Yeongdeungpo brunch café for three friends sharing plates: Mela

Haven't seen my friends in a while, so we met up in Yeongdeungpo. While looking for a good brunch café or Times Square spot, I found this bright, cozy-looking brunch café right inside the mall, so we went haha. Let me show you the space, the vibe, and the food in detail!

Where is Mela Times Square?

Mela Times Square is on the 1st floor of Times Square, near Gate 4. It's directly across from H&M, so you can find it easily once you're inside.

Inside Mela Times Square: the space and the window seats

The inside has a full window wall, so sunlight pours in. It looks so inviting from the outside, great vibe +ㅅ+ look how much light comes in through that window!!

The menu board sitting outside is so nice haha

Hah, let's go in right now

The interior was spacious, tables were spaced well, and the cute little decor made the atmosphere really nice ☺️

A video I took by the window haha

These seats especially were so pretty +ㅅ+

There's a menu at every table

What's on the menu at Mela Times Square

There were so many things my friends and I liked that we agonized forever and only managed to pick 3 haha

The coffee and drink menu is also really serious. This is why brunch cafés are the best +ㅅ+

Alright, time to eat

Three plates for three friends: minari vongole, pepperoni pastry pizza, rose corn gnocchi

Minari vongole (clam pasta with water celery)

Since we already picked the rose gnocchi and the pizza, we went with a clean oil-based pasta for balance

The linguine was cooked with a nice springy bite, hi hi

Olive oil + clams + sun-dried tomato + garlic + pepperoncino, topped with minari (water celery) — the aroma combo was great, and the clams were fresh too, great great

It had exactly the clean, richly aromatic balance I was hoping for!

Rose corn gnocchi

Ohh this gnocchi was so good, the rose sauce was actually pretty spicy!

There were quite a lot of mushrooms too, and the corn looked like sweet chodang corn — the combination of the spicy, savory sauce with the sweet corn was really appealing!

The gnocchi had a chewy, bouncy texture. The rose sauce was spicy enough that it almost gave off fusion tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) vibes haha

Classic pepperoni pastry pizza

This pepperoni pizza was my favorite, hi hi

The pastry dough was so good!!!! Pizza and pastry dough go together so well, nutty and crispy!!

Look at that cheese pull, wow

Such a generous pizza, so good — the sauce was generous, the cheese was generous, the pepperoni was generous

With toppings piled generously on top, it had rich flavor and a texture that was soft, chewy, nutty, and spicy all at once ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ so freaking good ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅡㅜ wow I need to come back for this ㅜㅜㅜㅜ hi hi hi hi hi. The portion seemed pretty big too — the three of us ate until we were completely full +ㅅ+

Mela Times Square: address, hours and amenities

If you're looking for a good Yeongdeungpo Times Square restaurant or brunch café, give Mela Times Square a try~

• Address: 1F, 15 Yeongjung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (103-9, Mela Times Square; Times Square 1F, across from H&M, Gate 4)
• Hours: Daily 10:30–22:00
• Amenities: Free parking, takeout, reservations, wifi, gender-separated restrooms, group-friendly, high chairs available, wheelchair access to entrance/seating/restroom, free corkage