Gwangju Italian restaurant: green Tabasco jambon pizza at Bueokgan

Early in our relationship, my fiancé took me to a lovely Italian place with great food! It was Bueokgan Sangmu Branch, a Gwangju pasta favorite, haha. We revisited Bueokgan Sangmu Branch because we were craving delicious Italian food. The atmosphere had been so nice, and everything was so good!

Parking and waiting at Bueokgan Sangmu Branch

Bueokgan Sangmu Branch 🍕 24 Seogwangju-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju, South Korea 11:00–22:00 Break time: 16:00–16:30 Last order: 21:00 Parking: available behind the building

You can park behind the building, so come without worrying!

The restaurant was packed, so we waited a little.

While waiting, I looked around, and the thoughtfully arranged objects plus the clean windows were so pretty with the lush green view outside on such a nice day~ 😆

Even the objects were ridiculously cute! The windows on the other side were decorated in a similar way, but I couldn't find the right composition when I held up my camera, so I didn't get a photo..

Jambon pizza and salad from the couple set

I ordered the couple set, which comes with salad + pasta or rice + pizza + two drinks!

The coffee/orange juice and salad came out first. A lot of other tables ordered something like a baby napa cabbage Caesar salad too, and that looked delicious!

It had jamón (?) in it, which was great for whetting the appetite, and the tangy dressing went so well with it. It felt like I was finally getting a proper dose of fiber for once 😆

The jambon pizza followed soon after! This was the pizza I was most excited to try! I don't like pepperoni, but why are jambon and jamón—when they're not too strongly scented—so delicious? 🤣

The most exciting moment is lifting that first slice of hot pizza, right? 😚 Just looking at the photo gets me excited again 😆

This is the jambon pizza with Grana Padano cheese! 🧀 The gently salty jambon, nutty cheese, and a little drizzle of sweet honey made it the bible of sweet-and-salty flavor 😋 Personally, I don't usually like pizzas where you dip into sweet honey, like gorgonzola pizza, but this wasn't overly sweet and worked so well with the jambon and cheese.

What does green Tabasco taste like?

And everyone, do you know green Tabasco? It came with the pizza, and since I'd only ever seen red Tabasco, I found the green one so fascinating.. It was my first time seeing it.. Because it was green, I wondered, Is this going to be okay? But...

Green Tabasco had a different charm from red Tabasco. It kind of smelled like fresh green chili..? Would people know what I mean if I called it a chlorophyll scent? 🙄 Both my fiancé and I said we liked the green Tabasco more than the red one, haha.

If it starts to feel a little rich, have some tangy pickles in between.

Kung pao chicken pilaf instead of pasta

The next dish was kung pao chicken pilaf. Bueokgan is known in Sangmu District for pasta and risotto, but that day I strongly wanted rice! So I tried pilaf instead of pasta.

Shoving a chicken leg right at you out of nowhere 🍗

Since my fiancé can't use scissors, I diligently got to work freeing the chicken leg with the scissors they brought as part of the set. Taking apart a chicken leg is so fun 😋

Pull the chicken thigh meat off and scatter it over the pilaf—yaaay~

Maybe because I was so hungry for rice, but this kung pao chicken pilaf was the most delicious thing to me! Haha. I didn't regret skipping pasta even at a Sangmu District restaurant known for pasta.

An Italian restaurant for dates and wedding-invitation gatherings

Bueokgan Sangmu Branch is a Sangmu District pasta favorite where we had such a happy meal, with delicious food and a lovely atmosphere. From the savory, nutty jambon pizza to the fresh salad and the filling chicken-leg pilaf, every menu item was satisfying 🍗

The atmosphere is great too, so it would be lovely for a date, a gathering with friends, or even a wedding-invitation gathering for couples about to get married! But since it's a popular restaurant, anyone who hates waiting would probably be more comfortable booking ahead 🫢

It would also make a perfectly good Sangmu District brunch!