Kid-friendly Italian dinner, mild risotto at Camel Orzo, Gwangju

I wanted a nice dinner out somewhere with good atmosphere, so I headed to Camel Orzo, a well-known spot in Sangmu district. This was my third — or fourth?! — visit. My mother, my kid and I were trying to figure out where to go for a good meal, and since my last visit here with my child left such a good memory, I decided on Camel Orzo again ◞♥

📍 Address: 261 Uncheon-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju, South Korea, Urban Peak 1F / ⏰ Hours: Daily 11:00–23:00 (break 15:30–17:00, last order 21:00) / 🚗 Parking: 2 hours free / 👶 High chair: Available

Where to park in Sangmu?

You can park for 2 hours free at the Switzen commercial parking lot. If it's full, they also support parking at Nice Park Gwangju Chipyeong lot, the underground lot under Pyeongha Park, and the Megabox annex lot. There aren't many good restaurants in Sangmu with easy parking, so this alone was already a big plus.

Inside and out

Here's the exterior of Camel Orzo.

There's also a terrace seating area, and it's absolutely dripping with Italian vibes...

Open from 11am to 11pm, it works great for both lunch and dinner.

The interior has such a warm feel — it felt like stepping into a restaurant in southern Italy.

I thought it'd be great for a romantic date night, but coming here with my kid and mother had its own lovely feel too.

Visiting with a kid: high chair and kids' tableware

As soon as they saw we'd come with a child, they set up a high chair and kids' tableware right away. The staff are so kind and warm, ༘⋆₊˚ෆ

Menu overview

I snapped part of the menu. True to its reputation as a top Western-style restaurant in Sangmu, they've got pizza, pasta, risotto, salads and more. Drinks range from juice and coffee to wine and beer, so it's also great for a drink in the evening. They also gave me an illustrated paper menu with descriptions, which made choosing much easier. You order via tablet!

This is a Dodo Point participating store, by the way — you can use the same points across Maekmundong, Catch's Pizza (Dongmyeong branch), and Camel Orzo! Maekmundong is another restaurant I really love... the best (ᐢ. ̫ .ᐢ ) つ ⌁❤︎⌁⋆

There was also an Instagram Story or Naver review event going on. You could choose between an Americano, a fruit bowl, or gelato!!!

What we ordered

Basil calzone & tomato caprese (₩23,000) / Manjo risotto (₩22,500)

Here's what I ordered!

Basil calzone & tomato caprese

First up, the basil calzone, a type of pizza. If calzone sounds unfamiliar, just think of it as a pizza folded in half. It's a round pizza folded and baked, so it looks totally different from a regular pizza.

Cutting into the calzone released a fragrant basil sauce smell along with stretchy cheese. At Camel Orzo they use a Naples-style dough made from 100% Italian flour, slow-fermented at low temperature. Maybe that's why the crust is so chewy and delicious!

Next to the calzone comes the tomato caprese, made with Italian fresh mozzarella, tomato, and domestic jambon ham.

This fresh mozzarella was especially delicious ㅠㅠ chewy texture with amazing aroma and flavor.

The jambon ham was soft and full of umami, great to eat alongside.

I thought the basil pesto was delicious, and they gave us extra so we could slather it on generously ❣╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯❣

Piling the calzone with jambon, fresh mozzarella, tomato and arugula together — this is heaven ~~~~~٩(๑> ₃ <)۶♥ And fun fact, my kid loved this calzone so much I kept refilling their plate!

Manjo risotto, ordered mild and lightly seasoned

Next is the manjo risotto, which looks rich with cream just from the visual alone.

It's a cream risotto flavored with mushrooms, fresh cream, natural stock and fresh cheese, topped with Korean-style marinated grilled mushrooms. By the way, it normally includes peperoncino for a bit of spice, but you can order it mild and lightly seasoned — so I did, to make it easy for my kid to eat!

Whoa~~~~~ Is this risotto or steak??? There's so much steak piled on top. The meat was incredibly tender too!

The rich cream sauce risotto had that pop of texture from the rice grains, and the grilled mushrooms on top were pure bliss...

That crispy fried chip was the real MVP! It added even more texture variety.

My kid ate this really well too. Highly recommend this dish if you're bringing a child!!

The pickles were house-made, with radish and cucumber, which was a nice touch. Refreshing and sweet! We cleared every single plate.

Final verdict: a top-notch restaurant for a nice outing with kids

Picking a menu is always the hardest part when eating out with a kid. At Camel Orzo, I could order the risotto mild and lightly seasoned so all of us — adults and child — could share the same dish. My mother said the food was delicious too, and my kid ate both the pizza and risotto so well that we all got to relax as a family at a beautiful place for once. It's great to visit with a child like we did, but since the atmosphere is really, really good, it's also a total recommend for date night! If you're looking for a great-atmosphere Italian restaurant in Gwangju, give it a try.

Just a note, Camel Orzo accepts both Gwangju Sangsaeng Card and Onnuri gift certificates!