Kim Dok Won Bakery

I’ve been looking for a Paris Baguette (Korean bakery chain) equivalent in St. Louis and I’m so happy that I found it! Kim’s bakery is not large and I assume that it’s family owned, which makes it all the more impressive that they make a large variety of delicious treats and that they do it well.
I love Asian pastries and desserts because they’re not overly sugary, and their signature flavors such as green tea, red bean, others are subtle but complex, and always bring back to my childhood. I’m as crazy about these flavors as a basic b is about pumpkin spice lattes.
Ok so I went a little crazy the first time I came here and I bought close to 8 – 9 different breads/​cakes/​cookies for myself. They included koroke kimchi, cheesecake, black tea cookies, red bean bun, pizza hot dog, a few other sweet pastries/​buns. I enjoyed all of it.
My two favorites from this visit were the koroke kimchi and their cheesecake. The koroke was outstanding, it’s basically a soft savory dough stuffed with kimchi (best when warmed up). They also have other varieties available such as vegetables, shrimp, and curry. The cheesecake is an Asian style cheesecake. Asian style cheesecakes are lighter on cream cheese and sugar, and the texture is more soufflé-​like. Basically, it’s a guilt free cheesecake (that’s what I tell myself). I’ll be honest — it’s the fluffiest and best Asian style cheesecake I’ve ever had.
Items that I still want to try: koroke curry (they were not available when I visited), French toast, their fruit tarts, heck, pretty much everything that I didn’t get to try this time around.
Note: they are closed on Mondays.

This bakery has so many delicious bakery goods inside; it’s hard to not want to try everything!
I got a couple things here the last time I came, including one of the fresh fruit cream cases as a birthday cake for my girlfriend. The cake was around $ 25 – 27 and they even wrote «Happy Birthday Victoria» on it for me before giving it to me in a nice cake box with candles and a knife. This is a really nice bakery, and the only korean bakery I have stumbled upon in St. Louis.
I definitely wish I could come here more, but it’s pretty far from where I live. But I will recommend this place to people who like Asian style fresh fruit and cream cakes, because these are delicious!

I have been coming here for few years and it’s always good. Different types of fresh baked breads but my go to is the fresh cream fruit cakes. I get it for birthdays and any sort of occasion where I have an excuse to get their fruit cake. Their other cakes are good too (mocha/​sweet potato). They have classic Korean breads and others you won’t find commonly, haven’t had a bad experience here yet!

Everything made fresh everything delicious get the kimchi or chicken curry Donuts they’re right near the register and they start with the letter k

The only problem with bakeries are that everything looks so good and you want to try everything but you can’t :(Fortunately I struck gold in at least one of the things that I bought. I don’t know what it’s called unfortunately but it’s a round cake with almonds sprinkled on top. It’s a beautiful crispy outside with crunchy almonds and a soft inside with a not too sweet cream.
Perfect balance of soft hard sweet taste! Definitely recommending that one. The others were good too but didn’t stand out as much as that one. This place is very fresh using high quality ingredients.
Unfortunately the pricing is probably on the tad expensive side; I’m not too sure about bakery pricing in general but it just seemed maybe a bit expensive. Would definitely give a 5 if it was cheaper. Definitely coming back though and trying more things!

I highly recommend this place if you have a sweet tooth like me. This place is like a little taste of Heaven. I went in with family and did a bit of a tasting on a few of their dessert items. All the ones I tasted were so delicious. My favorites were the black tea cookies and almond cookies. They were amazingly delicious, buttery, and crispy. Also I tasted the swirl sponge cake so light and fluffy.

Great service, unique and great tasting food. I enjoyed the chicken curry donut and French toast, will be back !

This is pretty much the only Korean bakery in the St. Louis area. The pastries are delicious, but tend to be overpriced (compared to similar bakeries in other areas of the US) and there isn’t as large of selection of pastries, even of what I would consider basics at a standard Korean bakery. Pastries tend to be on the sweet side, and they have a lot more pastries with cream (cream filling, etc) than do other Korean bakeries. But it is the only one in the area, so you end up here if you are craving.
There are a few places to sit inside, but I’ve always bought my things and left. The workers are not the friendliest or the most efficient. My companion once asked for a cup of coffee, and even though we were the only ones there, it took like about 10 minutes to get her a standard brewed coffee. But they’ve never been outright rude.
They do speak fluent English though, so I would feel completely comfortable not speaking any Korean. Would recommend if you’ve never been to a Korean bakery before, or if you’re craving Korean pastries!

