Mitaly in Yeongam: Pasta and Pepperoni Pizza, Compared with Rolling Pasta

On 4 May 2026, my wife and I went to Mitaly's Yeongam Samho branch for a late lunch. We'd skipped lunch and turned up absolutely starving. I usually eat at Rolling Pasta, the chain run by Korean celebrity chef Baek Jong-won, but this time I wanted to try another brand, so we gave Mitaly a go – a pasta and pizza franchise with shops right across the country.

From the outside it looks like an ordinary delivery shop, but step inside and the room stretches a long way back, much bigger than you'd expect. We ordered two vongole pastas, the Signature Gambas Pasta and the Mitaly Pepperoni Pizza, and below I've written up how it all compared with Rolling Pasta, my usual spot.

The building is a plain single-storey strip of shops, and each shopfront is narrow. The frontage looked so slim from the street that before we went in I wondered whether there'd be anywhere to sit, and I assumed it was a delivery-only restaurant – even with a menu board standing out the front. Once inside, I was relieved to see the room ran a long way back. We'd driven all the way from Daejeon to Gwangju that day and stopped somewhere else on the way, so finding a place where we could sit down and eat was especially welcome.

The dining room was quite clean. A long upholstered banquette runs along the wall, the tables have a marble look and the lighting is warm, and it struck me as a space women would enjoy. Sure enough, most of the customers were women. The neighbourhood also seemed to have quite a few foreign residents.

The same white palette from the previous photo carries through to this wall. With the arched wall niches and warm lighting, it felt more like a café than a pasta restaurant. From the entrance it looked like a delivery shop, so the cute, carefully decorated interior was quite a contrast.

You choose your food and pay on a tablet at each table.

Most people in Korea pay by card or mobile and cash use is fairly low, which is why ordering works this way.

If you want to pay with cash or gift vouchers, you need to order through a staff member rather than the tablet, and a sign above the tablet says in Korean and English that cash (voucher) orders should be placed at the counter. The screen in the photo was promoting the Basil Cream Gnocchi and the Mushroom Basil Risotto.

The menu board out the front had a promotional bundle called the All Day Set.

You pick two mains (pasta, risotto or pilaf), one pizza and one fruit ade (a fruity soda), and the board listed it at 34,800 won, down from up to 37,900 won.

That board reflects what I saw on my visit, and since some time has passed, the promotion or prices may have changed. Check the current menu when you go.

What arrived at our table: vongole pasta, the Signature Gambas Pasta, the Seafood Jjamppong Pasta and the Mitaly Pepperoni Pizza.

The vongole came with plenty of clams, and I'd give its rich seafood flavour high marks. On heat alone, though, Rolling Pasta's was a little better. Mitaly's noodles had more bounce.

The gambas pasta came with prawns, garlic and slices of baguette, but I honestly don't remember much about the flavour.

The seafood jjamppong pasta – named after jjamppong, the spicy Korean seafood noodle soup – came in a red broth with mussels and crab. The pepperoni pizza tasted better to me, someone who's always found Rolling Pasta's pizza a bit lacking, and it was the dish I'd praise most that day.

We ordered two bowls of the vongole pasta. The menu describes it as pasta flavoured with garlic and clams in an olive oil base. In the photo you can see clams still in their shells, dried chillies and parsley, and the noodles have a glossy coating of oil.

I'd give the rich seafood flavour high marks. If heat is all you're judging, though, Rolling Pasta, my usual spot, was a little better. Mitaly's noodles, on the other hand, were bouncier and had a nicer chew. If spice matters a lot to you, keep that in mind.

Up close, open clams were scattered all through the noodles. The meat was still sitting in the shells, so they were easy to pick out one by one. Golden pieces of toasted garlic and dried chillies were dotted throughout, and a long green garnish and chopped parsley sat on top of the noodles. A shallow pool of oily broth had collected at the bottom of the bowl, which looked perfect for coating the noodles.

Gambas is Spanish for 'prawns', and the dish usually means prawns and garlic gently simmered in olive oil. Mitaly's menu describes its version as a Mediterranean-style pasta flavoured with plump prawns in olive oil. The Signature Gambas Pasta I ordered had several shell-on prawns, thinly sliced garlic, dried chillies and a long green garnish on top of the noodles, with two slices of baguette on the side. Oil had pooled around the edge of the plate. The olive oil flavour came through strongly, but it wasn't greasy. I don't remember the rest of the flavours well, so I can't say much more.

