Gwangju bakery café with music room and mountain views: Sum

We visited Sum (숨) near Namhansanseong to enjoy its spacious setting and scenery. This large café has floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as a music listening room and an annex where we could spend time more quietly.

Where is Sum, and what is parking like?

Sum is at 108-11 Ojeon-gil, Namhansanseong-myeon, Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do. Since it is outside the busy area, we visited by car. There were also walking paths around Namhansanseong nearby.

There were many guests when we visited, but both the seating and parking were plentiful. The building exterior was fairly unremarkable, but the space felt expansive once we went inside.

In addition to the parking lot, we saw cars parked along the roadside. On the day we visited, there were plenty of spaces in the lot.

Are there quiet places to rest despite the crowds?

When we first entered, it was crowded and bustling, so it might not have felt ideal for a quiet break. Still, each area had a different atmosphere.

We could spend time quietly in the music listening room. There were hardly any people when we used it, so it felt relaxed. This space suited us well because we wanted a quiet atmosphere.

What is the atmosphere like in the glass-walled annex?

There was a separate annex apart from the main hall. It had floor-to-ceiling windows along one side and, during our visit, fewer people than the main hall, so it was quiet.

The annex also had plenty of seats. It did not feel quiet because the space was small; rather, there were ample seats and few people using them, which made it feel relaxed.

Can you rest outdoors with mountain views?

There were outdoor tables where we could sit and look out at the mountains. As the weather warmed up, we also saw people eating outside.

We sat outdoors for a while, too. Looking at the mountains made us feel removed from the city and relaxed. We liked being able to choose from a variety of indoor and outdoor seats depending on the atmosphere we wanted.

What bread and coffee did we have?

At first, we only knew it as a large café, but it also had a wide variety of bread. We ordered a bread that we remember as basil and green onion cream bread, and enjoyed it. We are not certain of the exact menu name.

Other guests also seemed to choose yeontan-ppang (charcoal briquette-shaped bread) and salt bread often. With so many kinds of bread, we felt it would be easy to choose one to suit your taste and have it with coffee.

We ordered an affogato, Americano, and café latte. The coffee tasted nutty, and I liked the affogato because it was sweet rather than bitter to my taste.