Ulju, Ulsan café for blueberry smoothie and warmed mocha bun: MUG

Location: 90 Hyangsandagae-ro, Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, South Korea Hours: Daily 10:00–20:00 Parking lot available

I went to MUG, a large café in Ulsan! I thought it was newly opened, but turns out it wasn't. Like any proper large Ulsan café, the parking lot is spacious and easy to park in, so even beginner drivers like me can handle it just fine.

Where is MUG in Ulju, Ulsan, and what is the space like?

MUG, this large Ulsan café, is located on the way to Eonyang, and a lot of people seem to stop by as part of a Tongdosa Temple route. It's also currently running a gallery, so you can enjoy coffee and desserts while looking at art pieces too. Let's start the review of MUG, an Ulsan large café that's a treat for both the eyes and the mouth!

MUG, this large Ulsan café, sits on a site with a painful memory — a massive wildfire that burned down 10 hectares of forest here a few years back. I heard the space was built to symbolically reflect that pain, finished in charred, blackened wood as a newly restored site.

There's a garden and outdoor space out front, and the outdoor area allows pets too, apparently. When I visited last week the weather was almost summer-hot, but MUG feels like autumn has arrived now.

MUG's self-serve bar, microwave and other amenities

True to its large-café form, MUG had kids' chairs and paper bags plus plastic bags so you could self-serve any leftover bakery items to take home. And there was even a microwave to warm up bread — surprising, right?

From forks to knives, thin straws to thick straws, even café syrup — pretty much everything is self-serve at MUG. Since I visited on a weekend afternoon it was already almost completely full. The ceiling height in the café was really impressive.

What's on the MUG menu, and which smoothies are seasonal?

The menu was really varied — coffee, tea, ades, lattes, seasonal items, and more. Seasonal specials like avocado, pear, and plum smoothies are only available at MUG, this large Ulsan café.

The bakery selection was diverse too — salt bread, garlic bread, melon bread, mocha bread, white roll cake, and more, plenty of breads that go well with coffee and drinks.

You just pick up parchment paper, a tray, and tongs to serve yourself. Since I visited on a weekend afternoon, quite a lot of the breads were already sold out. The blueberry cream cheese cinnamon roll, MUG's popular item, was already sold out by the time I got there — such a shame.

How do the MUG lemon smoothie and blueberry smoothie taste?

The drinks I ordered were the MUG lemon smoothie and the blueberry smoothie, plus the white roll and mocha bun! For a large café, the drink and bakery prices seemed lower than I expected.

The blueberry smoothie was really thick, and the MUG lemon smoothie had a wild-looking color. True to MUG's name (which means 'ink' in Korean), it's an ink-colored lemon smoothie, but it's refreshing and sweet, so it'd pair well with bread too! There was both a MUG lemon ade and a MUG lemon smoothie, and after some thought I went with the smoothie.

And the blueberry smoothie was thick yet refreshing, and I liked that it barely had that blueberry-powder taste. I usually order coffee at cafés, but this time I went mostly with smoothies, and they were surprisingly delicious and satisfying!

MUG white roll and mocha bun: moister after warming

The white roll and mocha bun were both tasty too. The white roll is packed full of whipped cream and so soft — I think it'd taste even better with coffee!

I warmed the mocha bun in the microwave, and the bun came out moist and delicious. It had plenty of butter in it, so the moist texture really came through — I loved that! I put the leftover bread into a disposable plastic bag to bring home. I kind of regret not buying a bit more bread. It'd make a great route to combine with a trip to Tongdosa Temple in Ulsan — MUG, this large Ulsan café, could be a great stop for this holiday!