Namhansanseong bakery café for rainy-day tea with parents: Sum

It's been a while since I posted a café review! Today I'm introducing a Namhansanseong café that's perfect for a drive just outside Seoul. Sum has a spacious, breezy interior and beautiful views of Namhansanseong through its floor-to-ceiling windows. It's the kind of place where you can leave the busy city behind and enjoy a proper healing tea time surrounded by green nature.

Three reasons to visit Namhansanseong café Sum

• A calming space and beautiful scenery that relax both body and mind
• Fragrant drinks and a wide variety of baked goods
• Spacious parking — great for a trip outside Seoul

Sum's address, hours and parking in Namhansanseong-myeon

Sum is located at 108-11 Ojeon-gil, Namhansanseong-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Hours are Monday–Friday 10:00–20:30 (last order 20:00), and Saturday–Sunday 10:00–21:30 (last order 21:00).

Sum is split into a main building and an annex. The main building is a large two-story café where you can see nature directly through the floor-to-ceiling windows, while the annex features a large screen, music listening area, and birch tree landscaping.

Inside Sum: floor-to-ceiling windows and open mountain views

This is the inside of Sum. With high ceilings, white walls, and floor-to-ceiling windows, it feels open and breezy with no sense of stuffiness at all. The view of Namhansanseong through the windows is truly picturesque. Being able to enjoy the natural scenery almost like a panorama is Sum's biggest feature. Whatever the season — spring, summer, fall, winter, snow, or rain — the view through these windows has its own charm each time. It really is a view-worthy café that's pretty whether it's raining or the weather is nice.

Since my parents were with us, we just had tea time on the first floor, but the view from the second floor is lovely too. It was the perfect light drive to take on a day when my head felt cluttered. It's really not that far a drive at all. Enjoying the lush drive through Namhansanseong and then sitting quietly with a coffee made all my worries disappear.

Sum's bakery and drink menu: easy for any company

Namhansanseong café Sum isn't just big for the sake of being big. It's a bakery café, so you get to enjoy a wide variety of desserts and bread. The shelves were full of moist, buttery breads, and I spent a long time picking and choosing what to try. Honestly, the moment you walk into Sum, the only worry you'll have is which bread to eat. Haha! What a happiness it is to set aside all your worries and just pick a delicious dessert!

There's also a nice variety of pretty cakes. It's a great place to come with friends or a partner, but it's just as good for solo healing time with a fragrant coffee and a slice of cake.

There's a wide range of drinks too — coffee, non-coffee, lattes, teas, and more. With both the bakery and drink menu this varied, there's no pressure even coming with picky eaters.

Jujube tea and chamomile: a rainy-day tea time with my parents

We'd already had a hearty meal, but there's always room for dessert, right? We picked out two very generously sized desserts.

For drinks, we ordered something a bit different today — tea time with my mother's jujube tea and chamomile. I ordered the jujube tea for my husband, who loves traditional tea. It was fragrant and sweet, and really good. It's Sum's handmade jujube tea, brewed from carefully selected jujubes. I don't usually go for traditional tea, but it tasted even better on a rainy day.

We also had a sweet fruit drink! I really appreciated the thoughtful touch of an extra ice cup on the side. And the warm chamomile was really nice too. Honestly, I don't usually order tea bags at cafés, since if you steep them wrong they get bitter. But at Namhansanseong café Sum, it was clean and refreshing with no bitterness at all.

We also enjoyed the fluffy, nutty desserts. At first everyone said they were too full and would just have a taste, but the more we chewed, the nuttier it got, and our hands kept reaching for more. Haha!

The sweet, nutty dessert was great! It went perfectly with the warm chamomile.

Is Namhansanseong café Sum worth the drive?

• Scenery and interior that put your mind at ease
• Clean, well-kept tables and restrooms
• Varied drinks and baked goods you won't get tired of even on repeat visits
• Spacious, comfortable parking lot
• Recommended for a trip outside Seoul or a date course