The seafood jjamppong pasta arrived with the noodles sitting in a shallow red broth, along with mussels and crab. The menu bills it as a good hangover pasta. I'd expected a sharp, tomato-based jjamppong pasta, but it turned out to be spicy, with a heat level on the higher side. It also tasted a bit like a Korean-style pasta. My wife didn't like it as much as we'd thought she would. A review of Mitaly's Seolleung POSCO branch also named this dish, along with the spicy Rosé Maepje Pasta, as one of the hotter items, and called it a decent lunchtime hangover pasta. Everyone handles heat differently, so keep that in mind if you choose this one.

The dish I'd praise most that day was the Mitaly Pepperoni Pizza. The menu board out the front listed it at 11,800 won. Even in the photo you can see the thin base browned at the edges and cheese covering the entire top. The pepperoni was spread evenly across the pizza, and up close you can even see oil seeping through the melted cheese.

Above all, the cheese was really delicious. I think cheese makes or breaks a pizza, and this one was very satisfying on that front. I usually eat at Baek Jong-won's Rolling Pasta, and while I like the pasta there, the pizza has always let me down. That made this pizza all the more welcome, and to my taste it was better than Rolling Pasta's.

I mentioned earlier that I was happy with the value for money and portion sizes, and this pizza did the most to deliver that. If you're torn between ordering just pasta or adding a pizza, I'd suggest adding the pizza. If you love cheese, I think you'll be happy with it.

I took this photo of the table after we'd finished eating. What's left on the plates says more honestly how satisfied we were than saying 'it was delicious', so I wanted to capture it.

On the Signature Gambas Pasta plate, the noodles and prawns are gone, leaving only oil and dried chillies.

The vongole plates are nearly empty too, with only the oily broth and clam shells left. In the photo, just one slice of pizza remains. By the time I took the picture, we'd already eaten most of everything. I said I was happy with the value and portion sizes, and the fact that the plates were this empty even though the portions were generous shows that satisfaction.

The seafood jjamppong pasta, by contrast, still had a fair amount of noodles left, with the mussel shells sitting on the plate. As I mentioned, my wife didn't like it as much as we'd expected, and the photo shows how much more was left compared with the other dishes. Since I found its heat on the higher side, I think it's a dish that will divide people depending on taste.

All in all, the gambas pasta, vongole pasta and pepperoni pizza were the dishes we nearly polished off that day. Only the seafood jjamppong pasta didn't suit our taste.

We didn't order these – they're dishes I saw on a banner standing on the footpath outside.

The yellow and white banner had the name TONKASTA in big letters, with a line calling it the meeting of tonkatsu (a crumbed pork cutlet) and pasta. It showed four items: Carbonara Tonkasta, Tomato Tonkasta, Spicy Rosé Tonkasta and a Tonkatsu Fried Rice Set.

Each plate looked bright, with a crisp-looking cutlet next to pasta in cream, tomato or rosé sauce, plus cherry tomatoes, radish and baby greens.

The fried rice set paired the cutlet with sauce and fried rice and was pitched as a filling meal.

We didn't get to try them this time, but I'd love to when I get the chance. After all, there's a branch in our own neighbourhood!

Restaurant: Mitaly (MITALY) Yeongam Samho branch. Address: 98 Sinhang-ro, Samho-eup, Yeongam-gun, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City. Phone: 061-461-1235. Opening hours: 10 am to 9 pm (last orders 8 pm), as checked on 27 October 2026. Regular closing day: Thursdays (as checked on 27 October 2026). Parking: no dedicated car park; street parking (based on other reviews). Ordering: order and pay on the table tablet; for cash or gift voucher payment, order at the counter. Visit: late lunch on 4 May 2026, two people (my wife and me). Order: two vongole pastas, the Signature Gambas Pasta and the Mitaly Pepperoni Pizza (43,200 won in total, no discount applied); the seafood jjamppong pasta was paid for on a separate receipt. Payment: my wife paid.

We stopped here on the long drive from Daejeon to Gwangju, and unlike what it looked like from outside, the room stretched a long way back and was clean, so we ate comfortably.

The vongole pasta had a rich seafood flavour and bouncy noodles, and we nearly cleared our plates of the gambas pasta and pepperoni pizza too.

The pizza in particular, with its delicious cheese, made up for what I've always found lacking at Rolling Pasta, and it was the dish I'd praise most that day.

The seafood jjamppong pasta was fairly spicy and didn't suit my wife's taste, so think about how much you enjoy heat before ordering it.

I've only been to this one branch, so I can't speak for Mitaly as a whole, but I plan to visit the Daejeon branch in my neighbourhood at some point.

I'd also like to try the Tonkasta I saw on the banner out the front when I get the chance.