Sky-view window seat and apple earl grey ade at Bueokgan Sangmu

Today my husband and I had brunch at Bueokgan in Sangmu, Gwangju haha. I was looking for a brunch spot in the Sangmu district and wanted somewhere with good atmosphere where we could eat both pasta and pizza, so a friend recommended this place~~ I'd wanted to try Bueokgan for a while, and I finally made it to the Gwangju Sangmu branch this time.

Bueokgan Sangmu parking — is it easy with a baby?

These days, since I'm out and about with my baby, parking really matters a lot when picking a restaurant lol. Bueokgan Gwangju Sangmu has a parking lot right behind the building, so parking was easy. We could walk straight to the restaurant from the lot, which made it convenient to visit with a baby too~~ Apparently if the lot is full, you can also use the Mudeung Church parking lot.

An exterior and terrace that feel like a foreign café

The exterior of the restaurant already gave off a foreign café kind of vibe.

The weather's gotten a lot cooler lately, so we briefly considered eating on the terrace lol, but the baby's back was already sweaty... so we just went straight inside lol. If you visit around October when it's a bit cooler, eating on the terrace would probably have great atmosphere too~~

A surprisingly spacious, warm interior with a sky-view window seat

Once we got inside, the restaurant was quite a bit bigger than I expected. The spacing between tables was pretty wide so it didn't feel cramped, which was nice, and there was group seating too, so it looked like a good place for family gatherings or larger groups. We visited around 1:30–2pm, and there were a lot of tables that had mostly finished their meals and were drinking coffee~~

Overall it was clean but not too stiff — it had a warm, comfortable feel, so I think it'd be nice for a date too.

We sat at a window seat, and I was glad we did, because the view straight ahead was wide open — an actual sky view!!

It's not a view with any special buildings in it, but instead of a cramped window boxed in by other buildings, the sight line was completely open, so just sitting there put me in a good mood haha.

Visiting as a couple, we ordered the couple set

Bueokgan has such a wide range on the menu — pasta, pizza, salads — that we spent a long time deciding what to eat. Since it was just the two of us, I wanted pasta, but I also wanted pizza, and it'd be nice to have a salad too lol. In the end, rather than ordering everything separately, we went with the couple set~~ What we ordered was

Napa cabbage Caesar salad / Shrimp rosé pasta / Jambon pizza / Iced Americano / Apple earl grey ade

That's what we ordered. The base drink is iced Americano, and we upgraded one of them to an ade for an extra charge. Also, apparently the iced Americano comes with free refills~~

Napa cabbage Caesar salad — crisp and sweet-and-sour

The first dish to arrive was the napa cabbage Caesar salad. Since it uses napa cabbage (al배추, a mild Chinese cabbage) instead of the usual lettuce, it felt a bit different from a typical Caesar salad — the cabbage seemed grilled, so it had a crisp texture with a subtle sweetness, and paired with the tangy-sweet, savory sauce, it worked better than I expected.

Pasta and pizza tend to be rich, heavy dishes, right~~ so eating the salad in between kept our mouths feeling clean, and the overall menu combination worked well.

Shrimp rosé pasta — big shrimp, thick sauce

And then the shrimp rosé pasta I'd been looking forward to!! I went back and forth with vongole till the end, but ended up ordering this because I wanted something a bit spicy — though it wasn't as spicy as I expected. Instead, it really delivered that thick, smooth sauce flavor typical of rosé pasta lol. The tomato-based, smooth rosé sauce had shrimp mixed in, so it was savory with a good hit of shrimp flavor. The sauce clung well to the noodles too, so twirling up a bite gave you a mouthful of rosé sauce~~

Best of all, the shrimp were big and plump, so they had a nice bite to them. Personally, I also liked dipping the edge of the pizza slice into the rosé sauce lol. Eating salad, then pasta, then pizza, then back to pasta — the food really disappeared fast. If you're looking for pasta in the Sangmu district, I think you'd like this kind of thick rosé pasta~~

Jambon pizza — good-looking from the start

And then the jambon pizza appeared!! With plenty of jambon (ham) piled on top, it looked pretty appetizing from the moment it arrived. I picked up a warm slice and tried it — the dough, cheese, and jambon all came together really well. The jambon had that distinctive salty flavor which paired nicely with the mild pizza base. The kind of taste where you finish one slice and immediately want another lol.

If the pasta was smooth and thick, the pizza was salty and savory, so switching back and forth between the two kept things from getting boring. And of everything in the couple set, this jambon pizza was my favorite~~!!

If you're two people wanting to eat both pasta and pizza in Gwangju, ordering something like this set could be a good option.

What does apple earl grey ade taste like?

The base drink is iced Americano, and we upgraded one to apple earl grey ade. It's nice to have a carbonated drink while eating pizza and pasta, right lol. The iced Americano had that drip-coffee feel, giving a clean finish after the meal. The apple earl grey ade was my first time trying it at Bueokgan, and it was more unique than I expected. It's an ade with a subtle earl grey aroma, and there was something like apple purée at the bottom, so you'd get little bits to chew on here and there.

A good spot for brunch or a date in Sangmu, Gwangju

This time we tried the couple set at Bueokgan Gwangju Sangmu, and it was great being able to try several dishes at once — the napa cabbage Caesar salad, shrimp rosé pasta, and jambon pizza. Especially as a couple, there's often that moment where you want both pasta and pizza but can't decide on just one lol. In that case, ordering the couple set lets you enjoy multiple dishes together, which I thought worked well.

The parking lot right behind the building was convenient too, and since the restaurant is fairly spacious, it seemed like a good spot for family meals or gatherings as well. Best of all, I loved that our window seat had such an open view that you could see the sky haha.

Personally, the shrimp rosé pasta was my favorite, and pairing it with the jambon pizza made for a great combination. If you're looking for a nice-atmosphere brunch spot in the Sangmu district, or want to eat pasta and pizza together there, this place is worth a visit. Today my husband and I ate really well and had a satisfying, full brunch date lol. Next time I'd like to try some of the other pasta or pizza dishes too~~

Bueokgan Sangmu Branch visit info

• Address: 25 Seogwangju-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju, South Korea, 1st floor
• Hours: Daily 11:00–22:00 (break time 16:00–16:30, last order 21:00)
• Parking: Lot behind the building; Mudeung Church parking lot available if full
• Note: Group-friendly / takeout available / separate men's and women's restrooms (wheelchair accessible) / baby chairs available