Baby-friendly Gonjiam café with sofa seats and mejubread: La Cuesta

When autumn comes to Gonjiam, Gyeonggi, the first place I think of is Hwadam Botanic Garden. As the leaves turn brilliant colors, so many people head there for fall foliage outings. After enjoying an autumn walk with my kid at Hwadam Botanic Garden, we also needed a café to sit and rest for a bit. Near Hwadam Botanic Garden is La Cuesta, a large bakery café that's great to stop by afterward. We visited with my in-laws and our kid and spent time sitting in the second-floor sofa seats. There's also a space on the first floor where kids can draw, which made it a nice place to visit with a baby.

A Gonjiam café to stop at after autumn foliage at Hwadam Botanic Garden

La Cuesta is a large bakery café near Hwadam Botanic Garden in Gonjiam, Gwangju, Gyeonggi. Come autumn, many people visit Gonjiam to enjoy the fall foliage. Hwadam Botanic Garden in particular is a famous spot for autumn colors, so it draws a lot of family outings and dates during leaf season.

After a full loop around Hwadam Botanic Garden, you end up walking more than you'd expect, so I wanted somewhere nearby to rest for a bit. With a kid, you especially want a place where you can sit comfortably and have a snack. Located near Hwadam Botanic Garden, La Cuesta is a large bakery café that's easy to pair with a fall foliage trip there. It's also a good stop whether you're bringing your parents along or making it a family outing with kids.

Second-floor sofa seats at La Cuesta, a large café in Gwangju

La Cuesta has a fairly spacious interior. We visited with my in-laws and kid, ordered, and settled in on the second floor. There are sofa seats up there, which made it comfortable to sit with our kid.

Sofa seats are definitely more comfortable than regular chairs when you're at a café with a kid. It was nice being able to relax and have coffee with my in-laws in comfort.

Why the first-floor drawing corner works with a baby

What I especially liked about visiting with a baby was the drawing corner set up on the first floor. Kids can draw freely there, so my kid sat with grandma and spent a long while drawing pictures.

It was nice having something for the kid to do while the adults drank coffee. In autumn, a plan of viewing the foliage at Hwadam Botanic Garden and then resting at this café seems like a good itinerary to do with a kid.

La Cuesta latte and mejubread: what the baby actually ate

We ordered three La Cuesta lattes and two mejubread (fermented soybean bread). Since the latte has the café's name in it, I was curious about that too, but what stood out that day was the mejubread.

Honestly, our kid was sick that day and had barely been eating anything. But when we gave them a sample piece of mejubread, they seemed to like it and ate way more than I expected. On sick days kids usually won't even touch foods they normally love, so I'd been worried, but it was a relief that the mejubread went down well.

So we bought two mejubread — ate one together at the table and packed the other to take home. Since it was a bread our kid's taste buds actually approved of, it ended up being the most memorable item for us.

Is La Cuesta a good stop with a baby after Hwadam Botanic Garden?

La Cuesta is a large café in Gonjiam, Gwangju, Gyeonggi, that's great to pair with an autumn foliage trip to Hwadam Botanic Garden. On days when you're moving around with both parents and a kid, you end up considering whether the seats are comfortable and whether the kid will get bored when picking a café. La Cuesta had sofa seats on the second floor, so it was comfortable to sit with our kid, and the drawing corner on the first floor meant our kid could spend the time having fun too.

We also got to enjoy the bakery menu, and with the mejubread our kid ate happily, the whole family got to spend the time comfortably. Especially in autumn, when you can end up walking for a long stretch enjoying the foliage at Hwadam Botanic Garden, it's worth planning a stop afterward for warm coffee and bread to rest. If you're planning a fall foliage trip to Hwadam Botanic Garden, or looking for a café near it to visit with a baby, or a large café in Gonjiam, Gwangju — give La Cuesta a try too.