Anguk pasta restaurant for a quiet catch-up: Hot Pot Pesce, Low Five

Where is Low Five Anguk and how do you get there?

Low Five Anguk is a pizza and pasta restaurant on Bukchon-ro. Come out of Anguk Station Exit 2 and keep walking, and you will arrive within 10 minutes. I was looking for a Seoul restaurant to go to with a friend who lives in Ilsan, and we settled on an outing to Anguk. (My friend asked me to pick a place along Subway Line 3, so I agonized between restaurants near Anguk Station and Gyeongbokgung Station, haha.) So I tried Low Five, which is popular for pasta and pizza :)

Wow, Korea really is popular these days. The moment I got off at the station, half the people around me were foreigners, and I was so surprised! Somewhere along the way Seoul became a truly global city. When I went to Europe in my twenties, I envied how tourists from all over the world flocked there, and now Seoul has become that kind of city. I'm bursting with national pride :)

Around Low Five Anguk there are lots of good restaurants and cafés, and the quiet Bukchon atmosphere makes it a lovely area for a walk.

Isn't the red-brick front pretty? It looks like the building owner went for a neat, refined style to suit Bukchon's image.

What was the atmosphere inside Low Five Anguk like, and how was booking?

The inside of Low Five Anguk is long and wide, so the space feels airy, and because I booked on Catch Table and went in before 12:00, it was quiet. Marble tables and wooden chairs give it a neat, refined feel. Round lamps hang from the ceiling like gourds or full moons, and they looked pretty, like Christmas decorations. I didn't want to wait, so I booked on Catch Table and walked straight in at our time.

In the middle of the restaurant there's an open kitchen, like this. They seem careful about hygiene; it was very clean and tidy.

Why we ordered two pastas and a salad at a pizza restaurant

Low Five is a pizza specialist, but my friend and I both prefer pasta, so we ordered two pastas and a salad. I took a photo of the menu.

Classic Caesar salad: it comes with grilled lemon

The Classic Caesar salad at Low Five Anguk is generously covered in cheese and comes with a lightly grilled lemon instead of a fresh one. Wow, the cheese was sprinkled finely, like falling snow. The tomatoes and romaine were crisp and fresh. I squeezed the grilled lemon all over and enjoyed the zesty freshness.

How spicy is the Hot Pot Pesce pasta, and is the portion big?

My main, the Hot Pot Pesce pasta (pesce means fish), is a brothy seafood pasta. It was quite spicy for me, and the portion felt like 1.5 servings. I like brothy dishes even when I'm eating rice, so I chose it. Wow, doesn't it look spicy just from the photo? I was fanning myself, huffing and puffing, because it was pretty hot for me.

As you can see in the photo, it's packed with seafood like clams, mussels and squid, with no skimping. If you're fine with a bit of spice, I highly recommend it.

What does the vongole pasta taste like?

My friend chose the vongole pasta (clam pasta) at Low Five Anguk. It was light and clean-tasting, and the portion was just right for one person. Unlike the Hot Pot Pesce pasta, it had zero greasiness. If you like vongole, I recommend Low Five's.

At some pasta places, the dishes somehow taste alike even when the menu items are different, but at Low Five the Hot Pot Pesce pasta and the vongole pasta tasted completely different.

Is Low Five Anguk a good place to talk?

Early lunch at Low Five Anguk was quiet and uncrowded, so it was as good for chatting as a café. For drinks, my friend had a grapefruit ade and I had a Coke Zero. My friend works in the same industry as I do, so we chattered away and an hour flew by.

Low Five Anguk has beer, red wine and white wine, so I imagine many people enjoy it with a drink in the evening. It's summer and the days are long, so having dinner and then slowly touring Bukchon would be great. Next time I'll come back and try the corn pizza.

Verdict: taste, atmosphere, service and drawbacks

• Taste: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you're looking for a casual restaurant near Anguk Station where you can talk in peace, I recommend Low Five Anguk. The taste is pretty good, the atmosphere is pretty good, and the service is very good. The staff are really friendly.

The one drawback is that the two-person table was a little small. Luckily there's a separate spot for drinks, so we didn't run out of room for the food, haha. Do enjoy a summer outing in Bukchon~

Low Five Anguk hours and address

• Hours: Tue–Sun 11:30–21:00 (break 15:00–17:00, last order 19:30)
• Closed: Mondays
• Address: 1F, 20-3 Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea