Gonjiam café near Gyeongancheon wetland park for canelé: La Cuesta

After a walk at Gyeongancheon Wetland Ecological Park, I wanted coffee and a rest, so I headed to this large café near Hwadam Botanic Garden — La Cuesta!!!

Where is La Cuesta, and what are its hours and parking like?

• Location: 278 Gyeongchung-daero, Gonjiam-eup, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Mon–Sun 10:00–22:00 (last order 21:30)
• Brunch menu: 10:30–20:30
• Parking: available

La Cuesta was a pretty large café — the indoor space was spacious and the outdoor area was well put together too, so we could look around, enjoy good coffee and bread, and have a relaxed time.

There's a big parking lot right when you enter from the road, and a bit further up there's also space to park in front of the café building.

We went up the stairs beside the building to enter the café.

First-floor bakery display and meju bread at La Cuesta

On the 1st floor, the bakery display case is the first thing you see as soon as you walk in. Stepping inside, the displayed baked goods caught my eye right away haha, so naturally I browsed the bread first. There was the mejubread (fermented soybean-block-shaped bread) that even appeared on the SBS Today TV show!! Visually, it's a perfect meju shape 😆😁

The interior was spacious with high ceilings, so it didn't feel stuffy, and sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, giving the whole place a bright, warm feel.

There were also tables on the balcony outside the 1st floor. I usually love balcony seats, but the sun was so intense today that I gave up on it.

With drawing supplies, cookie-making kits, and an outdoor lawn area, there's plenty to enjoy, so it seems like a great place to bring kids too.

Second-floor forest view through floor-to-ceiling windows and photo zone

The 2nd floor at La Cuesta felt calmer and cozier than the 1st, with a seat where a green view fills the whole floor-to-ceiling window. I went up to check it out — it did feel a bit calmer and cozier than downstairs, and the tables and sofa seats were spaced out comfortably. The view through the huge windows was especially great. With the green scenery filling the giant window, just sipping coffee while looking out felt healing.

There's also a photo booth called 'Narang Hankeut' (a shot with me) on one side of the 2nd floor, so if you like taking pictures, it could be fun to try.

La Cuesta's outdoor space with a fountain and lawn

An outdoor space with a fountain.

There's a hill behind the café, and as you climb up, there are tables placed in different spots along the way, plus a lawn area where kids can run around. It was too hot in the daytime to sit outside this time, but I'd love to come back once it cools down and have coffee outdoors.

What we ordered at La Cuesta and what it cost

After finishing our tour of the café, we went back down to the 1st floor to order coffee. Picking bread first, everything looked so good that I agonized over it for a while lol

Besides coffee, there were teas, smoothies, ades, patbingsu (red bean shaved ice), brunch, and more — everything looked delicious. In the end we ordered an iced La Cuesta latte (₩8,000), an iced americano (₩5,500), salt bread (₩3,800), two canelés (₩2,900 each), and a rice white roll (₩5,900). I didn't plan to get much bread, but standing in front of that bakery case, it was hard to pick just one.

How the La Cuesta latte, salt bread, canelé and rice white roll tasted

We sat somewhere with a good view of the trees and ate our coffee and bread.

I wanted to try the signature menu item, so I ordered the iced La Cuesta latte — topped with whipped cream, it was softer and slightly sweeter than a regular latte, the kind of taste that just lifts your mood. And the iced americano, clean and refreshing, went well with the bread too — especially after the salt bread, it cleaned up the buttery flavor nicely.

I tried the salt bread first. The outside was slightly crisp, the inside soft, and as you chewed, the buttery flavor rose gently with a touch of saltiness at the end — salt bread is always delicious.

The canelé had a slightly firm, crisp outside and a moist, chewy inside, and eating it with the americano, the sweetness and the coffee's bitterness paired really well. And the rice white roll was, true to its name, an incredibly soft bread. It was fluffy and light, and not too sweet, which I liked.

Who is La Cuesta best for?

At La Cuesta, it was great being able to enjoy not just the coffee and bakery items but also both the indoor and outdoor spaces. It's a comfortable spot to chat with a friend, and with so much to do, it also seems like a good place to bring family. La Cuesta is a great place to enjoy a relaxed coffee outdoors on a nice day. Next time, I'd like to try the brunch menu too.