Ube latte and the 5:30 pm last slot at Pangyo brunch café Meolmeol

When the weather's nice and I want brunch in Pangyo, there's a place I end up at again and again. The outdoor terrace seats are exactly my style, and the menu items are unique and so delicious that I find myself thinking about it every spring and fall. My go-to spot in Pangyo, over and over again...!! A Baekhyeon-dong brunch favorite located on the Baekhyeon-dong café street.

Meolmeol Pangyo hours, location and parking

Meolmeol Pangyo is located on the Baekhyeon-dong café street (583-4 Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do). Hours are Mon–Thu 10:00–18:50 (last order 18:00), Fri–Sun 10:00–20:50 (last order 20:00).

There's parking space right next to the store for about 2-3 cars. It's also about a 3-minute walk from the Baekhyeon-dong café street public parking lot.

How do reservations and waiting work at Meolmeol Pangyo?

You can book on site through Catch Table at Meolmeol Pangyo. Naver reservations also work, and on weekdays the latest slot is 17:30. Takeout, delivery, and group gatherings are all possible, and there are baby chairs and a waiting area.

Pets are welcome inside.

Inside Meolmeol Pangyo: why the terrace is the best seat

Step inside and you'll find a brunch café with a Nordic feel. Water cups, tissues, wet wipes, forks, baby dishes, and baby chairs are all self-serve from a corner station.

My favorite spot is the terrace. When the weather's good, the atmosphere there is just incredible. Visit in fall and the trees turn red, making it even more atmospheric. I think I keep coming back here just to unwind on this terrace.

It's a brunch place but it's great that they have so many tables. The indoor window seats also give you the full outdoor view. There's also a really long communal table for group gatherings.

The interior is so tastefully done that even sitting inside feels atmospheric, and best of all the big windows show off a lush green view. There are also tables outside near the entrance, and the vibe there is just as good. This is a Bundang brunch café that's full of exactly the mood I love.

Meolmeol Pangyo menu and how to order

The menu doesn't look like it has that many options at first, but there's actually quite a variety of distinctive dishes. From meals to desserts to drinks, everything on the menu makes you curious about what it tastes like — and once you order, it's all delicious.

You order via the Toss QR code at each table.

There's a wide range of main dishes first — several kinds of salad, the popular lasagna and baguette, spicy anchovy pasta, truffle cream pasta, an emerald pasta with chive pesto, and a really spicy but really delicious fire chicken risotto. For brunch-slash-dessert there's fig tiramisu, pancakes, a Greek yogurt bowl, truffle baby potato fries, and more unique items.

There's also a wide range of drinks, and the wine list is huge.

What the two of us ordered

• Raspberry endive salad ₩19,000
• Truffle baby potato fries ₩10,000
• Spicy lemon anchovy pasta ₩23,000
• Grandma's Lasagna & Baguette ₩23,000
• Ube latte ₩7,500
• Orange juice ₩6,000

For reference, this is what two of us ordered,,

Raspberry endive salad, 19,000 won

First up was the raspberry endive salad. It wasn't the kind of salad I typically imagine. The ingredients inside were peach, jamón, alba cabbage, and raspberry, with a raspberry-flavored Greek yogurt sauce.

I forked up the jamón and alba cabbage together and dipped them in the Greek yogurt sauce, and the tanginess paired perfectly with the saltiness of the jamón — a great appetizer.

The peach in the salad was also great dipped in the Greek yogurt — the slight tartness of the yogurt toned down the peach's sweetness just enough. Less sweetness meant it didn't get cloying, and it hit just the right balance,,

Then the mains and drinks arrived together. Look at these visuals,,, it's not just the restaurant that's got the mood, the food does too,,

Grandma's Lasagna & Baguette, 23,000 won

Grandma's Lasagna & Baguette — what a perfect name for it,,, the moment I saw the dish and the plating, it felt like it was made by an actual grandmother in the oven, somewhere in a rural American town.

It's got the exact look of a baked cheese spaghetti I love. Piled generously with cheese on top. And the oven dish itself is so pretty,,

I scooped up a generous amount of cheese and put it on the baguette that comes with it.

It tastes like meatball spaghetti, and it pairs really well with the high-quality cheese. And that plain-looking baguette is quite the kicker — that baguette on its own is really delicious.

Spicy lemon anchovy pasta, 23,000 won: the top pick at Meolmeol Pangyo

And then the spicy anchovy lemon pasta. I love anchovies so much I couldn't not order it.

Let me give you a quick verdict on this anchovy pasta,,, just order it, no questions asked,,,, I'm declaring this my top pick at Meolmeol Pangyo. True to its name, it's an anchovy pasta that's genuinely spicy. Fairly hot, actually. That said, it's not so spicy that people who can't handle heat can't eat it — it was deliciously spicy, and by the time we finished it we were both going 'ssss-ssss' from the heat.

The anchovy sauce is absolutely incredible..,

There's a hint of pickled seasoning added to it, salty and spicy and just incredible. Even writing this now, I'm craving it again,,

Ube latte, 7,500 won: the cream was a letdown

As for the drink, the ube latte had so much cream piled on top that it was a bit hard to drink,, the drink itself was delicious but the ube cream was a struggle. Every other drink is great.

Truffle baby potato fries, 10,000 won: ordered every visit

And here's another signature dish.

Truffle baby potato fries. This is the dish I order every single time I come here,, it's ₩10,000, and it's a bit lacking as a main dish but surprisingly generous for a side. It's kind of an awkward order for two people, but I always get it anyway. So this time too, I nearly burst.

The moment you take a bite, the potatoes are crispy on the outside and fluffy inside, and the truffle sauce drizzled on top is unbelievably good. I know I keep saying 'delicious' so much it might sound insincere, but it's just... delicious. It's not the usual truffle cream flavor you get with truffle cream pasta — it's more of a savory, umami truffle flavor. There's a truffle aroma, and thanks to that red powder sprinkled on top, there's a slight spiciness that keeps the truffle from feeling too rich.

Each potato is pretty large, so eating one in a single bite is a real challenge.

Booking the last slot, plus a free dujjonku (chewy cookie)

Since I booked the last slot at 5:30, they gave us a free dujjonku (a twisted, chewy Korean cookie snack) as a courtesy, saying things might be a bit hectic that late. So touched by that,,,, the dujjonku was really delicious too.

This is my go-to place I want to visit whenever the weather's nice. The mains are unique and all delicious, and the desserts get seasonal new items every so often that are also really good — with the salads, sides, and drinks, I want to keep coming back to try something new each time and just unwind on that terrace.