Here in South Korea, many people really enjoy Italian food. To meet the demand, there are a number of different restaurants and chains that serve up pasta, pizza, and risotto among other dishes. One such chain, that I recently went to, is Pasta Buono.
Having rarely gone there, I noticed a new location was opening nearby me, and I decided to go and check it out and see if the food is any good.
The location is nicely decorated, and the staff were very friendly and welcoming. I guess that I was a bit early for the dinner rush, as the restaurant was empty at the time. This did mean that I would get all the attention of the staff!
The menu has a wide range of items in the pasta, risotto, and the pizza categories.
In the end, I decided to try all three types of dishes, and ended up getting a Squid Ink risotto, and a Snow Cheese Ragu pasta, and a Smoke Sausage Pizza.
As I was waiting for my dish, I went and got some hot sauce, as well as a drink that you can refill as many times as you like!
In addition, I also got a container of Parmesan cheese, and some pickles as well.
It didn’t take long for the first two items that I had ordered, the Snow Cheese Ragu pasta and the Squid Ink risotto, to arrive at the table.
I have to say that the presentation of the two dishes was very nice!
The Snow Cheese Ragu pasta in particular was eye-catching, and very fun to twirl some up on a fork!
While waiting for the pizza to arrive, I decided to start with the pasta.
The Snow Cheese Ragu pasta was sufficiently cheesy, and the pasta was nicely cooked, being neither too hard nor mushy. The ragu sauce was a bit spicy, and had a nice bit of meat mixed in. I decided not to add any extras to this, and I did enjoy the dish.
Next I tried the Squid Ink risotto. This dish was less impressive, as it mostly tasted of salt. I was able to up the flavor by adding some hot sauce and a bit more Parmesan cheese.
One thing I noticed was that were wasn’t a lot of seafood in the dish, and there was also some rice cakes mixed in, which I thought was quite odd.
While I was eating the two dishes, my Smoke Sausage pizza arrived. It looked quite nice, and it had a lot of toppings on it.
Sadly, the taste wasn’t quite as good as how it looked.
The crust was a thin, and actually nicely cooked with a good crispiness to it, but without being burnt.
The topping ratio was also quite good, but the fact that the sausage reminded me of sliced hotdogs without a strong flavor was very disappointing. The sauces on top also didn’t mesh very well with the rest of the ingredients.
The staff at this location of Pasta Buono are doing a good job, being very kind, friendly, and good at cooking.
Sadly, the ingredients that the franchise bosses have determined are the best combinations are not very impressive. I think that if this location was willing to take a risk and go beyond the standard menu, they could very well create some really tasty meals.
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