Hongdae brunch café for ragu tteokbokki swapped to pasta: MELA

Today I went to MELA in Hongdae! It's famous as a Hongdae brunch café, located between Hongdae and Hapjeong, serving Italian home-style brunch. Here's my review of this Hongdae brunch café hotspot~

Parking and opening hours at MELA Hongdae

If you're driving to MELA Hongdae, they offer 1 hour of free parking in the building, so keep that in mind if you're planning to park!

This Hongdae brunch café operates from 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM. Last order is at 6:00 PM, so it's good to know before you visit!

What is the space at MELA Hongdae like?

The moment I stepped into MELA Hongdae, the atmosphere felt really warm. It's decorated in a cozy, comfortable way, like walking into an exotic home. I've seen MELA mentioned a lot lately as a hangout spot in Hongdae, and coming here in person, I could see why.

Overall it has a warm, exotic feel, making it a nice place to grab brunch with a friend and chat comfortably. But there was something a bit surprising while we were eating — quite a few foreign guests were there, and every single one I saw was Western. I really wondered how they all found out about this place!!

If you need water, there's a self-bar set up in front of the order counter, so feel free to use it when needed.

Ragu tteokbokki swapped to pasta: MELA Hongdae's ragu pasta

I also checked out the menu at this Hongdae Western food spot. We ordered ragu pasta and the mushroom poached egg avocado salad. The menu originally has ragu tteokbokki (rice cake in ragu sauce), but it turns out you can swap it for pasta! So we ordered it as ragu pasta instead. By the way, soda wasn't listed on the menu, but they had zero-sugar cola available, so we added one of those too!

They said the ragu sauce is made in-house, and tasting it, the flavor was definitely rich. That said, it wasn't overly greasy or separate from the pasta at all. It had a clean yet deep flavor that went well with the noodles.

Ragu sauce can sometimes feel too heavy for me, but MELA's ragu pasta was lighter than expected.

Mushroom poached egg avocado salad: the grilled mushrooms are the point

Next up is the mushroom poached egg avocado salad we ordered together. It came piled high in the bowl, and just looking at it you could really feel the freshness of a salad.

As the dishes came out one by one, combined with the café's atmosphere, it really felt like a proper date with a friend.

And what I liked most about this salad was the grilled mushrooms. They weren't soggy or mushy at all — the mushrooms had a genuinely bouncy texture. My friend, a total mushroom lover, was especially satisfied and said this was really delicious.

On top of that, there's ripened avocado and a bouncy poached egg mixed in, so even though I expected a salad to feel light, the ingredients were quite substantial — great as a brunch dish. Eating the avocado and poached egg together made it taste like it was making me healthier just by eating it, haha.

Apple ade made with MELA Hongdae's house apple syrup

Everyone around us seemed to be ordering the ade, so we were curious and ordered an apple ade too. This Hongdae brunch café's apple ade is made with apple syrup they make in-house. Maybe that's why the apple flavor tasted quite sweet and rich. It has a clearly sweet apple taste, so it would be good for kids too. Enjoying the food along with the ade made for a relaxed brunch.

Is MELA Hongdae worth a visit?

Today I visited MELA, a popular Hongdae brunch café located between Hongdae and Hapjeong. In its warm, exotic atmosphere, I got to enjoy Italian home-style brunch, which made for a relaxed meal with a friend after a while. If you're looking for a great Hongdae brunch café, or a nice-vibe Western restaurant between Hongdae and Hapjeong, why not enjoy a relaxed brunch in this warm atmosphere?