Ragu tteokbokki at Mela, a Times Square brunch café in Yeongdeungpo

High ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, great for chatting with a friend Mela Times Square

Hi, I'm Kongi! My place is nearby, so I go to Times Square really often. When you're shopping, there are days you want pasta and also want to rest at a café, right? That's when Mela Times Square, my go-to Yeongdeungpo Station restaurant, comes to mind! Honestly the food suits my taste and the space is bright, so I've been there a few times with friends — this time I brought my husband for the first time.

Where is Mela Times Square, and how far is it from Yeongdeungpo Station?

Mela Times Square is on the 1st floor of Times Square, across from H&M near GATE 4. It's listed as about 217m from Exit 6 of Yeongdeungpo Station, making it a convenient spot to pair with shopping or a meal inside Times Square. It's easy to explain to friends too — just "the entrance where H&M is."

According to the store's introduction, it's a European home-style brunch café run on recipes developed by a chef trained at ICIF, an Italian culinary school. Besides brunch plates and French toast, they also have pasta, risotto, and steak, so it's worth checking out if you're looking for a Yeongdeungpo Station restaurant with a wide range of Western dishes.

I also like that there's no break time. When you miss lunchtime while shopping, sometimes you have to go looking for a place to eat all over again — but here you can eat even at an awkward hour. They also have coffee on the menu, so it works well for people looking for both a Times Square restaurant and a café. You can eat and chat all in one place!

Minari vongole and ragu tteokbokki: what we ordered at Mela

This time at Mela Times Square we ordered minari vongole (₩23,000), ragu tteokbokki (₩22,000), and added bread (₩2,500).

I liked the light, clean flavor of the minari vongole. It's Mela's signature pasta, made with baby clams and Manila clams plus sun-dried tomato. I loved that it had minari (water celery) in it. Vongole with minari — even though it's a familiar pasta, it felt a little different.

Maybe thanks to the minari, the overall impression was fresh, and I never felt like it was greasy while eating. It was almost like a clear jjiritang (clear fish stew) turned into pasta, haha. I prefer this kind of clean eating over a heavy pasta. It was also good to alternate with the ragu tteokbokki, since the two sauces were different enough that you could enjoy each on its own.

The ragu tteokbokki had a rich sauce that wasn't heavy at all. It's made with ragu sauce simmered in-house and chewy tteok (rice cakes). You can switch to noodles, but my husband chose the tteok. The combination worked better than expected!

The reason I like the ragu tteokbokki here is that the sauce tastes rich but doesn't feel oily. Just because a sauce is rich doesn't mean it has to be heavy or that you get tired of it after a few bites. The sauce had presence, but overall it was easy to eat without feeling weighed down.

We also added bread and ate it together, and pairing bread with the sauce worked well too. Eating it with the noodles/tteok versus with bread felt different, so if you like adding bread to saucy dishes, it's worth ordering together.

That said, my husband thought it was a bit bland overall. I brought him because I love that fresh, non-greasy taste, so our tastes really differed there, haha. If you expect rich, strong seasoning like my husband does, your impression might be different from mine. If you usually prefer Western food that's easy to eat rather than something bold and heavily seasoned, this place will suit you better.

High ceilings and full-height windows: the mood inside Mela Times Square

At Mela Times Square, the food is great, but what stays with me is the bright, open space. The high ceilings and big windows and mirrors make the view feel less closed-in. White and green tones come together for an overall bright, fresh atmosphere.

And honestly... selfies come out great here, haha. When you meet up with a friend, you take a photo or two while eating, right? Thanks to the bright atmosphere, taking photos is fun too. I think this atmosphere is part of why I've come back here with friends a few times — it suits the kind of time you spend chatting over good food with your girlfriends.

Wedding invitation group discount and Naver reservation event at Mela

This is the kind of space that comes to mind when planning a friend gathering at a Yeongdeungpo brunch café, or when you want to enjoy a meal and chat at Times Square. If you're planning to visit, I'd recommend reserving ahead. There's also an event where making a Naver reservation and writing a receipt review gets you free truffle fries. Drink-only orders are excluded, and it's once per table.

There's also a discount for those looking for a wedding invitation group meetup spot in Yeongdeungpo. The listed period is August 1–November 30, 2026, with 5% off orders over ₩70,000 and 10% off orders over ₩130,000. You need to show the wedding invitation and write a receipt review, and it doesn't apply to drink-only orders. It also can't be combined with other events, so keep that in mind.

Is Mela Times Square worth a visit? Final verdict

Mela Times Square is a Yeongdeungpo Station restaurant I'd like to go back to with friends. The minari vongole was great for its freshness, and the ragu tteokbokki suited my taste with its rich but non-greasy sauce. The high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and bright white-and-green atmosphere made it a nice mood boost while eating too. That said, your satisfaction may vary depending on whether you like strong seasoning or fresh, light flavors.

If you're looking for a Times Square restaurant that also doubles as a café you can enjoy the atmosphere of, or a Yeongdeungpo restaurant to casually meet friends at, give Mela a look!