Hongdae brunch café for grilled napa cabbage salad: MELA Hongdae

MELA Hongdae is right next to the Desker Lounge, which I have visited twice already, so it was not hard to find. Even if it is your first visit, it is about a leisurely 10-minute walk from Hongdae.

A good time for an early brunch in Hongdae

When I search for brunch in Seoul now and then, I find that many places open at 11 a.m. or even noon. I want to go early, so that has been a little disappointing. MELA, a Hongdae brunch café, opens at 9 a.m., so I went at 10 and had my meal.

For someone like me who gets moving from the morning, opening time matters quite a bit. If I can finish eating without waiting until lunchtime, I can plan the rest of my day more leisurely. If you are looking for breakfast in Hongdae, check the opening time along with the brunch menu.

I became familiar with this neighborhood through visits to the Desker Lounge, and now I have found another place to eat here too. The next time I use the lounge, it would be nice to stop in for brunch before getting to work. When the place to eat and the place to work are close together, it also cuts down on travel time.

The brunch café atmosphere at MELA Hongdae

If it had been decorated only in wood tones, it might have felt fairly ordinary, but the addition of white and green made it look much fresher. I found myself noticing the interior too, thinking how nicely green goes with wood. It was also a good space for taking photos of the room between food shots.

With brunch, you look at the atmosphere of the space as much as the menu, don’t you? Unlike when you are just quickly getting a meal out of the way, you want to take your time through the morning with coffee too. If interior design matters to you when looking for a Hongdae brunch café, take a look at the photos.

Ordering salmon eggs Benedict and grilled napa cabbage salad

When I come to a brunch café, I usually default to French toast. Today, though, I ordered salmon eggs Benedict (₩22,000) and grilled napa cabbage salad (₩19,000). The Americano, including the charge to switch it to decaf, was ₩5,800. The two brunch dishes and one coffee came to ₩46,800 in total.

The brunch dishes I ordered at this popular Hongdae spot arrived.

Eggs Benedict with salmon and egg

I will start with the salmon eggs Benedict. Since you can enjoy salmon and egg together, it is a menu item worth considering if you like both ingredients.

As I ate the eggs Benedict, I had bites of the grilled napa cabbage in between, and I naturally ended up alternating between the two plates. When choosing two brunch dishes, I often wonder whether to order similar types of food, but pairing dishes with different main ingredients like this is another option.

Grilled napa cabbage salad with bacon

This time, I seem to be talking more about the grilled napa cabbage salad than the salmon eggs Benedict. Napa cabbage is familiar, but preparing it differently made eating it feel like trying a new dish. I also liked the combination of bacon and cooked cabbage.

When I eat napa cabbage at home, wraps or kimchi are usually the first things that come to mind, but now I think grilling it will come to mind too. It would be hard to recreate exactly the same flavor at home, but I would like to try making it with cabbage and bacon. It is always nice to discover a dish while dining out that I can try at home.

At MELA Hongdae today, I had brunch earlier than usual and tried the new-to-me dish of grilled napa cabbage. I think it was a good choice to pick this instead of the French toast I always order. If you are looking for a good brunch spot in Hongdae, I recommend the salmon eggs Benedict and grilled napa cabbage salad combination too. Next time I visit, I want to try another menu item, but I think I will order the grilled napa cabbage again.