Hongdae brunch café for sweet pumpkin gorgonzola pastry pizza: MELA

I went to MELA, a brunch café everyone raves about in Hongdae. Everything about it — the vibe, the prices, the taste — hit the spot, the kind of place near Hongik Univ. Station that just makes you happy. I wanted to tell everyone about it right away!

At MELA, this Hongdae spot with such a great atmosphere, I had coffee and lunch with pizza and salad.

MELA Hongdae drinks and the 9–11am Morning Special

MELA has a wide drink menu too — americano, latte, ade, peach bingsu (shaved ice), and more. Nice that you can do brunch, a meal, coffee after, and dessert all in one place, no need to hunt down a separate café.

✔️ You can swap to decaf beans for +₩800!

The Morning Special, running from 9am to 11am, was especially good value — the French toast and brunch platter really stood out at this brunch café. The fluffy French toast is ₩12,000, or ₩16,000 with an americano included.

Poached egg avocado salad and sweet pumpkin gorgonzola pastry pizza

👉 A fresh salad with poached egg, avocado, and grilled mushrooms! I almost ordered the avocado open sandwich instead, but went with the salad — generous portion, nuts mixed in, and the balsamic dressing worked really well.

👉 The well-baked sweet pumpkin gorgonzola pizza was genuinely clean and nutty-tasting. Eating it with the honey served alongside adds sweetness and makes it even better. 👏👏👏👏👏

There was plenty of cheese, and the sweet pumpkin paired with it cleanly and simply — really delicious. The crisp, shattery pastry crust was the real charm here. The crunch stayed great the whole way through. 👍

How ordering works: pay at the counter first

At MELA Hongdae, you check the menu on the table, then go to the counter to order and pay directly with a staff member — a pre-payment system.

I visited on a weekday with my mom, who loves pizza, and it was exactly her thing — she was happy the whole meal.

Is MELA Hongdae quiet enough for a brunch catch-up?

The atmosphere at this Hongdae brunch spot was fantastic — never rowdy or loud, with a wide menu of steak, pasta, lasagna, sandwiches, eggs Benedict, and more. A real atmosphere gem I'd recommend for a date course.

Since it opens as early as 9am, it's great for a brunch meet-up after dropping the kids off at school.

📍 There's a birthday event giving a free slice of honey cake, so keep that in mind when you book.

The menu has illustrations alongside the descriptions, so it's easy to pick something, and with so many options, I wanted to work my way through the whole menu at this Hongdae favorite.

A perfect spot for a wedding invitation get-together or a brunch meet-up — easy to talk here, so I'm keeping MELA in mind as a Hongdae favorite. Next time I want to try the vongole pasta with clams, hard-shell clams, and minari, plus the top sirloin steak.

Right before Chuseok, I got to have a cozy lunch just with my mom for once, and I felt like I'd found exactly the right place.

The recipes were developed by a chef trained at ICIF, an Italian culinary school, and apparently everything is made with fresh ingredients on top of great flavor! The atmosphere is so nice it also works as a spot for a casual glass of wine or beer on a date or blind date.

Where MELA Hongdae is and how to get there

My recommended Hongdae brunch spot for pasta and pizza — where is MELA? Right here, on the first floor of Nudit, Hongdae's mixed-culture complex. ⬇️ It's between Hongik Univ. Station and Mangwon Station: 7 minutes on foot from Hongik Univ. Station Exit 1, 7 minutes from Mangwon Station Exit 1, and 12 minutes from Hapjeong Station Exit 2!

Head behind the yellow sculpture and you'll find MELA Brunch & Coffee. No break time means you can visit even for a late lunch — a nice perk of not being tied to a set time.

MELA Hongdae / 1st floor, unit 105, 41 World Cup Buk-ro 5-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul / Daily 09:00–18:30