Gwangju bakery café with matcha pound cake and rice-field views: Sum

Wondering where to get some fresh air on the weekend, I ended up going for a drive toward Namhansanseong 🚗 There are so many cafés around Namhansanseong that while looking for somewhere to go, I came across Sum, a large bakery café!

I'd heard you could see a natural view through floor-to-ceiling windows and that there were lots of kinds of bread, so I was curious — and once I actually went, the space was way bigger than it looked in photos, which I loved 🤍 It was also a great casual stop while driving, so this time I took my time enjoying coffee and bread here ^_^

Where is Café Sum in Namhansanseong, and is there parking?

Sum is located at 108-11 Ojeon-gil, Namhansanseong-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. Hours are Mon–Fri 10:00–20:30 and Sat–Sun 10:00–21:30, and private parking is available.

Even from the outside, the scale is pretty big, so it really gives off that large-café feel from far away ✨

It's a great spot to stop by while driving toward Namhansanseong, and since a lot of visitors come by car, there's dedicated parking space both in front of the café and below it!

Main building, annex and the second-floor window view

Sum is divided into a main building and an annex, with both 1st and 2nd floors in use, so there's a good variety of seating. As soon as I walked in, true to a large café, the space was really wide 😎

On the 1st floor there's a variety of bakery items and the counter~~~

The 1st floor is spacious too, but going up to the 2nd floor felt even more wide open, so it was easy to pick a seat I liked.

What I especially liked was the high ceiling and the floor-to-ceiling windows. The windows are so large that sitting there, the outdoor scenery just flows right in — rice fields and green mountainsides made it really feel like a proper drive out to the outskirts of Seoul 🌿

Looking down from the 2nd floor, thanks to the high ceiling you could take in the whole 1st floor at a glance, which gave a different kind of feeling 👀 With natural light pouring in through the big windows too, the whole place felt really open.

And since the annex space is separate too, even with some people around, you could still sit fairly comfortably.

When the weather's nice, the outdoor space is also perfect for enjoying nature.

What we ordered at Café Sum

This is what we ordered that day ❕

• 2 iced Americanos
• Briquette bread
• Matcha pound cake

Sum isn't just a place that sells drinks — it's a large bakery café with quite a variety of baked goods, so it was fun just browsing the bread 🍞

From pastries like mont blanc and croissants to loaf bread and salt bread, they sell a wide variety of baked goods!!! A bread lover's eyes just light up hahaha 🧑🏻‍🍳

Among them, the signature breads are the briquette bread, salt bread, kouign-amann, and red bean mambos bread!!! Of course I wanted to eat them all, but I decided to pick just one 🥹

I picked the briquette bread since the name itself caught my eye hahaha. It really looks like a briquette, so it's cute for photos, and it's often introduced as one of Sum's representative bakery items, so I was curious!

And this time I also picked a matcha pound cake. As someone who loves matcha, I find it hard to walk past a matcha dessert like this 🍵

To go with the bread, we ordered two iced Americanos.

Isn't a coffee plus a piece of bread each the happiest combo at a bakery café? 🤭 Drinking an iced Americano and eating bread while looking out at the lush green view through the window really washed away the tiredness from driving.

How was the briquette bread at Sum?

Sum's briquette bread (연탄빵) is coated generously with injeolmi (roasted soybean powder) on the outside, with red bean paste, whipped cream, and strawberry jam inside. Out of the breads we picked, this one stood out the most 🖤

Its look really resembles an actual briquette, so at first glance it's confusing whether it's bread or coal hahaha. The outside is generously coated with injeolmi powder, so a nutty aroma hits you first!

Cut in half, inside there's red bean paste, whipped cream, and strawberry jam 🍓 The sweetness of the red bean blends smoothly with the cream, and the strawberry jam adds bursts here and there, making the flavor richer than expected. The injeolmi powder on the outside adds a nutty note that goes well with the sweet filling!

What does Sum's matcha pound cake taste like?

Sum's matcha pound cake is a dessert with a gentle, distinct matcha bitterness and a chocolate coating on top. Since it's a matcha dessert I love, I picked one up 🍵

With the first bite, the matcha pound cake had a subtle, distinct bitterness typical of matcha. But with the chocolate coating on top, the matcha bitterness and the sweet chocolate made a dream combo…

The matcha's own aroma was preserved while the chocolate's sweetness was added on top, so it also went well with the Americano! Personally, I prefer combos like this where you can taste both matcha's bitterness and chocolate's sweetness together rather than an overly sweet dessert, so I really enjoyed it 🥰

Overall it was a café that was great for relaxing, with a spacious layout and that floor-to-ceiling natural view 🫧

Honest verdict on Café Sum

This visit to Namhansanseong Café Sum, taken on a drive, was a place I liked for its spaciousness. With the 1st floor, 2nd floor, and annex, seating was varied, and above all, the high ceilings and the natural view through the big windows were what stuck with me most.

It's a good place to take a break while driving around Namhansanseong, and if you're looking for somewhere near Seoul to enjoy coffee and bread with a nature view, it's worth a visit 🌿 Next time I go, I want to try some of the other breads I didn't get to eat this time!!!