Yeongdeungpo brunch café with real watermelon juice: Mela Times Square

Mela Times Square

I was shopping at Times Square and wanted brunch with my nephew, so I stopped by Mela Times Square :) I was looking for somewhere to eat inside Times Square and ended up here — the bright, pretty interior won me over right away!

Where is Mela Times Square? 1st floor of Times Square, by Gate 4

Mela Times Square is on the 1st floor of Times Square in Yeongdeungpo. Based on current signage it's near Gate 4, close to H&M and Zara, so it's pretty easy to find inside the mall!

It's also close to Yeongdeungpo Station, so it's convenient by public transit, and it's a great spot to drop into while shopping at Times Square. Best of all, being inside the mall means you can head straight to browsing or another café right after eating 🥹

What the room and seating at Mela Times Square are like

The first thing I noticed walking in was how bright and cheerful it was. Sunlight pours in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and the whole place has a light, airy feel — perfect for daytime brunch 😄

The tables were neatly arranged and the space never felt cramped, so it was comfortable to eat in. There's also sofa seating, so if you want something a bit cozier you can grab a sofa spot haha

And the staff were really kind! They guided us easily through ordering and checked in thoughtfully throughout the meal, so it was a pleasant experience overall haha

High chairs and baby tableware at Mela

Another thing I loved about Mela! They have high chairs and baby dishes ready to go!! Times Square gets a lot of family visitors, so this makes it an easy choice for anyone looking for a place to eat with kids.

It's a great atmosphere whether you're out with family or grabbing brunch with friends 💗

What three of us ordered at Mela

We wanted to try a bit of everything, so here's what we ordered.

• 🎃 Pumpkin gorgonzola pastry pizza
• 🌿 Minari vongole (parsley-water dropwort clam pasta)
• 🍉 Real watermelon juice
• 🍳 Signature brunch plate

From pizza to pasta, brunch, and fresh fruit juice — with my nephew joining, the three of us splitting everything made for a really full spread haha

Minari (water dropwort) vongole

One of Mela's signature dishes, minari vongole 🍝 Unlike a regular vongole, this one is piled high with minari (water dropwort), so it looked completely different right off the bat.

With both large clams and baby clams plus sun-dried tomatoes, the flavor was rich, and the briny umami from the clams paired really well with the fragrant, herbal note of the minari.

Real watermelon juice at Mela

(I snapped this mid-drink so it looks a bit empty 🫪) The real watermelon juice we ordered alongside the food 🍉 True to its name, it tasted like freshly blended watermelon, keeping that cool, subtly sweet flavor intact.

Rather than an artificial watermelon-flavored drink, it had a gentle sweetness and refreshing juiciness — the kind of drink that would be perfect on a hot day.

The signature brunch plate

The signature brunch plate arrived with several items on one dish, so it looked quite hearty. Egg, bread, carrot rapée, fried lotus root, fries, avocado, sausage, and more sides made it a pretty filling combo!

It was especially nice being able to taste a little of everything if you want variety. We'd already ordered pizza and pasta, so with the brunch plate too, our table basically looked like a small party 🤤

Pretty to look at, but the taste was great too — a really satisfying meal

Pumpkin gorgonzola pastry pizza with cinnamon honey

Pumpkin gorgonzola pastry pizza! This was one I'd been curious about on Mela's menu, so I gave it a try. It's not a regular pizza dough but a crispy pastry crust, so the texture was different from the start — you could tell it was flaky just cutting into it with a fork...

With the first bite, you get that buttery, flaky richness of the pastry first, then the pumpkin's gentle sweetness and the deep, salty punch of gorgonzola cheese on top — the sweet-and-salty combo really worked.

And the trick with this pizza is dipping it into honey dusted with cinnamon powder! Dip it lightly and the pumpkin's sweetness comes through even more, with a subtle cinnamon aroma rising up too

The salty cheese, the pumpkin's sweetness, the honey's sweetness, plus the cinnamon aroma — it almost felt like eating a dessert pizza. My nephew is a really picky eater but he still ate it up

Why Mela Times Square works for brunch in Yeongdeungpo

From crispy pastry pizza to fragrant minari vongole to juice made from real watermelon, Mela's menu was varied enough to make choosing fun!

With its bright, cheerful interior, sofa seating, and even high chairs and baby dishes, it's an easy Times Square Yeongdeungpo brunch spot for anything from a date to a family meal :) The pumpkin pastry pizza especially is worth trying if you like something dipped in cinnamon honey — a fun twist on pizza haha

Being inside Times Square also makes it super convenient — you can eat and shop in one trip! It'd suit a Yeongdeungpo date, brunch with friends, or a family outing equally well. Definitely worth a visit 🐿️