I’ve been a loyal patron of La Boulangerie for years, and I still get a little excited every time I pull into that plaza. If you haven’t been yet, you’re high key missing out! It’s the Korean bakery sitting across from Lotte Plaza Market in Ellicott City, tucked into the Golden Triangle Shopping Center, and it’s the kind of spot where you walk in for one thing and leave with a box.
I’m a sucker for their traditional Korean treats, especially the ones stuffed with red bean, white bean and cream. Everything’s affordable enough that you can go wild, grab a variety, and still walk out without wincing at the total. That’s the whole appeal for me: it’s a serious must! And it’s the opposite of precious about it.
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What Makes La Boulangerie a Standout Korean Bakery
Route 40 through Ellicott City has quietly turned into a real stretch of Korean food, so much so that locals call it Korean Way, and La Boulangerie’s one of the bakeries that makes that reputation real. It’s also listed as part of Howard County’s Koreatown initiative, which tells you it’s not some anonymous strip-mall stop, it’s a fixture.
What sets it apart from a Western bakery is the register the whole case is pitched in. Korean bakery pastries lean softer, lighter and noticeably less sweet, built on milk bread rather than an all-butter laminated dough, and the fillings run to red bean, custard cream and fruit instead of frosting. If your idea of a bakery is a wall of buttercream, this is a genuinely different experience, and IMO a better one when you want more than one thing.
What to Order at La Boulangerie
Full transparency, my own faves here are the filled ones, so that’s where I’d start you. Here’s what the case is known for.
Red Bean Pastries
This is my lane. Sweet red bean paste tucked inside a soft, barely sweet bun, and a good one gets the ratio right so you’re not just eating bread with a smear in the middle. If red bean’s your thing too, you’re in luck geographically, because Delimanjoo is right across the street inside Lotte, making fish-shaped bungeoppang fresh in front of you at $2.50 a pop. Two very different red bean experiences within one parking lot is a genuinely funny thing to have access to!
Custard Cream Bread
Known in Korean as cream-ppang, this is the pillowy bun split with a pastry cream that’s more milky than sugary. It’s the one I’d hand to somebody who says they don’t really like Asian desserts, because it converts people. Heads up, I recommend eating it the day you buy it!
Twist Glazed Donuts
The twisted, sugar-rolled donut you’ll see called kkwabaegi. It’s chewier than an American donut and way less sweet, which is exactly why you can eat more than one. Twist donuts travel well, so they’re an easy add if you’re bringing a box to a group.
Fresh Cream Cake
They do the whole-cake side too, the fresh cream and fruit style Korean bakeries are known for, which is lighter and far less sweet than a Western buttercream cake. Worth knowing if you’ve got a birthday coming and you want something people will actually finish.
They also pour coffee and bubble tea, so you can pick up a drink alongside the pastries.
Why Is a Korean Bakery Named La Boulangerie?
French naming became shorthand for European-style pastry when chains like Paris Baguette and Paris Croissant took off in the late 1980s, plenty of Korean bakers trained in France, and the pattern stuck hard enough that it followed the food overseas. So a Korean bakery called La Boulangerie isn’t confused about what it is, it’s following a naming habit that’s decades old. You can see the same thing across the DMV once you start noticing it. The Baltimore Banner has a good piece on the Route 40 bakery cluster if you want to make a day of it.
The Vibe and Experience
It’s a bakery in a shopping plaza, and it doesn’t pretend otherwise. You look at the case, you point at things, you leave happy. The hours are the underrated part: they’re open 8am to 9pm every day, so this covers both an early coffee-and-pastry run and a late “I need dessert and everything else is closed” emergency. It pairs well with a Lotte grocery run, since you’re already parked. If you want something more sit-down and savory in the same area, Siroo & Juk Story does affordable Korean comfort food in the same area.
Good to Know
- Location: 📍 8815 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City, MD 21043, in the Golden Triangle Shopping Center directly across from Lotte Plaza Market
- Hours: 8:00 am to 9:00 pm, seven days a week
- Phone: (410) 203-2000
- Price range: budget-friendly, which is what makes grabbing a variety so doable
- Parking: shared plaza lot, and it’s a big one
- They also do coffee and bubble tea alongside the bakery case
- Cakes are available, including the fresh cream and fruit style
- More listing info lives on their Visit Howard County page
Is La Boulangerie Worth It?
Yes! It’s been a go-to of mine for years now. This isn’t a destination bakery you drive an hour for, it’s better than that, it’s the reliable one you fold into a normal errand and never get tired of. It’s for anybody who wants Korean treats that aren’t overly sweet, and for anybody feeding a group on a budget. If you’re building a bigger Korean food day out of it, my guide to Korean food in Howard County has more spots in the same area.
Go grab a tray, get one of everything you can’t identify, and report back. Have you guys been yet? Let me know your order in the comments, Nomsters, and save this for your next Lotte run.