Gyeongju walnut pastry parents' gift: 15 low-sugar red bean, Buja Hodu

Coming back from a trip to Gyeongju, I felt it'd be a shame to leave without a souvenir, so I went looking and found Buja Hodu! 🤎 Hwangnidan-gil has so much food — from 10-won coin bread to Hwangnam-ppang — but this time I wanted a dessert that would travel well and also make a good gift. So I went with walnut pastries!

What caught my eye about Buja Hodu was that they make walnut pastries with low-sugar red bean paste. I bought the most basic option, the low-sugar red bean 15-piece box. Bottom line up front... the walnuts are bigger than I expected! 🌰 These aren't just red-bean-stuffed pastries — I could really feel big walnut pieces every time I bit in, and personally I loved it.

On top of that, bojagi gift wrapping is available, so it seemed like a good option for anyone looking for a Gyeongju gift set for family or parents after a trip 👍👍

Where is Buja Hodu on Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju?

Buja Hodu is on the main street at the entrance of Hwangnidan-gil, across from Korea Semiconductor Meister High School. It's open 09:30–20:00, with no indoor seating — it's takeout-focused, so it's easy to grab your order and go quickly.

Buja Hodu sits right on the main street of Hwangnidan-gil! Honestly there's a huge dessert scene on Hwangnidan-gil, but a lot of it is meant for eating on the spot, so options shrink fast for people like me looking to buy something as a gift,,!

Buja Hodu's walnut pastry flavors, and why low-sugar red bean won

Buja Hodu specializes in takeout and has a really wide range of walnut pastry flavors! Low-sugar red bean, sweet pea cream cheese, matcha, and almond praline are all there — but since I was buying these as a gift for my parents, I picked low-sugar red bean with their health in mind,,! (But I really wanted the pea cream cheese and almond praline too,, sob sob)

Bojagi gift wrapping for the walnut pastry boxes

One thing I loved about Buja Hodu is that they can do bojagi wrapping for gifts,,! For anyone hunting for a Gyeongju gift, this is a huge plus!! Adds an extra spoonful of elegance 🤩

The matcha flavor looked really tasty too,,

Freshly made walnut pastries cooling and waiting to be packed! As a popular dessert spot there were plenty of customers, but because they focus on takeout, I got my order pretty quickly 👍

There's outdoor seating too, so it'd be nice to grab a drink and enjoy them right after buying!

One for my parents, one for me (lol)

What comes in Buja Hodu's 15-piece low-sugar red bean box?

What I picked was Buja Hodu's most basic option, the low-sugar red bean 15-piece box. Since I'd already eaten a lot of things while traveling, I went with the basic option to enjoy lightly back home.

15 pieces isn't overwhelmingly many, but it's not so few that it disappears in a flash either — personally I liked the amount.

Open the box and the pastries are neatly lined up — the packaging is clean too, so it'd be great for sharing with people after a Gyeongju trip or buying as a gift. (My parents loved it a lot too 🤩)

How sweet are the low-sugar red bean walnut pastries?

Buja Hodu's low-sugar red bean walnut pastries weren't overly sweet, which made them easy to pair with coffee or tea. I do like red bean, but if the paste is too sweet I get sick of it after just a few pieces. So the low-sugar aspect was something I really appreciated.

Overall you get the sweetness of the red bean paste together with the nutty walnut flavor — a great dessert to pair with coffee or tea. Especially the day after the trip, brewing a cup of coffee and having these with it brought back memories of the snacks I had in Gyeongju. ☕

Big walnuts right through the cross-section

What I liked most about Buja Hodu was the walnuts! Of course a walnut pastry has walnuts in it, I thought... but I was surprised by just how big the walnut pieces were.

Can you see this beautiful cross-section, packed edge to edge,,✨ There are walnut pastries out there where it's all red bean paste and you have to go hunting for the walnut. But Buja Hodu really delivers that nutty walnut flavor and texture the moment you bite in! Big walnuts crunched between the soft red bean paste, which made eating them genuinely fun. Personally I prefer this style with real nut texture over walnut pastries that are just sweet, so I really enjoyed these. 🤎

Is Buja Hodu's 15-piece box a good Gyeongju gift for parents?

Buja Hodu, bought as a souvenir at the end of a Gyeongju trip, on Hwangnidan-gil! I picked the basic low-sugar red bean 15-piece box and overall I was satisfied. What I especially liked was

• ✔️ Not overly sweet thanks to the low-sugar red bean paste
• ✔️ Walnuts bigger than expected
• ✔️ The nutty combo of red bean paste + walnut
• ✔️ A 15-piece count that's just right for snacking at home
• ✔️ Clean packaging
• ✔️ Bojagi gift wrapping available, great for gifts

That about covers it! Above all, biting into those big chunks of walnut was my favorite part ദ്ദി*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ) Compared to walnut pastries you just eat for the red bean flavor, the clear nutty walnut texture in between made it a lot more fun to eat. If you're looking for a dessert to grab while exploring Hwangnidan-gil, a Gyeongju souvenir to bring home, or a Gyeongju gift set for your parents, I'd cautiously recommend this one. See you next time!