Yangjae pasta restaurant for three: aglio e olio at Pasta Gram

I had an errand near the Yangjae aT Center and wanted something good for lunch, so I went looking — and that's how I ended up at Pasta Gram Yangjae Main Branch.

I like pasta in general, and that day I was really in the mood for it, so I searched around. Turned out there was a place near Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station where you could get both pasta and a rice bowl, so I gave it a try.

Pasta Gram is a Yangjae-dong restaurant close to Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station, in an easy-to-reach spot on foot from the station. It's genuinely close enough that getting there by public transit is convenient too. The address is 59 Mabang-ro 2-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 1st floor.

If you're looking for somewhere to eat lunch or dinner around Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station, the accessibility here is pretty good.

What Pasta Gram Yangjae Main Branch looks like, and what's on the menu

The place has a casual atmosphere, easy to eat at without feeling stuffy. A lot of places around Yangjae these days can get surprisingly pricey, but Pasta Gram sells pasta alongside steak and rice bowls too, so there's a fairly wide range of options.

That makes it a good pick when visiting with friends, family, or a partner who might want something different from you.

Pasta Gram bills itself as a fusion Western restaurant serving pasta along with pizza and steak, and the pork neck chapsteak rice bowl is known as one of its popular items. We ordered three things that day.

• Aglio e olio
• Chapsteak rice bowl
• Cream shrimp pasta

We decided to order two pastas plus one rice dish so we could taste all three side by side.

Aglio e olio: the light dish that pairs with everything else

First up, the basic aglio e olio. Whenever I go to a pasta place, I pretty much always order an oil-based pasta. Cream or rosé pastas with rich sauces are great, but oil pasta is lighter by comparison, which makes it easier to eat alongside other dishes. The garlic and oil flavors came through nicely, and it was clean and easy to eat.

Since we'd also ordered the cream shrimp pasta that day, going back and forth with the aglio e olio kept things from feeling too rich, so I could keep eating without getting tired of it. If you like pasta but find heavy sauces a bit much, aglio e olio is a solid choice. And if you're at a Yangjae pasta restaurant wanting to share a few kinds, ordering one oil pasta alongside the rest is worth doing.

Chapsteak rice bowl: for the person who wants rice, not pasta

Second up, the chapsteak rice bowl. Honestly, this was one of the dishes I was a bit excited for. We came for pasta, but someone in our group wanted rice, so we ordered this too — and it turned out to be a great combination.

With chapsteak piled on top of rice, it felt distinctly different from the pastas. Meat and rice together made for a much more filling meal than pasta alone, and it was a good order for a group splitting several dishes.

Pasta Gram presents the pork neck chapsteak rice bowl as one of its signature meal items, and ordering it alongside pasta really does broaden the meal. On days when pasta alone might feel a bit lacking, adding a rice bowl like this is a good move.

Cream shrimp pasta: the soft, nutty-rich plate

And the dish I was most looking forward to that day: cream shrimp pasta. Since we came for pasta, I figured we had to order at least one cream pasta, and this looked appetizing with shrimp folded into the soft cream sauce.

One bite in, I got that distinctive savory, soft cream flavor, plus the shrimp added some nice texture to chew on. Where the aglio e olio was clean and light, the cream shrimp pasta was clearly softer and richer. Ordering both and switching between them meant neither got tiresome. If you're hunting for a Yangjae pasta spot and you like cream pasta, this one is worth picking.

Why ordering all three at Pasta Gram worked for a group of three

That day we ordered aglio e olio, chapsteak rice bowl, and cream shrimp pasta — three dishes total — and shared them all. Instead of just ordering two kinds of pasta, adding a rice dish made the whole meal feel much more substantial.

Best of all, each dish had a different flavor direction. Light aglio e olio, soft and savory cream shrimp pasta, filling chapsteak rice bowl. Ordering all three meant everyone could pick according to their taste.

Pasta Gram is close to Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station, so it's accessible for anyone looking for restaurants near the station, and it's a solid choice when you want pasta or Western food in Yangjae-dong. It felt like a good spot for a casual meal with friends, a workday lunch, or when you have an appointment in the Yangjae area.

Is Pasta Gram worth it if you're looking for pasta in Yangjae?

Yangjae has so many restaurants that it can be hard to decide where to eat, but what I liked about Pasta Gram that day was being able to get pasta as well as rice bowls and steak in one place.

There are several pasta restaurants around Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station, and Pasta Gram keeps getting mentioned as one of the pasta spots in the area. If you're searching for restaurants near Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station, restaurants in Yangjae-dong, or a Yangjae pasta restaurant, it's worth starting with whichever is closest to you.

Another plus: it works even when people wanting pasta and people wanting rice show up together. After trying all three dishes that day, I'm already thinking about which other pasta I want to try next time.

On a day when you're craving pasta in Yangjae, or looking for somewhere easy to eat near Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station, Pasta Gram Yangjae Main Branch is worth keeping in mind — a Yangjae-dong restaurant where you can enjoy pasta and a filling meal together.