Peach, mango, and chocolate mochi shared by five in Gyeongju

A different kind of fruit mochi — soft, chewy rice cake wrapped around fruit and yogurt

Among all the desserts on Hwangnidang-gil, fruit mochi was one I'd been meaning to try. On a previous trip to Gyeongju I saw a long line outside a famous fruit sando (fruit sandwich mochi) shop and got curious. So this time I stopped by Tareudang to finally try it.

Tareudang basics — hours and location

• Daily 11:00–19:00
• 49 Sajeong-ro, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongbuk, South Korea (Sajeong-dong 43-9)

A wait even on weekdays? Being takeout-only, the line moves fast

Even on a weekday, there were customers waiting outside this famous fruit sando spot, which only made it more eye-catching. Thankfully, since it's a takeout-only shop, my turn came around quickly even with people ahead of me.

Fruit mochi prices

• Peach yogurt mochi ₩7,000
• Mango yogurt mochi ₩7,500
• Pineapple / fig yogurt / gold kiwi mochi ₩5,500
• Fresh chocolate mochi ₩6,000

I ordered three flavors the kids love — mango, peach, and chocolate.

Peach yogurt, mango yogurt, and fresh chocolate to go

The fruit mochi from this famous fruit sando shop came wrapped in hanji (traditional Korean paper), shaped almost like hair pinned up neatly — pretty cute. Each mochi turned out to be more generous than I expected, so if you're having them as a Hwangnidang-gil dessert, two people splitting one should be plenty. (Though without a knife, splitting one neatly isn't easy.) We shared all three flavors among five family members, which was nice because it let everyone taste a little of each. Since we ate them at home, we cut them with a knife to check the cross-sections — the fruit-filled mochi look quite pretty once halved, with the fruit visible inside.

Mango yogurt mochi — big chunks of whole mango

The mango-loving little ones picked this one first. Cut in half, a large chunk of mango appears inside. The tangy-sweet, rich yogurt paired with the sweet mango makes for a refreshing combination.

Inside the thin, chewy mochi skin is rich yogurt and mango. Because the mochi layer is thin, after one bite of that chewy texture you immediately taste the yogurt and mango. The mango isn't finely chopped but cut into large pieces, so its presence really stands out!

Peach yogurt mochi — the crisp cross-section of ddakbok (firm peach)

This was personally my favorite, both in looks and taste.

The moment you cut it in half, the pretty, reddish cross-section unique to ddakbok (firm, crisp peach) appears, which just makes you happy. The crisp texture and sweet peach flavor feel just like eating a fresh peach! The sweetness is similar to a softer peach, but this crisp ddakbok gives a crunchy bite instead. The contrast between the soft mochi skin and the crisp peach is fun too.

Fresh chocolate mochi — sweet enough even split four ways

Last up, the fresh chocolate mochi! With chocolate inside, I figured it would obviously be sweet, but it was sweeter than expected. We split it into four with the kids, and even one piece was enough to fully enjoy the chocolate sweetness.

Which flavor should you pick?

If you usually enjoy sweet desserts, the fresh chocolate mochi will suit your taste well. On the other hand, if you don't prefer overly sweet desserts, the fruit mochi with its more natural sweetness is the easier choice. If you want to try the combination of chewy mochi and fruit during a Gyeongju trip, it's worth picking one out as a Hwangnidang-gil dessert.