Hongdae shakshuka brunch with a daytime Peroni, Seoul: MELA Hongdae

Why a former brunch café owner came to MELA Hongdae for shakshuka

MELA Hongdae is a brunch café in Hongdae that serves shakshuka. I used to run a brunch café myself, haha 😆 So there was a whole stretch of my life where I ate, felt, and enjoyed this kind of food constantly. Having lived in the Middle East, I've had my fair share of experience at famous spots there too.

Shakshuka especially is something I used to make and sell myself, and it's one of my favorite dishes. Since I've had the real deal so many times, it's a dish I always try when I go to a brunch café. Compared to before, there are so many more places doing it well now. The spice mix really changes the flavor. So today, once again, I'm off to hunt down a good shakshuka spot!

MELA Hongdae location and opening hours

• 🏠 41 World Cup buk-ro 5-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (1st floor of Nudite Hongdae)
• 🕰️ Daily 9:00–18:30 (last order 18:00)

MELA Hongdae sits on a quiet alley between Hongik University Station and Mangwon Station. It's about a 10-minute walk from Hongik University Station, but since I love walking, it didn't feel far at all.

It's located on the 1st floor of Nudite Hongdae, a complex cultural space, where a whole row of restaurants has formed. I'd walked past it before and thought I should stop by sometime, and this was finally the chance.

Here's the entrance to MELA. There aren't many clean, modern-feeling spots like this in Hongdae, which made it feel even more special. I also love that there's a menu board right at the entrance! (I'm a bit of a menu-board obsessive...)

What the inside of MELA Hongdae looks like

The interior view that greets you the moment you step in. It's not just a clean, pretty café from the outside — the interior is even prettier ✨ It has that stylishly decorated feel, but somehow doesn't feel over-designed? A warm, cozy space that just puts you in a good mood. Highly recommend for anyone who wants a little space-healing.

At MELA, there isn't a single color or prop scattered around the space that isn't pretty. The floor tiles have a real European feel, and then there are the wood tables and the lighting... this café isn't missing a single detail. Just sitting there felt genuinely healing, and I was honestly happy.

What to order at MELA Hongdae, plus a daytime Peroni

Let's take a look at the menu.

As always, there's so much I want to eat. I'd already decided on shakshuka in my heart before even arriving, and for the other dish I went back and forth before settling on something light — the minari (water dropwort) vongole pasta, which sounded fresh and fragrant. Swept up in the atmosphere, I ended up adding a beer 🍺 in the middle of the day too — one bottle of Peroni.

Ta-da — MELA plates things beautifully too.

Minari (water dropwort) vongole pasta, ₩23,000

Manila clams and hard clams paired with, true to its name, fragrant minari (water dropwort) — a pasta with a personality all its own that sets it apart from a regular vongole.

The noodles were cooked exactly right, and eating the clams together with the minari seemed to add a real freshness on top of what could otherwise be a heavy oil pasta.

Shakshuka, ₩21,000: as close as it gets to the one I used to make

MELA Hongdae's shakshuka is a rich tomato stew soup piled with two poached eggs, sausage, and a whole mix of vegetables and mushrooms.

The poached eggs were cooked just right, and honestly, the base tasted so similar to the one I used to make that it kind of shocked me 😱 The spice use was well balanced, not overwhelming, and the peperoncino gave it a nice kick of heat. I used to season mine with cumin, oregano, and thyme — maybe it's roughly the same combo here? Placing the mushrooms on top was a bit of an unusual touch. I scraped the bowl clean to the very bottom.

Truffle fries from the Naver review event at MELA Hongdae

If you leave a Naver review, you get truffle fries on the house 🥔 Eating them alongside the Peroni was great! Though the portion was a bit small, which was a little disappointing... A good spot for one drink, and a nice place to bring a group for a glass of wine. 🥂

Is MELA Hongdae worth it? Final verdict

Honestly, I used to have a bit of a bias that if the interior is flashy and pretty, it's probably more of a 'vibe' spot than a 'food' spot — but MELA's food was genuinely good too. A perfect place to take photos in a pretty space and enjoy a leisurely brunch. I'll be back whenever I want to unwind and enjoy some good food with a glass of wine.