Ulju café with a charcoal-wood building and lemon smoothie: MUG

MUG, our final stop on an Ulsan trip

While deciding where to go for the final stop on our Ulsan trip, we ended up at MUG, a large bakery café in Eonyang. So many people had visited with their babies, so we did too~~

Parking and facilities for visiting with children

Open 10:00 - Close 20:00 / L.O. 19:30. There is a large parking lot below the café, so it is easy to visit without worrying about parking. With high chairs and a nursing room, it is great for visiting with children, and the outdoor garden meant there were lots of people visiting with pets too. Paintings were hanging as soon as we entered, so it felt like arriving at an art gallery. Our Solsol kept staring at that blue painting, wondering what it was.

The nursing room was right beside the restroom, and it had a sink and a very clean diaper-changing station, so it was incredibly convenient to use. We arrived around 1 p.m., and apart from the inner seating and outdoor tables, it was nearly full. It is a huge café, but customers just kept coming in. The ceiling is very high, and the large screen makes it seem even taller.

Bubbles from the pond terrace

Suddenly, Cheolcheol spotted bubbles outside the window and got all excited. Maybe because the bubble machine was so huge, they drifted gently over the water in front of the café(?) The floating balls on the water moved around too, and the babies absolutely loved them. The bubbles made the view look even prettier. After watching for a while, we went up toward the pond terrace, where there were also lots of guests with pets at the back of the café.

MUG has a small pond, and perhaps because the weather was nice, the outdoor terrace was full too. We walked around, picked up pinecones, watched dogs, and went back and forth easily through the back door that leads straight from the terrace into the café.

Freshly replenished bakery shelves and a cinnamon roll

We went back inside to order, and there had originally been so much bread—but it vanished in a flash, like magic... Still, they seemed to be continually baking, because the shelves kept getting replenished little by little. There was a wide variety, from salt bread to turtle bread and pepperoni ciabatta.

At first glance, I thought it was just chocolate on white bread, but it was more like a cinnamon roll topped with something extra. There were several varieties, but chocolate was the last one left, so this was the one. It is a signature dessert you really have to try! The outside was crisp, while the inside was filled with moist cream cheese, making it even more delicious. Cheolcheol’s dad ate almost all of it. I heard the cinnamon roll selection changes a little depending on the season and ingredients.

The story behind the charcoal-wood building

This land had grown landscaping trees for more than 20 years. But a wildfire took everything away. We planted trees again, made paths, and little by little transformed it into a place where anyone could stop and stay.

There is a reason the exterior is black. The dark, deep-toned wood filling MUG’s space is charcoal wood: rather than hiding the scars of the fire, they chose to face them head-on, planting a new story in the burned ground and weaving it into the brand.

The refreshing taste of MUG’s black lemon smoothie

That is why the drink menu is dyed MUG-black too. Cheolcheol’s dad asked what this pitch-black drink was, haha. It is MUG’s signature lemon smoothie, and despite its color, it is wonderfully refreshing and delicious!

Solsol was getting restless too, so we made another lap around the café to look at the water. The view was just as lovely the second time around. The green forest visible behind the café made me wonder, was this really the place that had burned? It felt so healing.

MUG is a wonderful place, with a cool black charcoal-wood building in the forest. The brand’s ideas are there, and both the building and outdoors are beautiful. It is somewhere you can comfortably rest with babies or pets. I stopped by while traveling, but for people in Ulsan, it would be perfect for a weekend outing!