Yangsan Italian restaurant for dining with kids: Bueokgan

Why it was easy to choose Italian dishes with a child

My parents live in Yangsan, so Toto and I visit fairly often. Every time we go, there’s this quiet little dilemma: “Where should we eat with a child today?” If it were just us, we could simply choose what we felt like eating, but when Toto is with us, I find myself checking first whether there’s something Toto can eat.

This time, I was craving Italian food like pasta or risotto for the first time in a while, so I looked around and visited Bueokgan Restaurant Yangsan Oslo Park Branch, which had good reviews from people who had gone with children. To give you the conclusion first, it was a pretty good place to go for Italian food with a child.

We visited at around 1 p.m. on a weekday. Bueokgan Restaurant is on the basement level of Yangsan Oslo Park, and even though it was my first visit, it was easy to find.

Maybe because it was just after weekday lunch rush, we could walk right in without waiting. As soon as we entered, I liked that the restaurant was larger and cleaner than I had expected. There was plenty of space between tables too, so it didn’t feel cramped sitting with a child.

There was actually a baby sleeping in a stroller nearby, and it didn’t look especially inconvenient to bring a stroller inside. Overall, it felt closer to a neatly decorated Italian restaurant than an overly casual family restaurant. So it seemed nice not only for a family meal with a child, but also for a date meal for two.

Once we sat down, there was a high chair ready and they also brought us children’s tableware. When I eat out with a child, facilities matter, but what I care about most in the end is whether there is something the child can eat.

No matter how nice the atmosphere is or how delicious a place is, if there isn’t a suitable menu for a child, I worry throughout the whole meal. In that sense, Bueokgan Restaurant made choosing dishes quite easy. The menu marked spice levels, so it was helpful to double-check when picking dishes to share with Toto.

What we ordered, from abalone risotto to sweet potato fries

So that day we ordered abalone cream risotto for ₩20,000, truffle mushroom cream gnocchi for ₩22,000, arugula prosciutto pizza for ₩22,000, and sweet potato fries for ₩8,000. It was quite a generous order for the three of us, haha. (After choosing everything, I spotted the sweet potatoes Toto loves.. hahaha.)

The food also came out sooner than I expected. When you go to a restaurant with a child, the longer the wait for food gets, the more difficult things become, haha. So I was glad it arrived relatively quickly.

Abalone cream risotto that Toto enjoyed too

First, the abalone cream risotto had a smooth, nutty cream sauce with a fairly rich flavor. It wasn’t overly intense, though, so it was good to share with Toto.

With abalone in it, it also felt a little more substantial than ordinary cream risotto. Toto ate it well too, so if I came with a child again, I think I would order this dish again.

The truffle mushroom cream gnocchi was my favorite

And my personal favorite that day was absolutely the gnocchi, haha. The truffle mushroom cream sauce was rich and thick, and it went so well with the chewy gnocchi. By the end, I was scraping up every bit of sauce, hahaha.

I wondered if ordering two cream dishes might feel repetitive, but it was quite different from the abalone cream risotto, and I enjoyed both. If you usually like cream sauce or truffle aroma, I think the gnocchi is worth trying.

Arugula prosciutto pizza that was good for sharing

Along with the risotto and gnocchi, we ordered a pizza too. The arugula prosciutto pizza looked quite appetizing from the start. The toppings were generous enough, and I especially liked the pizza crust.

It wasn’t tough or dry; it had a nice chewy texture, so I enjoyed it right to the edge. It would be a good dish to share with risotto or pasta when visiting with several people.

Sweet potato fries that won Toto’s heart

We ordered all sorts of things, but what truly won Toto’s heart was... the sweet potato fries. Hahaha. Toto already loves sweet potatoes, so I expected them to go over well, but Toto seemed to work even harder on these than the main dishes. In the end, Toto ate almost all of them, haha.

When you go with a child, I think ordering one side dish can be a good idea. Between bites of sweet potato fries, Toto ate some risotto, pizza, and other things too. Toto ate the dishes we ordered well overall that day, so I was able to enjoy my meal comfortably too.

Honestly, I think this is the biggest point of satisfaction when eating out with a child: Mom gets to eat what she wants, and the child eats well too. I didn’t have to keep wondering, “Is this spicy? Will Toto not eat this?” so it felt like I could enjoy Italian food at a relaxed pace for the first time in a while.

What about the restroom and family restroom?

I used the restroom too. It was a short walk from the restaurant, and there was a separate family restroom as well. Maybe because Oslo Park has so many child-focused facilities, it was definitely set up conveniently for visiting with a baby. Everything was kept clean, so it was good to use with a child.

From little details like the high chair and children’s tableware to the large dining room, spacious tables, and family restroom, I could see why there are so many reviews from people who visited with children.

A place I would return to when craving Italian food with a child

I think I would visit again on a day when I’m craving Italian food in Yangsan. Just because a restaurant welcomes children does not mean it has to be a space centered entirely on children, right? There are days when Mom wants something delicious too, and wants to enjoy a meal somewhere with a nice atmosphere. Bueokgan Restaurant was a good choice for those days.

The restaurant was spacious and clean, choosing dishes to share with a child was not difficult, and most importantly, everything we ordered that day was delicious. If you keep asking, “What should I eat with my child in Yangsan?” and are craving Italian food like risotto, gnocchi, or pizza instead of the usual choices, this was a good Italian restaurant in Yangsan, Gyeongnam to visit with a child. I think I’ll order the gnocchi again next time. Toto... will probably look for the sweet potato fries first, hahaha.