Cheonan walnut pastries frozen into a red bean ice treat: Cheonandang

Why I bought hodu-gwaja in its hometown, Cheonan

Cheonandang Dandae Branch (천안당 단대점) is where I stopped to pick up walnut cakes (hodu-gwaja) while on a trip to Cheonan with a friend. When you think of Cheonan, a few famous specialties come to mind, and hodu-gwaja is the local food you absolutely can't skip, right? It's such a long-time hometown of the treat that you see specialty shops all over the area. I'd actually had freshly baked, piping hot ones at a highway rest stop on the way up, but I still wanted to taste the real local style, so I decided to go to a well-reviewed Cheonan shop and take some home.

Where is Cheonandang Dandae Branch, and what about parking?

Cheonandang Dandae Branch is at 177 Manghyang-ro, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, just past Dankook University Hospital right by the main road, and it's open daily from 07:30 to 20:00. There's dedicated parking in front of the shop, which was very convenient.

The building is big, so even on my first visit it stood out and was easy to find. The area also has lots of large pharmacies. As you probably know, Dankook University Hospital is a major regional hospital that draws not just Cheonan residents but people from nearby areas and all over Chungnam, right? So I thought the location is perfect for grabbing a box as a gift for family or friends on your way home after a hospital appointment or a visit to someone in the ward.

The parking area right in front of the shop is spacious, so parking was really easy. Shops like this usually aren't the stand-in-line-and-wait-for-fresh-batches type; instead they bake early in the morning or at dawn, cool everything neatly, and sell it in boxes of various sizes packed in advance, right?

So the time you spend inside, from ordering and paying to walking out with your goods, is really short, and I figured a lot this size turns over quickly and you needn't worry about parking. We visited around 3 p.m. on a weekday and parked with plenty of room to spare.

What's the inside of Cheonandang like?

The inside of Cheonandang Dandae Branch was simple, clean and tidy, with no fuss. On one side stood a big, curious-looking automatic hodu-gwaja machine, and on the center counter, boxes that were already prepared were neatly stacked by size.

Cheonandang hodu-gwaja prices and what I chose

• Plain hodu-gwaja: 15 pieces (1 box) ₩5,000 / 30 pieces (1 box) ₩10,000 / 45 pieces ₩15,000 / 60 pieces ₩20,000
• Lotus hodu-gwaja: 15 pieces ₩8,000
• Red bean butter hodu-gwaja: 16 pieces ₩10,000

At first I agonized a lot, because I really wanted to try the nutty red bean butter flavor that's so hot these days. But the weather that day was sweltering, like midsummer, and I still had a long drive home, so I was worried the cooler bag I had wouldn't keep the butter from melting. Sadly, I left the red bean butter for next time and turned to the most classic plain flavor.

Funnily enough, the price per piece doesn't get cheaper as the count goes up. Big or small, it's the same, about ₩333 per piece. So instead of one heavy big box, I went for two small 15-piece boxes, which are easier to store and share.

Besides hodu-gwaja, Cheonandang also sells Americanos, nurungji chips (scorched rice chips) and yeot (traditional Korean taffy). An Americano is ₩1,500 hot or ₩2,000 iced, and the nurungji chips are ₩6,000.

How is Cheonandang hodu-gwaja packaged as a gift?

When you buy, the hodu-gwaja comes in a pretty dedicated box, and they even give you a matching shopping bag to carry it in. The quality looked great for holiday gifts, wedding thank-you presents or a casual snack gift for people around you.

Above all, what won me over about Cheonandang is that it uses 100% Korean wheat. They also apparently stick to a "three-no" principle: no preservatives, no artificial colors, no flavorings. I figured it's a snack that pregnant women or families with small children, who are careful about food safety these days, could eat with peace of mind.

What does Cheonandang's plain hodu-gwaja taste like?

The bread part of Cheonandang's plain hodu-gwaja was soft and fluffy with no dryness, and the red bean filling wasn't overly sweet. I couldn't wait and, as soon as I got in the car, pulled out one that was individually wrapped in white parchment paper. Wow, the moment it hit my mouth, the outer bread was incredibly soft and fluffy, clearly thanks to the Korean wheat base.

The generous red bean filling isn't headache-inducingly sweet or harsh like cheap store-bought versions either; the mild, natural sweetness of plain red bean spreads gently, which was really appealing. The nutty chunks of walnut you bite into here and there made a perfect harmony. It's so light and clean that you can polish off three or four in one sitting in a blink. I figured a glass of milk or a hot Americano would be a dream pairing.

Tip: freeze the leftover hodu-gwaja

Seal leftover Cheonandang hodu-gwaja in a zipper bag, freeze it, then leave it at room temperature for just a moment before eating, and it's a real treat. After getting home and happily eating a few more, I sealed the rest in a zipper bag as the owner had told me and sent it straight to the freezer. The next morning I took out the rock-solid hodu-gwaja, let it sit at room temperature for just a moment, and took a bite.

Wow, this is a treat among treats, so if you have leftovers, please try it this way! Since the red bean filling inside is slightly frozen, it feels like a fancy upgrade of Bibibic (a red bean ice bar), with a cool, crisp texture. Amazingly, the bread outside doesn't get very hard when frozen and turns chewy instead, which made it a lot of fun to bite into.

Thanks to that, on busy weekday mornings when it's hard to get a proper breakfast, I grab two or three from the freezer before work and nibble on them on the way. They're filling and satisfying, so they've become a very handy breakfast substitute.

Is Cheonandang Dandae Branch worth going back to?

Cheonandang Dandae Branch was a satisfying place where I could really experience the deep flavor of hometown hodu-gwaja, made with 100% Korean wheat and wholesome ingredients. The packaging is neat and the price is easy on the wallet, so I plan to order gifts and thank-you presents through their official online shop later. If you're going near Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, or looking for hodu-gwaja you can trust with easy parking, Cheonandang is a good pick!