Baker's Village — Restaurant in Santa Clara

Never again. The unfriendly, older Korean woman yelled at me for taking pictures of the baked goods and told me to stop. So I stopped, but I will also stop shopping there (either location).

I've taken pictures of the shop and its goods in front of her before and she has never said anything before.

How did all these other photos end up on this entry, if customers aren't allowed to take pictures (unless they're all posted by fake sock puppet accounts created by Baker's Village)?

Pictures are how you get more customers nowadays, and has been for decades. It's not the 80s anymore, not that I know what was bad about taking photos inside stores back then either. People finally realized it's good for business, not bad.

It's not like I was going to use the photos to reverse engineer the recipes and start a competing bakery (not that I would know how).

It's not even something where a picture can be good enough for some people, like a postcard or a print. It's a pastry, people will still buy them. It's not like someone is going to see the pictures and be like, Oh, I saw the food now, so there's no need to eat/buy it anymore.

It's not even like anyone's going to buy non-professional pics of some random business even if someone tried to sell them.

She asked in an accusatory tone what I was going to "do" with the photos. I said nothing, which seemed to upset her more, so I'm not sure what answer she wanted? That I was doing a NY Times writeup on her, lol?

Personal use photography is legal. My photos are primarily to keep track of what food I've gotten and what to get next. I've had shop owners try to talk me into posting photos - never out of taking them.

She was so mad I was seriously afraid she was going to grab my phone and try to delete my pictures forcibly.

Clover never bothered me about taking pictures of every single display of all their pastries with their cute little signs, and posting them on Google Maps and Yelp. And I'm sure all the pictures bring in new business. It is insanity in this day and age to be mad about this.

All the cakes and pastries I've had from Baker's Village were on the hard and dry side anyway. It was just closer to me and convenient. I guess I'll just make the longer trip to Clover every time, where the food is better, the prices are cheaper, the selection is greater, and they don't hassle me for giving them free advertising.

Or Sheng Kee, or Kee Wah, or Paris Baguette, or the bakeries inside Nijiya or Mitsuwa, etc., INB4 I'm accused of being a shill for Clover, lol.

Our family spends hundreds of dollars a day on food. We spent almost $400 just today, and over $200 yesterday just on snacks alone. And yes, I have receipts for proof. You picked on the wrong person, and you picked the wrong hill to die on, because we won't be spending any more of our money at Baker's Village anymore.

I will also tell all my friends, family, social media contacts - and stop complete strangers on the street - to go elsewhere for their Asian baked goods and birthday and wedding cakes, forever and ever, hallelujah, hallelujah.

I would have maybe suspected racism - or ethnicitism to be exact - except she didn't realize I wasn't Korean and kept yelling at me in Korean (I assume, but I only know for sure it wasn't Japanese, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Chinese Mandarin, Taiwanese Mandarin, French, Italian, Spanish, German, or Latin) until I said, What? I don't understand. Unless she wasn't telling me not to take photos in Korean and only told me not to take photos in English after realizing I didn't speak Korean? But her tone and expression sounded/looked pissed in either language, so my guess is the problem was me taking pictures, no matter what language.

*This is for the Baker's Village inside the Hankook Supermarket. I'm not sure why there's only 1 Maps entry with pictures of both (that I did not post!), other than maybe people confusing the two locations, since they're near each other on the same street. But they're obviously two different stores, as one has a much smaller interior...

This review pains me to write because the lady behind the counter at Baker's Village was fantastic. She was incredibly friendly and even threw in a free snack with my order. Honestly, if it wasn't for her sweetness and her amazing service, this would be a 1-star review.

Unfortunately, the pastries themselves were a major letdown. I tried both the strawberry cake and what I believe was a green tea or black sesame cake (my memory fails me on the exact flavor). Both were incredibly dry, bordering on stale. The crumb on the cake was gritty and unpleasant, and the bread was so hard that even the sturdy plastic fork and spoon they provided struggled to cut through it. The strawberry cake was marginally better than the other cake, but neither was salvageable after a single bite.

It's important to note that I visited towards the end of the day, but even with that in mind, the state of the pastries suggested they were several days old. The sloppy presentation of some of the other cakes on display wasn't exactly confidence-inspiring either.

Now, they do have a wider selection of bakery items, including Korean pastries, so perhaps my experience doesn't reflect everything they offer. While the service is truly top-notch, I'm hesitant to give it...

A Must-Visit Korean Bakery

This bakery is a well-known spot for traditional Korean baked goods, and it truly lives up to its reputation. The bread was delicious and freshly made — you can taste the care in every bite.

Since it's summer, we also tried their seasonal Bingsoo, and choosing the Injeolmi flavor was the perfect decision. It was incredibly satisfying, with a great balance of texture and sweetness.

One of my favorite things about this bakery is their anko (sweet red bean paste), and to my delight, it was included on top of the Bingsoo as well. It was rich, smooth, and perfectly complemented the dish. Honestly, I think this might be one of the best things I’ve eaten in the Bay Area.

I also noticed that under the new ownership, the menu feels even fresher and more creative. It’s exciting to see traditional flavors elevated with such care and quality.

I highly recommend stopping by — it’s absolutely...