Gyeongju : The Hwangnambang (황남빵)

11th November 2012.
Gyeongju, South Korea.

Hwangnambang 황남빵 also known as Gyeongjubang 경주빵 is supposedly the specialty of Gyeongju and tourists (and locals) go to the Hwangnam Bakery to purchase them in boxes for their friends and relatives. The Hwangnam Bakery is supposedly the authentic original bakery of the gyeongjubang. Actually, you don’t have to be in Gyeongju to find these pastries. You could find them all around South Korea.

The Gyeongjubang is an oven-baked pastry with red bean paste filling. After trying it both at room temperature and warm, I wasn’t impressed by it. It was way too sweet and the slightly sticky and oily pastry texture wasn’t great either.

It tasted slightly better when it’s warmed to partly crisp and consumed with a glass of fresh milk but nothing close to a good Pineapple Tart in Taiwan or Tau Sar Piah in Penang. Furthermore, it is not cheap. A box of 20 of these cost 10000 KRW (roughly 11 SGD).

황남빵
Hwangnam Bang