Hwangnidan-gil walnut pastries that freeze well, Gyeongju: Buja Hodu

You can't come to Gyeongju without stopping by Hwangnidan-gil, right?

There's so much delicious food and so many things to see that if you wander around slowly, you'll always end up looking for a snack. This time I stopped by Buja Hodu, a walnut pastry (hodu-gwaja) shop on Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju. I actually really love walnut pastries, but I hadn't managed to get any even at the rest stop on the way to Gyeongju. So when I spotted a walnut pastry shop while walking down Hwangnidan-gil, I was so happy I walked right in.

First impression of Buja Hodu: walnuts piled up out front

Buja Hodu is a walnut pastry shop tucked into a Hwangnidan-gil backstreet in Gyeongju, and the first thing I noticed walking up was the pile of walnuts heaped in front of the shop. It's the kind of visual you'd notice even just walking past.

Besides the walnut pastries, they also had a few unusual dessert items like walnut ice cream and affogato, which was fun to browse.

This time, we decided to order the most basic walnut pastries to take out.

Buja Hodu flavors and what goes into the 24-piece mix

Buja Hodu's walnut pastries come in several flavors — low-sugar red bean, pea cream cheese, matcha, almond praline, and more. We ordered the 24-piece mix and picked three flavors: red bean, pea cream cheese, and matcha.

I usually think of walnut pastries as just red bean, so it was fun to find so many flavor options. Our 24-piece set was made up of 12 low-sugar red bean, 6 matcha, and 6 pea cream cheese.

When flavors are mixed together it's easy to lose track of which is which, but the wrappers came in slightly different colors to make it easy to tell them apart — a small detail I really appreciated.

Waiting on Hwangnidan-gil was no chore

Buja Hodu bakes to order, so we placed our order and waited outside for the freshly baked pastries.

The weather was so nice that day that just standing out front waiting wasn't boring at all. Hwangnidan-gil itself has so much to look at that grabbing a snack to carry around felt like a great idea. And there was something fun about waiting for pastries to come fresh out of the oven before taking them with us.

How big are the walnuts inside Buja Hodu's pastries?

When I opened up the box of Buja Hodu's walnut pastries, the first thing that caught my eye was the size of the walnuts. The walnuts inside felt quite large.

I've eaten a lot of walnut pastries, and sometimes the ones from rest stops disappoint you with tiny or skimpy walnuts. But at Buja Hodu, the walnuts inside felt quite substantial.

With the first bite, I could taste the walnut's nutty, slightly bitter flavor, blending naturally with the red bean filling.

Rather than one flavor overpowering the other, the walnut and red bean worked well together, and it was the kind of taste that made you reach for another one right after.

What does a matcha walnut pastry taste like?

Buja Hodu's matcha walnut pastry starts off soft with the filling, then a subtle matcha flavor rises up toward the finish. This matcha flavor was actually what I was most looking forward to trying.

I usually just pick red bean when I eat walnut pastries, but this time I wanted to try a new combination, so I chose this one.

The matcha walnut pastry feels soft with the filling at first, then a subtle matcha flavor comes through toward the end. I think matcha lovers would enjoy this as a different way to experience it. The walnut's nuttiness and matcha's characteristic bitterness paired better than I expected.

Pea cream cheese filling works surprisingly well

The pea cream cheese walnut pastry combined the plain flavor of pea filling with a soft cream cheese note. This was actually the flavor I was most curious about before trying it.

But once I tried it, the plain pea filling paired with the soft cream cheese flavor turned out to be quite harmonious. If you've only ever had red bean walnut pastries, this definitely felt like something new.

The cream cheese wasn't overpowering — it blended in softly and matched well with the pea filling. Alternating between the three flavors, even though it was the same walnut pastry, the taste changed enough that I never got tired of eating them.

Why one box wasn't enough — and how they tasted from the freezer

I bought one 24-piece box of Buja Hodu's walnut pastries, but as I kept eating, I found myself wishing I'd bought two. I froze the leftovers and took them out one at a time, and the flavor didn't suffer much.

At first I thought 24 pieces would be plenty, so I only bought one box. But as I kept eating, I found myself wishing I'd bought two. They're great to eat fresh in Gyeongju, and you can bring the rest home to store, so next time I'd happily buy several boxes.

I froze the leftover pastries and took one out whenever I wanted. They thawed quickly once taken out, which made them easy to eat, and freezing didn't ruin the flavor from when they were fresh — so it worked out fine to keep some around and eat them at leisure.

Looking for a snack on Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju?

Hwangnidan-gil has plenty of places to eat a full meal, but also a variety of snacks to grab while walking around.

If you like walnut pastries, a place like Buja Hodu where you can pick from several filling flavors seems like a fun option.

I used to say red bean walnut pastry was my favorite by far, but after trying matcha and pea cream cheese this time, I learned that a wider range of combinations works better than I expected.

In particular, the generous chunks of walnut really came through with a nutty flavor when you bit into them, and once you eat one, your hand naturally reaches for the next.

If you're walking around Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju and start craving a snack, it might be worth taking home a box. We regretted only buying one box because we enjoyed them so much. If you're looking for restaurants on Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju and want a simple snack to take away, Buja Hodu's walnut pastries are worth a try.