Hwangnidan-gil walnut pastries split into two gift boxes: Buja Hodu

Walking along Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju, you'll find lots of places selling tasty snacks and souvenirs. This time I picked up something simple to enjoy — walnut pastries. They're made with 100% rice, so they're easy to share with family, and having a whole walnut inside gave them a really solid quality.

📍Location: 38 Poseok-ro 1095beon-gil, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do ⏰Hours: 09:30~20:00

What is Buja Hodu, the walnut pastry shop on Hwangnidan-gil?

Buja Hodu's Gyeongju branch is a place where you can try walnut pastries filled with nutty whole walnuts. They're a perfect bite-sized snack for wandering around Hwangnidan-gil, and they're also great for a quick nibble when you get hungry mid-trip. If you're looking for something a bit different from the desserts you commonly see around Gyeongju, this is a solid option.

Buja Hodu says it makes walnut pastries that let you fully taste the walnut flavor, true to its name. What stands out is that they use one whole walnut generously so you get plenty of nutty flavor in every bite. The dough is made with domestic rice so it's easy to digest, and it's paired with walnuts and sweet bean filling. In particular, the combination of not-too-sweet filling, nutty walnuts, and soft rice dough makes it a light snack the whole family can enjoy together, which is why apparently a lot of people buy it as a gift set for Chuseok.

Beyond red bean, there are also flavors like matcha and cream cheese that people in their 20s and 30s tend to like these days, so it seemed like a good idea to buy a few different flavors and let the family pick and choose as a snack.

How to store walnut pastries: 3 days at room temperature, 1 month frozen

Buja Hodu's walnut pastries can be kept for up to 3 days at room temperature and up to 1 month frozen. I usually only eat ten-won coin bread, so this was my first time trying a handmade walnut pastry, and it was way better than I expected. Being able to store it for 3 days at room temperature was perfect timing for picking up before heading back to Seoul.

• Within 3 days at room temperature
• Within 1 month if frozen
• ✔️ Store in a cool place away from direct sunlight
• ✔️ Freeze if storing for a long period
• ✔️ Eat right after opening, and seal any leftovers

Buja Hodu menu and prices: 10 pieces from 9,500 won

Buja Hodu charges ₩9,500 for 10 pieces of the regular flavor and ₩11,000 for a mixed-flavor pack. Box packaging starts at ₩14,500 for 15 pieces. The instant pack comes in a paper bag, while the boxed version is a nice format for gifting as a souvenir. They also sell coffee, and it turned out iced Americano goes surprisingly well with the walnut pastries!

The three Buja Hodu flavors: red bean, pea cream cheese, matcha

• Low-sugar red bean 💛 The original flavor with a natural sweetness! The plainness of the rice dough blends nicely with the subtle sweetness of the red bean filling
• Pea cream cheese 🤍 A not-greasy flavor with a subtle nuttiness! Made with New Zealand cheese and sweet pea filling together, giving it a soft, nutty taste
• Matcha 💚 A deep, subtle bitterness from matcha! The bitterness of matcha added to the sweet filling makes it a relatively clean option for those who find sweetness overwhelming

Chuseok bojagi wrapping and seating inside Buja Hodu

Since it was around Chuseok, you could also add a bojagi (traditional wrapping cloth) to the box packaging. The light purple bojagi looked elegant and pretty. The price was reasonable too, so it seemed perfect for giving and receiving as a gift.

You can take them to go, but there were also seats for people who wanted to eat right on the spot. It seemed like a nice spot to sit down for a bit and try one of each flavor.

Two boxes to go: red bean for dad, cream cheese for my husband

I packed the red bean flavor as a gift for my dad and the cream cheese flavor separately for my husband and me to eat. Trying it myself, I understood why this is one of the go-to dessert spots on Hwangnidan-gil.

Eating Buja Hodu walnut pastries as a snack around Gyeongju

The packaging was clean and pretty, so it worked well as a gift, but more than anything, having each piece individually wrapped made it easy to keep hygienic and convenient to carry a few around as a snack while traveling. They were perfect for pulling one out whenever I got hungry exploring Gyeongju.

Best of all, when you bite in, you can really feel the whole walnut, so the nutty flavor comes through fully. The inside was also packed full of filling, which made it even more satisfying. Each flavor has a different character to its filling, cream cheese, and matcha, so it was fun trying each one to compare and figure out which flavor suits my taste.

My honest verdict on Buja Hodu

With three flavors, it was fun switching between the plain red bean, matcha, and cream cheese versions one by one. If you're looking for a simple dessert to enjoy on Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju, Buja Hodu is a solid choice. I liked the nuttiness of the whole walnuts along with the fun of picking between different flavors, and with box packaging and the Chuseok bojagi wrapping option available too, it seems like a decent choice for giving and receiving as a gift.