Gyeongju takeout walnut pastry shop, cooler bag to Daegu: Buja Hodu

Buja Hodu on Hwangnidan-gil: open even in the late afternoon

Today my sister and I took a drive to Gyeongju to shake off some stress. While we were there, we figured we'd check out Hwangnidan-gil, which everyone's been visiting lately, and grab a good dinner nearby. When we arrived, the street was buzzing with families and couples out for the weekend — the cooler weather clearly brought people out. We parked at a nearby public lot and started exploring.

Hwangnidan-gil quietly has a lot of great dessert spots, so I'd looked up a few famous ones beforehand. But since we got to Gyeongju a bit late in the afternoon, several of the places I'd noted had already sold out and closed for the day — a little disappointing. Luckily, Buja Hodu, one of the standout dessert shops on Hwangnidan-gil, was still open, so we headed straight there.

Unlike typical walnut pastries made with chopped walnut pieces, Buja Hodu makes the real deal — each pastry packed with one whole walnut.

Buja Hodu menu and packing options

Buja Hodu sells four kinds of walnut pastries in total. There's the classic low-sugar red bean walnut pastry, plus pea cream cheese, matcha, and almond praline — plenty of options depending on your taste. Since it's a takeout-only shop, there's no indoor seating, but there are simple tables set up right outside, and by the time we arrived, plenty of people were already sitting there enjoying their pastries. You can choose between on-the-spot packaging or a neat box packaging — the box is tidy enough that it'd make a great souvenir or gift from a Gyeongju trip.

Since we wanted to try a bit of everything, we ordered a 10-piece mix (5 red bean + 5 of one other flavor) packed on the spot, and a 15-piece mix (5 red bean + 5 pea cream cheese + 5 matcha) in a box.

While our order was being prepared, we wandered around the shop. Buja Hodu also sells walnut ice cream, fresh watermelon juice, and coffee alongside the walnut pastries. The walnut ice cream affogato in particular caught my eye — it looked like it would have a really rich walnut flavor — but since we had dinner plans coming up soon, I had to save it for my next trip to Gyeongju.

Eating Buja Hodu's freshly baked walnut pastries in the car

As soon as we got our pastries and hopped in the car, my sister and I each pulled out one of the on-the-spot packaged pastries to try. They were still warm and freshly baked, crispy outside and moist inside. Best of all, the crunchy bite of the big whole walnut paired beautifully with the sweet bean paste ratio — every bite gave both texture and flavor at once. It was the kind of thing you keep reaching for, but to really savor it properly, we packed the rest into the cooler bag we'd brought and carried it all the way home to Daegu after dinner.

One whole walnut inside: cutting a pastry in half at home

After dinner, back at home, the first thing I did was pull out the boxed pastries from the cooler bag. I wanted to see the cross-section, so I sliced one in half with a knife and arranged it nicely on a plate. Cutting it open revealed a big whole walnut nestled right in the middle of the dough, surrounded by layers of different colored fillings — the visual alone was enough to make my mouth water.

Low-sugar red bean walnut pastry

First, I tried the most basic option, the original low-sugar red bean walnut pastry. The sweetness of the red bean paste wasn't overpowering — it spread gently through the mouth, giving it a clean flavor you don't get tired of. Being low-sugar, it's a nutty, mild taste that parents or anyone who isn't a fan of overly sweet food could enjoy without hesitation.

Pea cream cheese walnut pastry

Next up was the pea cream cheese walnut pastry, where the rich, sweet pea paste combined with soft cream cheese to great effect. The nutty sweetness of the pea paired with the heavy richness of the cream cheese, and it seemed like exactly the kind of flavor that would appeal to younger people or kids.

Matcha walnut pastry

The last one I tried was the matcha walnut pastry, and its bittersweet, fragrant matcha aroma came through strongly — very appealing. The characteristic bitterness of the matcha balanced out the sweetness of the paste nicely, leaving a clean finish, and it was the dessert that paired best with tea or coffee.

How to store leftover walnut pastries: zipper bags in the freezer

All four flavors had their own charm and were satisfying enough that I wanted to save them for later — so I packed the leftover pastries neatly into zipper bags and stashed them in the freezer. I'm planning to pull one out whenever the craving hits, and pair it with a warm coffee or black tea as a home café dessert.

Buja Hodu, one of the standout dessert shops on Hwangnidan-gil, really shines for its generous whole walnuts and the way its four luxurious fillings come together. Thanks to the neat box packaging, it's also perfectly suited as a gift or a token of appreciation for someone special during a Gyeongju trip. If you're looking for a distinctive, well-made dessert shop on Hwangnidan-gil, or want to pick up a special snack to remember your Gyeongju trip by, I'd highly recommend stopping by Buja Hodu.