Ulju café on a wildfire-burned forest site: chestnut cheesecake at MUG
In short
MUG (카페 먹) is a large gallery-style bakery café on Hyangsandagae-ro in Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, built on land where a major wildfire burned the forest down a few years ago. On a cloudy weekend visit the writer tried a blueberry cream cheese cinnamon roll, chestnut cheesecake, an americano (5,500 won) and a strawberry smoothie, and found the charred-wood building and high ceilings kept the room airy even when busy. MUG is the Ulsan large café to pick when you want a garden view instead of a sea view.
Good to know
- Address
- 90 Hyangsandagae-ro, Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan (610-1 Jinae-ri, Sangbuk-myeon)
- Hours
- 10:00 – 20:00
- Coffee
- Americano 5,500 won, cafe latte 6,000 won, vanilla latte 6,500 won, MUG black latte 7,500 won
- Smoothies
- MUG lemon smoothie 7,500 won, strawberry yogurt smoothie 7,000 won
- Tea
- Peppermint, rooibos, Earl Grey, chamomile 6,000 won; omija (Korean five-flavor berry) tea 6,500 won; lemon yuja tea 6,500 won
- Ade
- MUG lemonade 7,000 won, grapefruit ade 7,000 won
- Parking
- Large lot, but very crowded on weekends
- Seating
- Large indoor hall with high ceilings; outdoor seats on fine days
- Price reference
- ₩5,500 ≈ $4.1 · ₩7,500 ≈ $5.6 (2026-09-15)
as written by the visitor on Aug 31, 2026
Weekend routine at our house lately: eat, then hit up a bakery café haha. This time it was just me and my other half — the little one stayed home.
There was somewhere I'd really wanted to check out — a spot that had a massive wildfire burn through the forest a few years back, and apparently it's been revived as a café? So off we went to "MUG" (카페 먹).
📌 90 Hyangsandagae-ro, Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, South Korea (610-1 Jinae-ri, Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan) ⏰ 10:00 – 20:00
What do MUG's charred-wood exterior and parking lot look like?
MUG is a large café on a mountainside in Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, with a spacious parking lot and a charred-wood exterior. Charred wood is supposed to be this fancy-looking finish they built the building with... but honestly it's hard to see it clearly. Ugh, so disappointing 😑😣🫥 My other half says charred wood is made from really good timber, so it's quite expensive and durable. According to him, anyway, lol.
The weather was pretty gloomy so the photos came out a bit... cynical? haha. If you come on a nice day the photos would look amazing!
The road in felt like driving into some nice resort — not super winding, but it really gives you that "heading into nature" feeling. The lot was huge but there were so many cars, I was surprised haha.
There's water out front — not quite a pond, not quite... something, but it makes the place feel like a café tucked into nature with a nice mountain view haha.
Inside MUG: a bakery café that feels like a gallery
Ooh~~ we opened this huge door and walked straight into a gallery space~ so it really is a gallery café. So cool! These days even the big cafés all have such well-thought-out concepts, honestly impressive.
MUG, one of Ulsan's large cafés with really high ceilings~
Green, wood, black, exposed ceiling — the whole interior feels really stylish~^^
Wow. The ceilings were so high that even with tons of people around, it didn't feel crowded at all. Though since it's the weekend and busy, there might be a bit of a wait — grab a seat first, lol.
⬆️ Big screen ⬆️
Oh, and if the weather's nice you can sit outside too. It's a famous large café in Ulsan for a reason~~~ Spring and fall must be amazing here!
They even have two kinds of water haha, love it. Lemon & grapefruit 🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋
MUG menu prices in Ulju, Ulsan
MUG's americano is ₩5,500, and their signature MUG Black Latte is ₩7,500. For a large café, the coffee prices are pretty reasonable.
- Coffee — Americano ₩5,500 / Café Latte ₩6,000 / Vanilla Latte ₩6,500 / MUG Black Latte ₩7,500
- Smoothies — MUG Lemon Smoothie ₩7,500 / Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie ₩7,000
- Tea — Peppermint / Rooibos / Earl Grey / Chamomile ₩6,000 / Omija Tea ₩6,500 / Lemon Yuja Tea ₩6,500
- Ade — MUG Lemon Ade ₩7,000 / Grapefruit Ade ₩7,000, and more
Why the bread is already sold out on weekend afternoons
Being a bakery café, they must have had a huge variety of bread, but by the time we got there hardly anything was left ㅠㅠ I can't even imagine how many customers must have come through.
So disappointing. It wasn't even that late in the day and it was already sold out haha, that's proof MUG is genuinely top-tier among Ulsan's large cafés~!
Blueberry cream cheese cinnamon roll and chestnut cheesecake at MUG
What we picked at MUG was the blueberry cream cheese cinnamon roll and the chestnut cheesecake. Blueberry cream cheese cinnamon roll~~ wow~~ this café is actually famous for its cinnamon rolls, you know? They really don't skimp on ingredients at all!!
The chestnut cheesecake~ crazy soft and so sweet~ but not the kind of sweetness that stings your tongue — a totally refined, smooth sweetness!!
Total high-end hotel bakery vibes~ha
Americano paired with a cool strawberry smoothie~ what a combo, right haha. Just looking at it feels refreshing~~ so sweet~~^^
A weekend at MUG, full of three-generation families
Being the weekend, so many families came out together — especially three generations at once. Toddlers just starting to walk, little kids who'd just learned rock-paper-scissors, and more... having so many babies around made coffee time even more fun to watch~^^ We ended up looking back through old photos from when our own little one was a baby too.
When people think of Ulsan's large cafés they all head for the seaside ones, but it's nice knowing there's a café with a great garden view too!
There's a pond and a walking path behind the café, so if you want a real getaway, spring or fall here would be an amazing time. The coffee's cheap and tasty too — next time I'm definitely getting the tiramisu cinnamon roll!!
Where it is
90 Hyangsandagae-ro, Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, South Korea (610-1 Jinae-ri, Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan)울산광역시 울주군 상북면 향산다개로 90
