Walnut pastry café in Galma-dong, Daejeon, with my parents: Hong Hodu

Today I went to a café in Daejeon with my parents after a meal, which hasn't happened in a while! I was looking for a dessert café they'd like and found one that sells hodu-gwaja (walnut-shaped cakes with sweet filling). It's called Hong Hodu, in Galma-dong, Daejeon.

Hong Hodu opening hours and location

Hong Hodu is at 19 Daedeok-daero 135beon-gil, 1st floor, Seo-gu, Daejeon, and is open daily 10:00-21:00, Sundays 10:00-18:00. It's closed every Monday. Takeout, Wi-Fi, group seating and mobile payment are all available.

One-line review up front: a pleasant café that's a real walnut cake destination

What does Hong Hodu in Galma-dong look like outside?

The exterior has "홍호두" written big in orange letters, so it's easy to spot. The shop itself is large, and the floor-to-ceiling windows make it look even bigger.

Hong Hodu is a 2-minute walk from the Galma 2-dong Community Service Center.

Hong Hodu interior and seating

The inside is neatly done in white and wood tones. The space is big and the tables are spaced well apart, so it felt airy and comfortable.

As a walnut cake specialist, it had a display of different flavors: red bean, milk salt, matcha, sweet potato and more.

You can also get the walnut cakes packaged as gifts, so there was lots of wrapping on hand.

With tables for four and a window bar table, it works for solo visits and would be nice for families too.

Hong Hodu menu and prices

Here are Hong Hodu's main menu items:

• Walnut cakes, 12 pieces: ₩8,000
• Walnut cakes, 20 pieces: ₩15,000
• Americano: ₩3,800
• Café latte: ₩4,300
• Vanilla bean latte: ₩4,800

What we ordered: 12 walnut pastries and three drinks

This day's order was 12 walnut cakes + an iced Americano + a strawberry latte + a café latte.

Dad had the strawberry latte, Mom had a hot café latte, and I had the iced Americano.

We'd just had lunch, so I ordered the 12-piece box, half red bean and half matcha.

How are the drinks at Hong Hodu?

The strawberry latte looked like it had quite a lot of strawberry, and the café latte came with a pretty heart drawn on top.

The iced Americano had a slight sourness, which suited my taste well.

How much walnut is in Hong Hodu's walnut pastries?

The walnut pieces inside were big. Some places only have "walnut" in the name and barely any walnut inside, but at Hong Hodu about half of each cake was walnut, a truly walnutty walnut cake.

Both the matcha and the red bean were delicious, and they went well with coffee.

Verdict: a Galma-dong walnut pastry café to visit with parents

I took my parents to a walnut cake specialist I'd never tried before. Hong Hodu has 4 flavors, and we tried red bean and matcha. Both were delicious and my parents loved them. The drinks were good too, and the coffee paired nicely with the walnut cakes. If you want walnut cakes or a café with a pleasant atmosphere, I'd recommend Hong Hodu.