Yangjae takeout café, walnut pie as a trip snack: Hodu Kkakki Brothers

I packed handmade walnut pie from Hodu Kkakki Brothers

I picked up handmade walnut pies at Hodu Kkakki Brothers (호두까끼형제), a dessert café near Yangjae Station, and took them along as a trip and outing snack. The packaging was neat, and everyone who shared them enjoyed them with no hits or misses, so they make a nice handmade dessert gift.

Where is Hodu Kkakki Brothers Yangjae, and where do you park?

The navigation address for the Yangjae branch is 10 Nambusunhwan-ro 351-gil, Unit 101, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. By public transport, it's within walking distance of Exit 4 of Yangjae Station.

It's near Yangjae Station, so it was easy to stop by. If you're only picking up takeout, you can reportedly stop briefly (within 5 minutes) near the alley junction in front of the shop. I used the Seocho-gu Office public parking lot. The SK Herb Remo Building parking lot is also a nearby paid option, I hear.

Opening hours

• Mon–Fri 11:00–21:00 (break time 14:30–15:30)
• Sat 11:00–20:00
• Sun 11:00–19:00

What is Hodu Kkakki Brothers, the Yangjae Station handmade pie café, like?

Hodu Kkakki Brothers is a dessert café making handmade pies near Yangjae Station. I went because I love pie, and you can enjoy drinks there too. The pies keep for 7 days in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer, so they're a great snack to buy a whole pie at a time and keep on hand.

I visited on a weekday lunch hour and office workers from nearby were lining up. The walnut pies are individually wrapped and easy to eat, so it seems people have a meal around Yangjae Station and grab these for dessert.

I packed mine as an outing snack on the way to a trip. Hodu Kkakki Brothers reportedly makes its handmade pies with oligosaccharide syrup, honey and maple syrup instead of sugar. Maybe that's why they work whether you take them out in the morning or in the evening, and they went over well.

What pies are on the menu at Hodu Kkakki Brothers?

When I walked into Hodu Kkakki Brothers, there was a range of pies and desserts ready.

The menu runs from the original walnut pie to a cream cheese–topped pie and a pie made with matcha (powdered green tea), so you can pick and mix like a gift set.

Ordering whole pies gets you a discount, and there's also a mixed whole-pie set with several kinds, which was great both as an outing snack and as a gift.

They also sell coffee and drinks to take away, so you can order a coffee while your pies are being packed up at this dessert café.

The pies come in their own wrappers and are a size you can hold and eat with one hand. While packing them up, I looked up the details, and apparently every step of making a whole pie is done by hand.

Taking a whole walnut pie along as a trip snack

I thought these would suit a picnic snack or a housewarming gift, but since they're great to share, I prepared them as a trip snack.

Hodu Kkakki Brothers' handmade pies are individually wrapped, so they were easy to carry around. I ordered a whole pie and they put it in a sturdy package, so even in the car the shape didn't get squashed much.

The Yangjae branch's dedicated package and box look neat and upscale, so they seem good for a housewarming gift or a snack gift for your parents.

How does the walnut pie at Hodu Kkakki Brothers taste?

After dinner at our lodging, I took out a walnut pie each for dessert. I was told they're best cold, so I'd kept them in the fridge, and with the generous walnut topping and soft filling, they were delicious.

The walnuts on top tasted nuttier the more I chewed, and the crust was thicker than I expected. The crisp crust and soft filling go well together.

The filling under the walnuts is soft and on the sweet side, but my parents liked it too, so it suits older tastes as well. The sweetness isn't overwhelming, so it works as a snack with drinks or alongside coffee.