Gyeongju walnut pastry shop light eaters emptied in 2 days: Buja Hodu

What kind of shop is Buja Hodu?

Buja Hodu is a takeout-only walnut pastry shop on Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju. The writer had taken a day trip to Gyeongju for a fall outing and, as usual when visiting another region, picked up a snack to bring home for the family. It turned out to be a walnut pastry shop the light-eater family really liked.

Does Buja Hodu do bojagi wrapping for holiday gifts?

Buja Hodu offers traditional bojagi (wrapping cloth) packaging for holidays. If you're still deciding on a Chuseok gift, this could be an option. Walnut pastries already feel like a snack that hits the spot for older relatives, and having bojagi wrapping available made it even better.

There was a sample of the holiday bojagi wrapping on display, and it looked upscale and refined — perfect for a gift. It seems like it would work not just for holidays but for lighter gifts on more formal occasions too.

Buja Hodu flavors and packaging options

The price board at Buja Hodu, a well-known spot on Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju, lists four flavors — low-sugar red bean, pea cream cheese, matcha, and almond praline — available as either an instant pack or a gift box. Almond praline is limited to 50 pieces a day.

2pm on a Sunday: pastries still coming out of the oven

Even at 2pm on a Sunday, the staff behind the shop were nonstop making walnut pastries. Watching them work through mixing the batter, baking, shaping, and packaging — all by hand, all in clean disposable gloves — you could really feel the effort that goes in, which gave the pastries a sense of guaranteed quality 🤩

Does Buja Hodu sell drinks? The patented red ginseng tea

Buja Hodu is takeout-only, but it also sells simple drinks like coffee and juice. There's a red ginseng tea that pairs well with the walnut pastries — a patented red ginseng tea, sold at a walnut pastry shop, of all things. It's real red ginseng plus natural honey, which felt like a clever menu choice aimed right at older customers' tastes, pairing nicely with the pastries.

The instant pack of 10 and the gift box of 15

I bought one instant pack (10-piece mix) and one gift box (15-piece mix) at Buja Hodu. The instant pack mix is original red bean plus your choice of one other flavor, while the gift box mix comes with three flavors: red bean, matcha, and pea cream cheese.

I bought the gift box for the family without expecting much, but the packaging was clean and looked upscale — it seemed like it would work well as a gift.

The back of the box lists everything in detail — expiration date, storage method, ingredients, even how to eat it. I expected a handmade snack to have simple labeling, but it was as clean and systematic as something from a manufacturer, which I liked.

Buja Hodu, a well-known spot on Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju, says its pastries are made with domestic rice dough, filling that isn't too sweet, and whole walnuts — real walnut pastries.

You can also order delivery through their Smart Store, so you don't have to travel all the way to Gyeongju to buy some.

Each walnut pastry is carefully wrapped one by one in paper, with dividers in the box so nothing gets jostled around. You could tell they put thought into the packaging — the whole thing felt upscale.

How do they taste? Whole walnuts filling a third of each pastry

Buja Hodu's walnut pastries are large and dense on their own, with a moist, soft texture and a hint of buttery flavor. Let's try them one by one — these little pastries all lined up together, am I the only one who thinks they're cute? ㅎㅅㅎ

In order above: pea cream cheese, matcha, red bean. Can you see the size of the walnuts inside!? In the red bean one, the walnut takes up almost a third of the whole pastry 🤩 My family said it was the biggest, most generous walnut they'd ever seen in a walnut pastry, and they ate every piece happily.

Overall, the nutty walnut pastry and the not-too-sweet red bean filling worked well together, making for a healthy, filling snack. Even my light-eater family said it was delicious and finished everything in two days — I felt so proud haha. If you're heading to Hwangnidan-gil, I really recommend stopping by Buja Hodu.