsan market to get some baking supplies. It’s really the best place to check out if you’re looking for baking tools, wrappings, and specialized ingredients that are difficult to find in ordinary supermarkets in Korea.
Some practical information
Location: 20 Dongho-ro 37-gil, Euljiro-dong
Nearest metro: Jongno5-ga (line 1, exit 8) and Euljiro4-ga (line 5 and 2, exit 5)
Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 7 am~8pm, Saturday 7am~3pm, Sunday closed (depends on the shops)
(The entrance to the market)
Cheb’s shopping
- A medium size non-stick cake pan (11,000 won)
- A medium size separable tart pan (6,000 won)
- An electronic kitchen scale (20,000 won)
- A gas torch (35,000 won)
- A fine grater (25,000 won)
- A pastry mat (15,000 won)
- A dough blender (12,000)
- Two types of squeezers (1,000 won and 2,500 won)
For all that I paid 125,000 won, which is about 120 USD. Overall, I think that that was a really good deal. I am not an expert on shopping at this market yet, but I get an impression that people don’t really negotiate, or not that obviously.
However, if you buy in mass quantities, I think that they give you some discounts (but not that much really).
Today, I paid in cash. I don’t know if the shops don’t accept cards, but I always tend to bring cash when I go shopping in these markets.
Also, for those who are working in Korea and paying taxes, ask the owners to issue a “cash receipt” (in Korean pronounced as “hyung geum young su jeung”). All you have to do is to provide them with your Korean cell phone number and it can automatically be declared to the tax authorities so that you could receive a tax deduction at year end. (Also, the deduction rate is higher for the money spent in traditional markets so don’t miss out on this!)
Chebs 