Namhansanseong bakery café after the Qing invasion 390th event: Sum

A Gwangju bakery café after a Namhansanseong outing: Sum

Sum is a Gwangju bakery café I found while looking for somewhere to rest after a trip to Namhansanseong Fortress. The weather has been so nice every weekend lately that I started searching for places to go, and it turns out the fortress is running lots of programs for the 390th anniversary of the Byeongjahoran (the Manchu invasion of 1636): a history concert, a fortress wall tour, a plastic hunting contest, building fortress models, traditional clothing experiences and more!

So I went on the Namhansanseong outing too, and the place I found for a rest afterward was Sum!

If you want a relaxed cup of coffee near Namhansanseong, or you're hunting for a bakery café in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, this is the one I'd recommend. Let me introduce it!

Where is Sum and how is the parking?

Sum is about a 10-minute drive from Namhansanseong. It's perfect for stopping by after the fortress, so it works nicely when you're planning an outing route!

The parking lot is spacious too, so parking was easy +_+

Sum main building: forest view through big windows and high ceilings

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the main building was the big windows! Green trees and mountain scenery fill the view, and it honestly felt so healing.

There are outdoor tables with white parasols too, which gave off a European sidewalk café feel +_+

The main building has a clean white-toned interior, and the ceiling is high, so it never felt stuffy!

It's a 2-story building with lots of seats, and I loved how the nature outside looked like a framed picture through the huge windows.

High chairs are available too, and there seemed to be lots of families visiting.

Sum annex: a music listening room across the sky bridge

Crossing the sky bridge from the main building brought me to the annex, a whole new space! The annex's 2nd floor is covered in gravel and decorated with dried branches, so it had an autumn mood too.

The annex's 1st floor has a music listening room concept, with a big screen and seats along the walls, so it looked like a great spot to rest while listening to music! Getting several different moods in one café is part of Sum's charm, I think +_+

Sum menu: drinks and bakery items

Sum requires one menu item per person. Drinks are varied: coffee like Americano, mocha cream latte and vanilla bean latte, plus fresh strawberry latte, Jeju matcha latte, multigrain latte and purple sweet potato latte, as well as ades, smoothies and Mother's jujube tea.

It's not just coffee either. The bakery selection includes salt bread, sausage bread, melon bread (sweet cookie-topped bun) and briquette bread.

The bread shaped like a coal briquette (yeontan) looked so strange!?!? So of course I put one on my tray!

How do the chocolate éclair and briquette bun taste?

Chocolate éclair

Sum's chocolate éclair has a thick coating of rich chocolate on top, piled high with crunchy topping. It looks like a proper sugar recharge +_+

The first bite was crisp, then rich chocolate cream spread out and went really well with coffee +_+ It was perfect with a nutty Americano!

Briquette bun (yeontan-ppang)

The briquette bun looks exactly like a coal briquette!! The shape was so fun that I had to order one~

When I split it in half, it was packed with cream, red bean and strawberry jam +_+

Iced Americano and yogurt smoothie

For drinks I ordered an iced Americano and a yogurt smoothie. Sum's iced Americano was nutty, with low acidity, so it was easy to drink! It went especially well with sweet bakery items like the chocolate éclair.

The yogurt smoothie had just the right sweetness and was cool and refreshing, perfect for this kind of weather! +_+

I visited Sum, a Gwangju bakery café, looking for a short rest after the Namhansanseong outing, and the big windows with their view of nature made it a place where I could really relax :) I recommend it as a Namhansanseong café to stop by this weekend!