Gwangju wood-fired pizza restaurant, Pemanong jambon pizza: Bueokgan

Bueokgan Suwan Branch, a wood-fired pizza and brunch spot in Gwangju's Suwan district

I visited Bueokgan Suwan Branch, which has become word-of-mouth famous as a date course spot in the Suwan district. 🍕🤎 It's a Suwan brunch spot where you can enjoy everything from wood-fired pizza to pasta and risotto, and with its good atmosphere I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a date spot.

The road in front of the restaurant allows parking :)

Inside Bueokgan Suwan Branch and when last order is

Bueokgan Suwan Branch is located near Sumun 1 Park in the Suwan district. It's open until 9pm, with last order at 8:20pm! We visited that day almost right before last order, and by then all the other customers had cleared out and it was just us in the restaurant. Thanks to that we got to enjoy our meal at a relaxed pace haha.

The first thing I noticed walking in was that the atmosphere was much better than expected! Clean, modern tables and chairs plus soft lighting gave the whole space a calm yet stylish feel. ✨ We visited in the evening and enjoyed our meal under the soft lighting, but the windows are wide, so I have a feeling it'd be a great spot for natural light if you visit during the day. If you're looking for a Suwan brunch café with good atmosphere, this could work well as a date course too.

What's on the menu at Bueokgan Suwan Branch

Bueokgan Suwan Branch's menu has a good variety — pizza, pasta, risotto, pilaf and more. Their signature recommended dishes are pastry soup / basil pesto cream pasta / lasagna / Kung Pao chicken pilaf / jambon pizza! You can order à la carte, but they also have set menus so you can enjoy several dishes together while keeping things budget-friendly.

Once the tableware was set, we were ready to really dig in! 🍴

The basic soup: pumpkin soup

First out was a bright yellow pumpkin soup. 🎃 It looked really thick and smooth even to the eye, and one spoonful confirmed it — the texture was genuinely creamy. It was smooth and rich enough that I found myself wondering how they made it! The sweetness of the pumpkin came through pretty strongly too, so if you like sweet soups, you'll enjoy this one.

You can add bread if you want to dip it in the soup. I didn't order extra bread and instead dipped the crust of the pizza into it, and honestly that pairing worked surprisingly well too haha.

Abalone cream risotto with fried enoki mushrooms

I was really craving rice that day, so I ordered the abalone cream risotto. Bottom line — total success! It's a risotto with rich abalone innard sauce and soft cream, combined with abalone and clam meat.

On top there was a generous pile of crispy fried enoki mushrooms, which made it look really appetizing from the start. What I especially liked was that the abalone innard sauce flavor came through more intensely than expected — deep and savory, like they didn't hold back on the innard sauce.

And what surprised me was the fried enoki mushrooms on top — not only crispy in texture, but I kept catching a meaty kind of flavor from them too, which was surprising. Eating them together with the risotto added extra texture and made it even more delicious. If you're craving something rice-based rather than pizza or pasta from the Suwan brunch menu, I'd recommend the abalone cream risotto.

Pemanong jambon pizza: sweet, and not for everyone

I usually prefer classic, clean-style pizzas like margherita, but that day I got curious looking at the menu and decided to try the pema-nong jambon pizza. 🍕

Apparently "pema-nong" is the Jeju dialect word for green onion. It's a pizza baked with a green onion spread and jambon (ham), then finished with honey and green onions — a combination quite different from the wood-fired pizzas I usually eat, which made me even more curious. Right away I noticed they'd piled on the cream cheese generously, so it definitely made an impression visually!

If you're someone who likes green onion cream cheese bread from bakeries, there's a good chance you'll like this. It's a flavor where the distinct scent of green onion, the salty jambon, and the sweet cream cheese all come together at once. For my taste, the sweetness of the cream cheese felt a bit strong and was slightly disappointing, but my partner loved it and really enjoyed eating it haha. Preferences may vary, but if you want to try something different from a typical wood-fired pizza, it's worth ordering at least once.

Who should visit Bueokgan Suwan Branch, and when

Overall the food was clean and well-made and the restaurant atmosphere was great, so I had a satisfying meal at Bueokgan Suwan Branch! In particular, with menu options ranging from wood-fired pizza to pasta and risotto, it was easy to pick something to match your taste. Thanks to the soft lighting and clean interior, it's a good spot for a Suwan brunch date course, and in the evening it seems like a nice place to set the mood with wine too. 🍷

Rather than an ordinary meal, try visiting here for a date with a bit more atmosphere, or to celebrate a special occasion. If you're looking for a Suwan brunch spot in the Suwan district that covers both atmosphere and food, I recommend Bueokgan Suwan Branch. 🤎