Baby-friendly brunch restaurant in Yeongdeungpo with high chairs: Mela

After having a baby, even going out to eat isn't as simple as just picking a menu you like anymore haha ugh... Now I check whether a stroller can fit in, whether there's a baby chair, whether the tables are spaced out okay — and Mela turned out to be a place where we could eat really comfortably on all those fronts.

Mela, the brunch café inside Yeongdeungpo's Times Square!

What kind of place is Mela Times Square?

Mela is a brunch restaurant and café built around the concept of warm European home cooking. It's a nice spot to eat while shopping at Times Square, and also works well for brunch, dates, or gatherings — apparently the recipes were developed by a culinary researcher who trained at ICIF, an Italian cooking school.

Signature menu items include Mela's Chuck Flap Steak, minari vongole, scallop mushroom cream risotto, ragu tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), and Victoria French toast.

Can you bring a baby and stroller to Mela?

Mela Times Square has a baby chair ready, and even with a stroller they guide you to a table where it won't be in the way. We visited that day with Leo and the stroller, and the staff seated us just like that 🥹 It might seem like nothing, but once you've gone out with a baby, little bits of consideration like this really mean a lot — and I noticed quite a few other tables with babies too, so it felt like a restaurant where you don't have to feel burdened bringing a little one along.

Since having a baby, I've often felt self-conscious at restaurants and cafés, worrying about bothering the people around us, but at Mela, maybe because there were other families around too, I could relax a lot more than usual. So personally, I think this could be a solid option for anyone looking for somewhere to eat with a baby at Yeongdeungpo Times Square.

Ordering, parking and what to know before you go

Mela isn't table service — you go up to the counter, order, and pay upfront. Water is at a separate self-serve bar, so you just help yourself as much as you need. One small downside: it would've been nice if they'd mentioned the pay-at-counter system when seating us, instead of leaving it as small print on the menu 🤔 We waited a while without noticing it, though honestly we were so hungry that might be partly on us haha.

And if you're driving to Times Square, parking really matters! Since we have a baby, we drive a lot more than we used to, so parking support is always something we check first — and Mela offers plenty of parking support, which made it easy to eat and then browse around Times Square afterward.

Also, checking Naver Map, I saw Mela was running a discount event for wedding invitation gatherings, offering discounts based on payment amount. Since those gatherings often involve several people and bigger bills, and Times Square itself is an easy meeting spot where you can handle food and coffee all in one place, if you're scouting locations for a wedding invitation meetup, it might be worth checking the event details when you visit ✨

What we ordered at Mela

• Mela's Chuck Flap Steak
• Minari vongole
• Grilled napa cabbage salad
• Americano
• Stella draft beer

Mela's Chuck Flap Steak, 39,900 won

First up, Mela's Chuck Flap Steak. It's ₩39,900 and comes with Mela's special sauce over chuck flap steak. They didn't ask how I wanted it cooked, and mine came out close to rare — I personally like my meat on the softer side so I enjoyed it, but if you're particular about doneness, it might be worth asking whether you can request a specific cook. The meat wasn't chewy at all, it was tender with good juiciness, and out of the three dishes, this was the most satisfying!

Minari vongole (water dropwort clam pasta)

Next, the minari vongole! Apparently one of Mela's signature dishes — a pasta with both large and small clams and sun-dried tomatoes. Unlike a typical vongole, this one has minari (water dropwort) on top, so the aroma alone was noticeably different, and since I love minari, I felt like it worked really well here. The savory depth of the vongole plus the fragrant minari made it taste clean rather than heavy, and since I think noodle doneness really matters in pasta, I was happy the noodles weren't overcooked and had good texture. Recommended if you like minari!

Grilled napa cabbage salad

Last, the grilled napa cabbage salad. I make this at home sometimes too, so I was extra curious haha. It's a warm salad of grilled napa cabbage with aioli sauce, bacon, and paprika powder, and honestly grilled napa cabbage is hard to mess up~~ Grilling it brings out a real sweetness and softness, so it didn't feel like a cold vegetable salad at all — more like eating a proper warm dish, and it paired really well alongside the steak and pasta.

Next time: French toast, skipping the draft beer

Since Mela is supposedly known for brunch, I honestly debated hard over the French toast before we even walked in haha. They have Victoria French toast and classic French toast too, so it felt fitting to order a toast for brunch... but I decided toast alone wouldn't fill our starving stomachs, so I held off haha. It actually worked out well, though, since everything we ordered turned out great — so we've decided to come back next time for the French toast.

We also ordered a Stella draft beer to go with the food since it had been a while, but next time I think I'll just stick to a regular drink 😖 Since it had been so long, I got tipsy faster than expected... Guess with barely any drinking since having a kid, even one glass of draft beer is enough to make me dizzy now haha.

Mela Times Square: the verdict

Anyway, on this visit to Mela, beyond the food itself, what I really loved was being able to eat comfortably with Leo. They seated us so the stroller wasn't in the way, had a baby chair ready, and with other families around too, I didn't have to feel self-conscious while eating... ㅠㅠ

But above all, the steak, the vongole, and the napa cabbage salad were all delicious, so I definitely want to come back — and next time, I'm making sure to try the French toast. (It's honestly a bit of a hassle to make at home...😋) If you're looking for a great brunch café at Yeongdeungpo Times Square, a comfortable spot to bring a baby and stroller, or a place for a date or a wedding invitation gathering, Mela is worth checking out :)