{"id":485330,"date":"2026-10-05T02:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T02:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/485330\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T02:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T02:08:15","slug":"best-of-the-bay-2026-editors-pick-kukje-bakery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/485330\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of the Bay 2026 Editors’ Pick: Kukje Bakery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polls are open for our 2026 Best of the Bay!\u00a0Vote here now<\/a>, and enjoy our\u00a0Editors\u2019 Picks<\/a>\u00a0of our favorite Bay Area things, which we\u2019ll be posting throughout the month and beyond.<\/p>\n

In April, Haesoo Park opened Kukje Bakery (2368 Junipero Serra Blvd., Daly City) in a shopping center neighboring her wonderful Kukje Supermarket (2350 Junipero Serra). Her sister first opened the market<\/a> in San Francisco in 1990. After she retired, Park brought the business to Daly City in 2002.<\/p>\n

After several years of earnest research, my professional opinion is that Kukje Bakery is already offering much more compelling baked goods than the bakery departments at the big Korean supermarkets nearby\u2014H Mart and Jagalchi\u2014and at Paris Baguette, the competent, Seoul-based corporate chain that has several Bay Area locations. On the sweet side, the tiramisu donut is a standout, especially with an unfussy iced coffee for a double kick. <\/p>\n

\"\"Sweet potato cake at Kukje. <\/p>\n

And, as I\u2019ve found throughout the Bay Area this year, some of the best items at Kukje Bakery are savory croquettes and pastries<\/a>. Korean salt bread, a trendy but unassuming roll that conceals a ton of butter, won\u2019t break the bank here, as it does in San Francisco. There\u2019s an intriguing sweet potato layer cake with sweet potato chips on top that must be investigated.<\/p>\n

Besides, the Kukje Supermarket is way more fun to shop in than the behemoths\u2014which I do actually love, for the record\u2014and the overall support doesn\u2019t go to a faceless place!<\/p>\n

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here<\/a>. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n