Hongdae brunch restaurant for classic carbonara with a niece: MELA

Where is MELA Hongdae? First floor of NOUDIT Hongdae

MELA Hongdae is an all-day brunch restaurant on the 1st floor of NOUDIT Hongdae. NOUDIT Hongdae is the Hongdae branch of 'NOUDIT,' a complex urban culture-space brand from lifestyle developer Neovalue — d&department Seoul is there too, along with a bunch of restaurants and cafés clustered together, so it's a place I actually come to pretty often.

Parked at NOUDIT and came for brunch!! Parking at NOUDIT gives 1 hour free when you use a tenant store (can't be combined with other discounts).

Was trying to decide where to have brunch~ and remembered MELA, a well-known Hongdae brunch café. The name is cute and the reviews are good, so I'd been curious about it.

All-day brunch at MELA, so afternoons work too

I really loved that MELA Hongdae does 'all-day brunch'!!!!! Sometimes on a weekend afternoon you suddenly want brunch, and being able to have it anytime without racing the clock felt like a huge perk.

Inside MELA Hongdae: spacious and calm

The moment I walked in I was surprised by how spacious it was, and I really liked the warm, calm atmosphere.

MELA's interior is full of cute little details. Our table was one I really liked.

What does the name MELA mean?

Eat, Joy and Love with MELA 🍎

MELA means 'apple' in Italian — a brand launched with the intention of offering good ingredients, delicious food, happiness, and love, the way you'd give it to family. This Hongdae brunch café packs such a warm meaning into just its name, and my heart felt fuzzy even before tasting the food.

MELA Hongdae menu and ordering at the counter

MELA Hongdae runs on a counter pre-order system, one menu item per person. Sitting down and looking at the menu, there was everything from specialty coffee to French toast, pasta, eggs Benedict, sandwiches, salads, and soup!!! Every single thing looked so good visually and in composition that I had a happy dilemma over what to choose (and I normally don't even eat breakfast..).

Since it's a pre-order system, I went up to the counter and ordered what I wanted to eat. One menu per person, so three orders done!!

While waiting for the food, I looked around here and there. The weather was great that day, so my mood was good too 💛

Victoria French toast, classic carbonara and avocado ricotta open sandwich

The first thing to arrive was MELA's signature Victoria French toast. Thick, moist brioche toast came topped with a generous amount of fresh fruit and sweet cream. The soft texture and the fruit's brightness hit the moment I took a bite — I instantly understood why everyone recommends this menu.

A little later, the rest of the food came out in order. The moment I saw everything plated so neatly and beautifully, I stopped eating my toast and grabbed my camera haha.

Next up, the classic carbonara pasta had rich cream and thick bacon, salty with really deep, savory flavor. Last, the avocado ricotta open sandwich was fresh through and through — ripe avocado, house-made ricotta cheese, and jamón on top of a light dough, perfect for eating cleanly without feeling heavy.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 A day where just eating brunch became this healing. This place is so full of delicious menus that I need to try the ones I missed this time too. Next time I plan to come back soon for the minari vongole or the gnocchi.

Dessert next door: kids' cappuccino at Café MOHO

Came next door to Café MOHO for dessert.

A pretty space with a kids' menu too, so it's a café I come to often with a child. Today it was with my niece 💛

My niece ordered the organic kids' cappuccino — organic milk with a homemade organic tea syrup. She tasted it and said she felt like she could fly to the sky because it was so good 😊

Thankfully she didn't fly away, and had teatime with her uncle instead.

Stacked some stone towers and played around too~

Brunch, café and d&department in one Hongdae building

Between enjoying brunch and the café, it was already time for d&department to open. Got to browse d&department properly too — being able to do it all in one space was so nice. Even had gelato on top of it all.