THE BEST KOREAN BAKERY! Well, the only bakery in the St Louis area. It is actually better than some bakeries I’ve been to in the NYC and LA area. I LOVE all their items. Red bean roll, mocha bread (my FAVORITE), donuts, castella, roll cake, and there’s a couple I don’t the names of but they are fantastic. I haven’t tried their cookies or cakes yet but they look great! Their sandwich bread is so fresh and seriously the best sandwich bread ever! They will slice it for you when you purchase. Get there earlier in the day for the best selections as they sell out of some things quickly.

I was visiting MO and decided to check it out. The shop was cute and small, which means not a lot of varieties or even much of anything. I wasn’t disappointed because I didn’t expect a lot from this city. The prices was quite high, at least higher than what I am used to in my area. For a red bean bun I can get for $ 1 or less, but this place is above that. I think $ 1.49? I got two slices of cake to share with two other people. They weren’t too fond of the cream or the texture of the cake. I thought the cake was good-​enough in moisture, cream was different kinda sweet, and the fruits on top was perfect. I also got the kimchi coquette (sp) which was expensive, but it was good. Overall this place is average. Will I come back? Sure, because this is better than what I got at another bakery in the town.

Takes me back to Korea! I’ve been to Paris, France and I’ve been to Seoul, South Korea… in my mind, Korean bakery goods rival anything I’ve ever eaten in Paris. This includes breads, cakes, and pastries!
Their traditional Korean pastries and cakes, as well as your more common sweets are well prepared and always delicious! We love their Korean-​style birthday cakes! In case you are wondering… a traditional Korean birthday cake is typically covered with fresh, sweet fruit. They icing they use is sweet and compliments the fruit. They will write any wish you desire… but it’s written on the side of the cake. Hint: very important that the cake is presented to the recipient with the written wish or comment facing them! Kim’s will also provide you with complimentary candles.
The staff is friendly and accommodating. The décor is fresh and clean. They have a small dining area where you can enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while taking in the many delicious offerings of this wonderful Korean bakery!

My friend and I wanted to go on a food adventure one day so we drove out to this place. Walking in, I wasn’t overly impressed. There were a bunch of packaged things on the counter and nothing overly exciting seeming behind.
I picked out a few things to buy and decided to try to patbingsu that everyone seemed to be talking about. And I agree with everyone — for the cost, this dessert was meh at best. The ice was too chunky and the toppings not enough.
So why did I give this place 4 stars? I am obsessed with their tea cookies. They’re delightful little shortbread-​like almondy cookies with slight bits of tea. They just MELT in your mouth. Also, their strawberry wafer-​type things are AMAZING.
I’ll come back here again often just for those two thing! Also, if i want to get someone a present and don’t know what, this will be the place i go!

So good. Took home one of the cakes for a family BBQ and it was delicious. Light and sweet with beautiful glazed fruit on top. Just like the ones I used to see at the Korean Bakeries in Chicago. The red bean bread was good too!

I have to come here at least once a week! I usually get a couple of red bean breads and the green bean flower breads, as well as whatever is new. I love how the baker is always coming up with new things to try. some are just okay, but some turn out really good! I really admire chefs who experiment and try to come up with new stuff. total respect!
The bread here is kind of expensive, especially compared with the Chinese bakeries (which are really good too, but different style), but just a couple of breads a week I can handle.
Right now, I’m in love with the chestnut bread (shaped like a ball, usually inside the display case) and the banana bread (inside the case too). My all time favorite is the Okinawa bread, but they don’t make it very often :(. And my boyfriend loves the custard bun (really yummy and soft). The pumpkin loaves are good, but it’s a little too big for me to handle, and the big red bean flat bread is super delicious too!
Basically, I can’t live without this place. Plus, I can go to Dong Dong, the Korean supermarket, right next door after I visit the bakery. Convenience is awesome.
ALSO, the patbingsu (shaved ice) is really good, but they only have it during the summer. It IS kind of expensive, so we only get it once in a while.
HINT, if you can’t finish the bread in a day or two… put it in the FREEZER. When you wanna eat it, put it in a toaster over and toast it for around 2 – 3 minutes (or until just starting to crisp, but make sure it doesn’t get BURNT) on either side. It’s even better than when you first bought it!

