Standard Bread Brings Seoul’s Bread Craze to Manila With French Toast, Salt Bread + More

(SPOT.ph) With airfare prices looking like a bad joke, you might want to hold off on that Seoul-searching trip—but you don't have to miss out on the city's latest food trends. Standard Bread, a bakery from Seoul's trendy Seongsu-dong neighborhood, has made its Philippine debut, marking its first local branch—and its second overseas branch after Singapore.

Standard Bread is a South Korean bakery café that has made a name for itself with pillowy loaves, freshly prepared toast, and rustic, countryside-inspired interiors. One fun fact for bread lovers: Standard Bread bakes fresh batches every 30 minutes, so its focus isn't just on making bread look good for your feed—it's about serving it warm, too.

And for the Hallyu fans, particularly Blinks, here’s another tidbit: Blackpink’s Jisoo is rumored to be a fan of the bakery. We can’t confirm if she has a go-to order, but that’s one more reason to see what the hype is about.

The Megamall branch carries the same warm, cozy, rustic aesthetic as its home court in Seoul. Dark wood panels cover the walls and floors, extending to the tables, benches, and chairs, while framed photos of Tosik (the brand's bread mascot) add a personal touch.

On the perimeter of Standard Bread, a tempting display of freshly baked goods—from salt bread and loaves to bagels and more—might have you lining up before you've even stepped inside. But we recommend securing a table first, because there's more to Standard Bread than, well, bread.

Despite its name, Standard Bread is anything but standard. The South Korean bakery café lives by the philosophy that “the most basic bread can deliver the most perfect flavor”—and its trendy, worth-all-the-hype Salted Bread (P150 per piece) is a case in point. Made with loooots of butter, it develops a golden, crispy crust on the bottom while the inside stays soft and pillowy, and a pinch of salt to cut through the richness.

The same generosity with butter goes into other baked breads, like the signature Crème Brûlée French Toast (P320). This has a thick brioche toast, gently pan-fried in cubes of French butter, sprinkled with sugar on top, then torched to form a smoky caramel shell. This is served in a skillet to retain some heat, poured with a custard sauce, and the essential drizzle of syrup.

Please do not sleep on the savory plates, especially the Philippine-exclusive Thick Bacon Kimchi Rice (P450). This generous serving of fluffy rice is tossed with spicy kimchi and bits of meat, then topped with two thick-cut slices of bacon. A side of greens and fermented radish round out the plate, adding a little freshness and tang to cut through the heat.

For something a little lighter on the palate, there's the Spinach Cream Jambon Pasta (P520). Spaghetti is tossed in a creamy spinach sauce and topped with ribbons of ham and crushed nuts for a bit of crunch. The finishing touch? A handful of arugula, whose peppery bite and subtle bitterness help balance everything else.

The drinks are very much on the trendy side—with the Iced Spanner (P200), which will remind you of the sweetness and cloud-like texture of the Dalgona coffee trend, you know, from those dark times. There's the Berry Berry Squash (P190), a fruity, fizzy drink ade made with berries and soda water—a refreshing, sweet-tart palate cleanser between bites of buttery bread.

Standard Bread first opened in Seoul in 2024, and has since expanded to four locations across the city: Seongsu, Dosan in Gangnam, Haeundae, and Anguk in Jongno-gu. The bakery café then made its international debut in Singapore in 2025, before bringing its buttery, freshly baked goodness to the Philippines.

Its first local branch is set to open at SM Megamall, but that's just the beginning. Standard Bread is also gearing up to open two more Philippine branches at Serendra and SM Nuvali.