What a gorgeous array of offerings. The chill case is full of beautifully decorated cakes, mini cakes and tarts that are absolute perfect works of art.
The «fruit cakes» were cakes that were covered with gorgeously glazed fruit — kiwi, strawberries, blueberries and other fruits. So, they’re not what you would think of as Aunt Sally’s nasty Christmas «fruit cake.»
Another display case had incredibly thick pieces of French toast, and lots of thick, fried doughut-​looking things.
Korean pancake samples were available. How delicious! Quite sweet.
Cookies and other assorted treats were prepackaged in small see-​through and resealable bags along the wall. So many choices.
We got cheese cookies, almond crisps, tomato paste cookies, a butter cream bun, Korean pancakes, honey cookies, a peanut butter bun and mocha bread.
Everything was delicious; most weren’t overly sweet. The Korean pancake was the sweetest with a filling of sugary-​mapley goo.

The breads here are consistently great. They taste great and you can tell they are made from quality ingredients. Favorites include the custard and cream buns. I have ordered their fruit cakes from here a few times and seriously the best birthday cake ever!
As far as their patbingsu (shaved ice). it really only gets 2 stars so I would not recommend getting it here. Unfortunately. I’m not sure where else you can find it in the STL. The consistency of the shaved ice was totally off, with large chunks of ice in it — totally not smooth at all. Moreover, it is tiny for a big price of $ 7.
Stick to the breads!

Four star patbingsu (Korean shaved ice dessert with fresh fruit pieces, rice cake, sweet beans, peanut shavings, etc. Others have already described it below) but one star price. $ 7 for a shaved ice drink? Really? I just came back from one of the world’s most expensive cities where I rarely had to pay 5 euros for a dessert at a café. To be charged this amount by a strip mall bakery in St. Louis is just ridiculous.
What this town needs is competition… another place that offers this tasty dessert, to show Korean Bakery a run for its money.

I am a def. fan of this korean bakery.
The bread is made fresh daily and their quality is pretty impressive.
They have bread filled with sweet red bean paste, mung bean paste, peanut cream, butter cream, and custard.
sooo gooodd. I like their breads b/​c the fillings are always equally spread. If you go to some bad ones. they have no fillings or it is always shifted to one side. blah.
Try their almond crackers. AMAZING! I wasn’t going to get them but I accidentally dropped the container, felt bad so i bought them. And I am addicted to them. bad bad bad for my diet.
If you keep walking towards the counter, they have more breads inside the glass. and They are fried breads. mmmm
basically korean donuts. sooo good,
I had ones with red bean paste in them and they are delicious.
Also, try their sticky rice ball that is filled red bean paste and it is also fried.
For my birthday, I love to get their fruit cake. Fresh fruit on top with fluffy korean cake with light frostings that is not too sweet.
This winter’s fruit cost must be expensive b/​c they downgraded from last time I got them in terms of number/​quality of the fruit on top of the cake.
overall, very good, delicious place that would satisfy your asian bakery craving in st. louis

I will concur with other reviews, the very best pat bing soo! I will also tell you the baked goods are simply to die for!
The light and fluffy cake it’s undeniably the greatest things ever! And lets not forget the smooth creamy butter cream icing layered in between. It’s not too sweet so it’s a delicious balance. There are very many treats that i would encourage you to go in and try. Anything of the items on the wall, red been pastry, cream filled, it’s all great!!!

BING SOO BING SOO BING SOO BING SOO!!!
Is this the ONLY place that has pat bing soo?
I came here many many years ago and wasn’t really impressed with the place, but Jason Q’s review severely piqued my interested in the place again.
I really don’t understand why this place is so much more expensive, but it IS the only Korean bakery in town and it IS in an area that’s more expensive than the Chinese bakery in U City… I’m not even sure if the bing soo is worth the 7 buck or so price… but regardless if you’re craving for this, GO NOW!